Keynesian Fail

This was our Nobel for Economics winner of 2008. More proof that our economic situation wan’t an accident, wasn’t the result of insufficient regulation, but was engineered by those very regulators.

“To fight the recession the Fed needs more than a snapback; it needs soaring household spending to offset moribund business investment. And to do that, as Paul McCulley or Pimco put it, Alan Greenspan needs to create a housing bubble to replace the Nasdaq bubble.” -Paul Krugman, 2002

(via FalkenBlog)

Our Two Choices

Today I noticed a poll question on the front page of CNN.com: “Is it time to break out of the two-party system?”
Much to my surprise, the results:

• 84% – yes
• 16% – no

Why, why, why do they torment me like this? Rarely a week goes by without me discussing the two party system with someone. The story is always the same. They feel betrayed by their public officials. They’re tired of the partisan bickering, they’re tired of the big money in politics, they’ve lost faith in their party’s ability to effect positive change, yet, when it comes time to go into the booth, there is only ever one thought on their mind: I’ve got to keep the opposition party from getting that crazy so and so into office.

The two party system has become nothing more than a con man with two puppets, each trying to scare you into voting for the other.
In the end, most of the big donors are contributing to both campaigns.
In the end, you are voting-in the same special interests either way.

The party leadership is making the real decisions. They hold the keys to reelection. Their decisions can be the difference between getting big donors and not, an endorsement from a former president, or that endorsement going to a competitor in the primary. If a politician wants to stay in the game, they have to play by the party rules. This is most clearly visible in the GOP votes in Congress. They aren’t all voting together out of ideology, they’re following their marching orders.

The Tea Party thus far hasn’t impressed me, with their candidates who would have trouble debating fifth graders, but they present an unusual opportunity. They have managed to collect a significant portion of random individuals of various ideologies. This seems at first like a weakness, since they will clearly fall apart the moment they try to put together a unified platform, but this is perhaps their greatest strength. The American people are hungry for a change from our current election system, but won’t anything that replaces it fall victim to the same puppetry?

What we need is a party without a centralized leadership. The American people want to elect an individual, not a party. The poll numbers above reflect this loud and clear. All the people need is the confidence to realize that the majority is with them, and they won’t be alone. Whatever your party of choice, spread the word.
CNN has gotten the ball rolling for us.