Simple Solutions or Simplistic Nonsense?
Yes, Eric Cantor was in the news again touting his "kitchen table" economics and trying to apply it the devastation in Joplin MO. It really is very simple, isn't it? I mean - if you save $10k for a new car but your house is blown down by a Tornado - you use the $10k to rebuild your life, right? Sorry, that does not fly.
Let's go through with the options once again. Let's give the people of Joplin their free market "options." I'm sure they will appreciate that. After all - they certainly don't want to become like all those other unproductive socialist whiners who can't dig themselves out of the hole the obviously put themselves into.
The Republican DIY system for getting back on your feet....
1. Insurance - certainly homeowners have that. That's a pull yourself up by your bootstraps standard. Hold good insurance and you can survive anything. But since regulators are toothless dogs and insurers are already scrambling to find an "out" clause for covering anything of this magnitude - many homeowners who thought they were covered won't qualify. But that's their own fault for not reading the microscopic print on page 1383 that states the insurer can change the terms on a whim.
2. Savings - Certainly - we all have savings...This is particularly true when nearly 15% of the population is either underemployed, unemployed or misemployed in jobs that earn way too little. With an official unemployment rate of 9.1% which has been holding steady for about 2 years now - we can certainly count on Americans to have a nice little nest egg saved to rebuild their entire lives with.
3. Infrastructure - You can rebuild your house - but will there be a town? Will there be roads? Will there be electricity or any infrastructure whatsoever? Yes - because the people with vested interests - the homeowners - will do that themselves. They will pull themselves AND their town up by their bootstraps. You can't expect the federal or local government to do everything for you. This is rugged individualism at its best. Think of all those Western towns that built themselves up overnight. Of course they had the government helping with rail and postal systems and the army helping with Indians and there was no electrical grid to worry about - but those are trifles.
Punishing the productive or enabling the predators?
Of course, you might ask the top 1-2% to pay about 2% more in federal taxes. But that would be discouraging productivity and success. After all - what could possibly be more productive for the American economy as a whole to have hedge fund managers trading blocks of stocks on momentum trades that quite literally produce nothing? What about the companies that are posting record profits and paying no taxes? Why are we enabling rank predation under the guise that by taxing them appropriately we are punishing success? This type of pretzel logic is endemic to the type of robber baron economy that now exists. I mean God forbid that the monied elite should pay one thin dime to support the nation that makes them fabulously wealthy.
Do these clowns even realize that there was government support for the entire expansion of the United States? Such federal support dates back to the Lewis and Clark expedition. They actually believe that individual bootstraps and the "free market" can fix this?
By the way - I'm just asking - Why WOULD the free market want to fix this? What would compel them to do so? Free markets don't fix things because they should - they only fix things if it leads to a better bottom line - FOR THEM - not the country.
Jon Stewart - did an amazing segment on this issue - Just as sarcastic as mine but far funnier...
© 2011 - RMGHicks - http://www.therobberbaroneconomy.com - All rights reserved.
Feudalism is next. Baron on the hill. Cletis toiling in the field. Pitchfork in his hand. Considering his options.
ReplyDeleteIt was so over the top that I couldn't believe it....They make it so damn easy to write about....
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