Comments on: False Package Deals

By: Noah

Noah — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:02:37 +0000

I am going to add into the general chorus and say that I would like to see an elaboration on how WWII was not war we had to go into, and why there would have been benefits to just sitting on the sidelines and seeing either Hitler dominate Europe, or seeing the USSR defeat Hitler and dominate Europe.

By: Noah

Noah — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 09:02:37 +0000

By: Maggie's Farm

Maggie's Farm — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 08:43:32 +0000

Weds. morning links…

Obama wants less college drop-outs. Focus on Outcome. Is "outcome" a piece of paper? That is easily done: High Schools do it every day.
Why don’t people live within their means, and save for a rainy day? A teed-off Sowell.
The 1…

By: Steve C

Steve C — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 23:48:45 +0000

What do you think the the difference between your system of values, vs “most people” that leads you to say that Will is obviously correct about the moon?

By: Steve C

Steve C — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 23:45:57 +0000

Why was it a happy accident?

By: Steve C

Steve C — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 23:44:11 +0000

Libertarian response:

Hearts and minds: worth $0

Weather & communications satellites: sitting here in my chair, I just thought up a theory about how this could have been privatized, therefore it was a bad idea.

By: uknowbetter

uknowbetter — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 23:36:39 +0000

Choosing bad policies makes you an idiot.

The impulse to “do something” is one thing, but going overboard is quite another. Obama wants to do lots of things so he can be heroically remembered for doing lots of things; he doesn't care if those things actually make the country a worse place.

By: newshutz

newshutz — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 23:11:02 +0000

If you do not consider productive Jim Cramer's call for fixing the banks, reapplying the uptick rule and getting rid of mark to market first, before fiddling about with new social engineering, carbon taxes or Democratic party special interest pork, what exactly would you consider productive?

By: GU

GU — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 20:49:33 +0000

On the contrary, I think Obama knows exactly what he is doing. He probably realizes that FDR's policies hurt more than they helped, but that is a tertiary concern for him. FDR is still ranked by most historians as one of the greatest presidents of all time, and most people still gush when asked about him. Most people think the New Deal was absolutely necessary to "save" the country. Obama understands this. He is modeling his presidency after FDR's "First 100 Days." He knows about the "do something bias" and is setting himself up to be FDR II, and Bush to play Hoover II.

I think Obama also knows full well that this is a perfect opportunity to drastically increase the size and scope of government, and he is doing all he can to make this happen. He knows that doing so shifts the baseline, and that the size of government never shrinks back to its former size. He sees what the New Deal did for Big Government, and he's trying to make it happen again.

Obama is not an idiot, but very clever actually. He talked like a moderate on the campaign, but he's in full progressive/socialist mode in office. Has he chosen to support bad policies? Yes. Is what he's doing immoral? I think so, because I find collectivism to be immoral. Is he an idiot? No.

By: Vangel

Vangel — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 19:39:12 +0000

It used to be that Obama revealed himself to be an empty suit every time he went off script. What is scary is how quickly he is doing so even in a controlled environment.

That probably means that Obama and his advisers are just as isolated from reality as Bush and his gang used to be.