debt-ceiling fall-out

8/5/2011

The 8/3 edition of the Chicago Tribune reprinted this opinion piece from Thomas L. Friedman of the New York Times (you may genuflect if so inclined): "Alas, that is the tea party. It is so lacking in any aspiration for American greatness, so dominated by the narrowest visions for our country and so ignorant of the fact that it was not tax cuts that made America great but our unique public-private partnerships across generations. If sane Republicans do not stand up to this Hezbollah faction in their midst, the tea party will take the GOP on a suicide mission. No American politician was more allergic to debt or taxes than Thomas Jefferson, but he also appreciated the need to have the resources to make the Louisiana Purchase and insisted that on his tombstone it be written that he founded the University of Virginia." ... Alas, Mr. Friedman, you epitomize the absurd self-regard liberalism has for itself despite the damage it leaves in its wake. When President Obama took office, our national debt was 40 % of GDP, a disturbing number. Today, our national debt is 70% of GDP. Economists tell us that as that debt percentage nears the 90 to 100 % level, we will be in dire straits. Mr. Friedman cares not a whit that so many Americans reject his reasoning; liberalism has always been been a minority-directing-the-majority operation. But he is appalled that the unwashed- people not steeped in liberal fallacies, people who have looked at the numbers and become alarmed- now have a vehicle to express their discontent. They know in their bones that American greatness and prosperity was not the result again and again of an alchemy between public-private partnerships. Governments at the state and federal levels have dug canals, dredged rivers, built airports, and operated schools. These are laudable things, and there was once a time when public schools were something to be admired and not regretted, as they are today. But American prosperity and greatness is so much more the result of free enterprise and the energies unleashed by freedom. Risk-takers built this country, men and women willing to put in 18-hour days to build a business. They wanted to be their own bosses. They built our farms and ranches, our factories, our retail empires, our investment houses. They needed no help from arrogant twits such as Pelosi, Reed, or Obama- people who have no knowlege whatever of basic economics, who nontheless believe they have a moral right to relieve the productive of their income to redistribute it to advance hare-brained schemes.... This debt crisis has unhinged the left. The Tea Party is their worst nightmare. With a compliant media as their shield, liberals usually managed to outmanuever Republicans. The Tea Party, however, won't settle for crumbs. We're in this fight to reclaim a great country based on freedom from a minority that has long preferred an elitist top-down system. Obama was to be their vehicle to achieve this transformation. But as that vehicle stalls, we see the true face of socialism as reality backs it into a corner, and it is not compassionate. Liberals such as Mr. Friedman, Mr. Obama(who always advocates civility after a vicious moment- see the Paul Ryan moment), Mr. Biden, Mz. Pelosi, and Citizen Reed have described their opponents, who worry about a Greece-style disaster for America, as " extremists, hostage-takers, the American Taliban, jihadists, Hezbollah, terrorists, knuckle-draggers, autistic-haters, and ... hell, you supply the intemperate adjective. As for myself, I've been accused of a delusional dislike of Barbra Streisand ... In defense of myself, I've noted that liberals have a delusional dislike of arithmetic and reality. See the recent Euro crisis with Italy and Spain... and coming soon to a bankrupt American state - bill milan