A Disdain for Governing
Purposeful penquins on the march? Or stranded whales on the beach?
The leviathans of the GOP have boldly swum themselves onto this patch of dry sand, and it won't be easy for them to get back to open ocean.So says David Ignatius in the Washington Post, who offers this analysis of the ruling party's current woes:
What's interesting is that most of these wounds are self-inflicted. They draw a picture of a party that, for all its seeming dominance, isn't prepared to be the nation's governing party. The hard right, which is the soul of the modern GOP, would rather be ideologically pure than successful. Governing requires making compromises and getting your hands dirty, but the conservative purists disdain those qualities. They swim for that beach with a fiercely misguided determination, and they demand that the other whales accompany them.This same disdain for governing has informed many of the GOP's decisions over the last five years: Tax cuts will create a deficit? They either argue that the opposite is true (in the face of historical evidence) or simply accept deficits as confirmation of their prejudice that government is too large. Giveaways to corporate interests? Hey, the private sector is more efficient than government. Cronyism in federal appointments? Well, the job isn't that important anyway. State Department professionals cite a lack of evidence for WMDs or ties to Al Qaeda in Iraq? Just show resolve and stay the course.
3 Comments:
The Republican stewardship of the economy is an unmitigated disaster. Yesterday, the Merrill Lynch research department presented clients with a list titled "Seven Constraints Facing the Consumer:"
1) Personal "savings rate at -0.7%;"
2) "Debt/income ratio at a record 124% (was 117% a year ago);"
3) "Housing affordability at a 14-year low; 16-year low for first-time buyers;"
4) "Fed tightening... - households have $2.3 trillion of short-term debt that will get dinged by the relentless rise in short-term rates;"
5) "Higher energy prices;"
6) "Lagging wages: average hourly earnings" are growing at the "weakest pace" since December 1990; and,
7) "Regulatory credit changes: Fed letters of guidance (mortgages), tightened bankruptcy protection laws (Chapters 7, 13), higher minimum credit balance payments."
Basically. The economy is screwed. Some of these items are going to hit Delaware hard.
Thanks for the economic stats. I will be posting on the economy in the next few days.
Bush must be IMPEACHED (Jason)
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