Bush the Keynesian

Whatever, Dude. Paint me pessimist, but I have a veeeeeeeeery strong suspicion that this will get phuXX0red 8 ways from Tuesday before it's over. Between W, Pelosi, and Reid...this can only end in tears.

It's fascinating, however, to see how the GOP *still* gets a pass on who they have been for years now: Keynesians. Yes, Keynsians--even after Keynesian economics were no longer viable in the late 1970s when high inflation and high unemployment were both realities.

It's Keynes with a twist: the state should subsidize the minority at the top of the economy vs. the general population. It is done by tax policy and by subsidy in varying forms--from property tax breaks to infrastructure improvements, to discounts in their tax bill--but the intent is to make life easier for people and organizations with most of the economic wealth. The bet is that they will use the money to expand their businesses and investments, thereby helping the economy as a whole. And deficits be damned.

Problem is, in following with the oldest of capitalist laws, these people will look after their own self interests--not that of the economy, the country, or even their own company. Look no further than the CEO of Countrywide mortgages leaving with $115 million after he ran the company into the ground and lost 11,000 employees. That's over $10,000 per lost employee. And look here for another small sampling of CEOs winning the lottery every year in compensation--whether they make money or not.

Do I blame those CEOs for taking the deals? Of course not. If people are stupid enough to give you that kind of money, take it. But I do blame lawmakers who think that continuing to subsidize idiocy and incompetence is a good idea.

What Bush is saying now (and many in Congress, let's be fair), is "Our business leaders, Congress, and yours truly have been so incompetent and screwed things up so badly, we are going to go even further into debt by doing the same things, but in an accelerated fashion."

No thanks. Instead of propping up the failures, why not take away their first-class club membership instead? Quit writing them checks, let shareholders vote on public executive salaries, quit spending money like a sorority girl with a new credit card, and let these "Captains of Industry" pay taxes like the rest of us. What we don't need is to--literally--reward failure.