Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Piling On (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Grey Lady... Long Time, Joe!)
Helpful Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/01/opinion/01tue1.html
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I’ll admit: I almost drove off the road this morning when I heard about this on the radio. So I had to check it myself.
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I’ll admit: I almost drove off the road this morning when I heard about this on the radio. So I had to check it myself.
Wholly sh*t. It was true: The Grey Lady herself had ordered a dish of crow and was busily munching away, ashen-faced, but no longer willing to play that childish game of holding her decrepit hands over her face, proclaiming, “it’s not real!”
It's not even spring yet, but a long-frozen political order seems to be cracking all over the Middle East. Cautious hopes for something new and better are stirring along the Tigris and the Nile, the elegant boulevards of Beirut, and the impoverished towns of the Gaza Strip.
It gets better...
Still, this has so far been a year of heartening surprises - each one remarkable in itself, and taken together truly astonishing. The Bush administration is entitled to claim a healthy share of the credit for many of these advances. It boldly proclaimed the cause of Middle East democracy at a time when few in the West thought it had any realistic chance. And for all the negative consequences that flowed from the American invasion of Iraq, there could have been no democratic elections there this January if Saddam Hussein had still been in power.
You know me, and you know what I’m thinking. Almost time to hunt up all those old posts. (He wouldn’t, would he?!!)
You’re damn straight I would.
Comments:
Pretty well. The growth numbers are in the black, as are the job numbers. Anecdotal information I encounter (even in the People’s Republik of Washington!) also seems to trend to the positive.
That said, all is not happiness and light: Deficit spending in DC is still out of control. And fuel prices still continue to push up consumer prices. That one needs to be watched because it’s not something we can directly control. Hopefully, however, this will spur research and development of oil-independent technologies that would have tremendous benefits all across the board (including foreign policy).
Summation: cautiously optimistic with specific concerns.
That said, all is not happiness and light: Deficit spending in DC is still out of control. And fuel prices still continue to push up consumer prices. That one needs to be watched because it’s not something we can directly control. Hopefully, however, this will spur research and development of oil-independent technologies that would have tremendous benefits all across the board (including foreign policy).
Summation: cautiously optimistic with specific concerns.
What do you believe it would take to balance the budget at this point? Do you believe the economy on it's own is capable of covering our approximate $600 billion shortfalls? (Not to mention our trade deficits of the same size) (JB)
# posted by 
: 8:01 PM
: 8:01 PM
I think Congress needs to quit hemorrhaging money like a stuck pig, to put it frankly. We all know what they’re doing: they’re in power, that doesn’t look like it’s going to change any time soon (which was kind of the point of my post), and now they’re sitting fat, dumb and happy with their secured position. That means, being human and being politicians, they’re going to “bring home the bacon” to their constituents. I haven’t made a big point here about my ire regarding this behavior on their part, but it grates nonetheless.
That’s the single most important problem with having a supine Democratic Party: no serious political competition. That breeds hubris, and that is not good for the country. What I would find beneficial is the emergence of a strong (ugh! I can’t believe I’m going to say this!) Libertarian Party. I don’t agree with them, and sometimes they’re just plain loopy, but we need somebody out there to keep the Republicans a little nervous about their position.
If (and only if) we get the spending under control, then the economy will suffice as a remedy to the deficit situation as long as the economy is kept in good health by reasonable policy. One thing that would help would be to eliminate capitol gains taxation. That would tend to spur investment, which is always a good thing for all involved.
As to the trade deficit, I guess that’s the one bright spot about the weakening dollar. I’m no expert on this, but as I understand it, the weaker the dollar is, the more advantageous is our relationship regarding foreign trade. Basically: our stuff is “cheaper” to buy. But the trade deficit is something we’re just going to have to live with unless or until (yah, right) the Third World countries beef up their labor laws and environmental regulations (thereby increasing their production costs). As long as Nike can get children to cobble shoes for fifty cents an hour (or whatever) we Americans just won’t be able to compete on that level. And I don’t think we’d be interested in doing so at this point.
There’s a potential upside, though: We can produce things that other countries simply can’t. Our technology exports represent a significant amount of trade that benefits us. Then again, every bit of technology we export empowers the buyer country to replicate what we could do domestically. Thus you get somebody in New Deli on the line whenever you ask AOL for technical support, for example.
That’s the single most important problem with having a supine Democratic Party: no serious political competition. That breeds hubris, and that is not good for the country. What I would find beneficial is the emergence of a strong (ugh! I can’t believe I’m going to say this!) Libertarian Party. I don’t agree with them, and sometimes they’re just plain loopy, but we need somebody out there to keep the Republicans a little nervous about their position.
If (and only if) we get the spending under control, then the economy will suffice as a remedy to the deficit situation as long as the economy is kept in good health by reasonable policy. One thing that would help would be to eliminate capitol gains taxation. That would tend to spur investment, which is always a good thing for all involved.
As to the trade deficit, I guess that’s the one bright spot about the weakening dollar. I’m no expert on this, but as I understand it, the weaker the dollar is, the more advantageous is our relationship regarding foreign trade. Basically: our stuff is “cheaper” to buy. But the trade deficit is something we’re just going to have to live with unless or until (yah, right) the Third World countries beef up their labor laws and environmental regulations (thereby increasing their production costs). As long as Nike can get children to cobble shoes for fifty cents an hour (or whatever) we Americans just won’t be able to compete on that level. And I don’t think we’d be interested in doing so at this point.
There’s a potential upside, though: We can produce things that other countries simply can’t. Our technology exports represent a significant amount of trade that benefits us. Then again, every bit of technology we export empowers the buyer country to replicate what we could do domestically. Thus you get somebody in New Deli on the line whenever you ask AOL for technical support, for example.
Well, JB, I guess my reaction would be that intuitively I would agree with your distain for naked ideology being a driver of people’s actions. But before we abandon ideology entirely I think it might be useful to consider whether it has any utility whatsoever. I think it does, to some degree.
Ideology, like prejudice and “common sense,” provides an initial reaction, a rough guess as to what one’s reaction should be to an unsure situation. In short, it’s a starting point. It shouldn’t command one’s thoughtful and considered long-term decisions, but if you find over time that a certain mindset most often leads you to a successful resolution, based on the facts, then it’s reasonable to initially rely on that mindset to guide you in the opening phases of a contentious situation. One should be, however, completely willing to reverse course, venture beyond the bounds of one’s chosen ideology, or even end up agreeing with the initial appraisal, once one has had time to give it due consideration.
I would be interested in reading your thoughts about how this administration is taking the country in the “wrong” direction. Being me, I always put things in terms of the choices we’re actually given in political life. We were given last November a choice between John Kerry and George Bush. Between the two, I thought the choice quite easy to make. But that doesn’t mean that Bush should be spared criticism. If he’s dropping the ball in some way then I feel, as a supporter of his, even more responsible to point out his errors.
Ideology, like prejudice and “common sense,” provides an initial reaction, a rough guess as to what one’s reaction should be to an unsure situation. In short, it’s a starting point. It shouldn’t command one’s thoughtful and considered long-term decisions, but if you find over time that a certain mindset most often leads you to a successful resolution, based on the facts, then it’s reasonable to initially rely on that mindset to guide you in the opening phases of a contentious situation. One should be, however, completely willing to reverse course, venture beyond the bounds of one’s chosen ideology, or even end up agreeing with the initial appraisal, once one has had time to give it due consideration.
I would be interested in reading your thoughts about how this administration is taking the country in the “wrong” direction. Being me, I always put things in terms of the choices we’re actually given in political life. We were given last November a choice between John Kerry and George Bush. Between the two, I thought the choice quite easy to make. But that doesn’t mean that Bush should be spared criticism. If he’s dropping the ball in some way then I feel, as a supporter of his, even more responsible to point out his errors.
Ken, I have a response to your last, and I like the way the discussion is going.....but, I am working a lot of hours at the moment and I don't have much time to read and post. I will continue this thread, probably late this weekend. I've got a little something for Mike too if his blog allows me to comment. (Couldn't get it work the other day when I had a minute.) JB
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# posted by : 10:16 PM
: 10:16 PM