President Bush is handling this financial crisis alright. He is using this crisis as a means to achieve his demented neoconservative goals, namely, smaller government.
If you have read Naomi Klien's book, The Shock Doctrine, you might see what is occurring right in front of our eyes. Klein discusses how Conservatives have taken advantage of crisis after crisis to privatize government processes and implement free market mechanisms while the citizenry is in a state of shock. They would otherwise not have the political support to achieve these policies.
For example, after Katrina, they privatized New Orleans Schools. After 9/11, the Republicans got the country to go along with invading Iraq because the country was in shock. In fact, after "shock and awe" in Iraq they attempted to privatize Iraq. (See "Imperial Life in the Emerald City"). Now they will use this financial crisis.
WARNING: The country is now in a state of shock, and the Conservatives are going to pounce!
John Bogle, the founder of the Vanguard Index Fund said today, "`The government seems punch drunk. It doesn't seem systematic.'' This is exactly the set of conditions where Republicans, for the past eight years have gotten policies in place that they never otherwise would have accomplished.
Today President Bush said
If your goal is to reduce the size of government than bankrupting the government to bail out private industry makes a lot of sense! Mission Accomplished!
If you have read Naomi Klien's book, The Shock Doctrine, you might see what is occurring right in front of our eyes. Klein discusses how Conservatives have taken advantage of crisis after crisis to privatize government processes and implement free market mechanisms while the citizenry is in a state of shock. They would otherwise not have the political support to achieve these policies.
For example, after Katrina, they privatized New Orleans Schools. After 9/11, the Republicans got the country to go along with invading Iraq because the country was in shock. In fact, after "shock and awe" in Iraq they attempted to privatize Iraq. (See "Imperial Life in the Emerald City"). Now they will use this financial crisis.
WARNING: The country is now in a state of shock, and the Conservatives are going to pounce!
John Bogle, the founder of the Vanguard Index Fund said today, "`The government seems punch drunk. It doesn't seem systematic.'' This is exactly the set of conditions where Republicans, for the past eight years have gotten policies in place that they never otherwise would have accomplished.
Today President Bush said
“Our system of free enterprise rests on the conviction that the federal government should interfere in the marketplace only when necessary. Given the precarious state of today’s financial markets — and their vital importance to the daily lives of the American people — government intervention is not only warranted, it is essential.Secretary of the Treasury Paulson has said the bailout will be in the hundreds of billions. This comes on top of 900 billion in other bailouts. How can this make financial sense for a country already bogged down under the cost of the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Social Security, Medicare and other seemingly insurmountable costs? That depends on your goal. If your goal is to bankrupt the Government, than this makes a great deal of sense. Every dollar we spend bailing out Wall Street, is a dollar we can't spend on government programs.
If your goal is to reduce the size of government than bankrupting the government to bail out private industry makes a lot of sense! Mission Accomplished!
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2 comments:
Or the government may just be reacting to a crisis. We won't until years later.
here comes the amero...
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