Can You Smell the Whiff of Panic?
It was interesting to read last week that our Democrat friends are criticizing President Biden for doing nothing. Or rather, they are clamoring for him to Do Something to save their political necks -- on the days when they are not avoiding him like the plague.
It does show what a bubble Democrats live in. For the past 18 months President Biden and congressional leaders have been working like mad to pass stimulus bills and Build Back Better bills in the multi-trillions, and the administrative state has been working overtime to bring fossil fuels to a dead stop.
If you knew just a little about economics, you would have been thinking: wow, pedal to the metal spending ain't gonna look good on the inflation front. Stopping fossil fuels dead ain't gonna look good on the gas station front. Democrats should thank their lucky stars that Manchin, Sinema & Co slowed the madness down a bit.
I realize that no headline Democrat has time between peaceful protests to get up to speed on economics, and that's why nobody at Dem Central was saying, back in early 2021: Whoa Neddy! I guess all the relevant experts were busy recommending mandatory vaccinations at the time.
Okay, I understand how young Democrats might have thought that now is the time. After all, they've been carefully taught since pre-school that Allyship and MMT and political action through activism and peaceful protest is the highest and best thing: indeed the only thing, and that the arc of history is just sitting there, waiting for them to bend it towards justice. Hey, the Sixties Kidz thought the same 50 years ago, before the voters sent for Nixon and Reagan.
Anyway, now we've got to the point that even the dumbest Democrat can read the polls and realize that the Democrats are heading into a midterm meltdown for the ages. You can check out midterm meltdowns here. The meltiest meltdown was in 1894 on Dem president Grover Cleveland's watch after the Panic of 1893, what with 500 banks failing.
So they blame Biden! Wow! Nobody here but the "best and brightest!"
Earth to Democrats! You are in a political meltdown because of what Biden (and you activists) did. Not because of what Biden did not do.
Do you know what your problem is? I will tell you.
You guys are so busy bending the arc of history that you are failing to learn the lessons of history.
Here are some examples of lessons not learned.
Democracy: It sure sounded good when Rousseau wrote about the General Will. But it sure stubbed a toe in the French Revolution. And democracy gave us Trump!
Communism: It sure looked like the workers were getting screwed in the hungry 1840s. But the industrial revolution was the best thing for the poor, ever. It took the global test of Communism in the 20th century -- conducted by social scientists Lenin, Stalin, and Mao -- to really stick it to the workers.
Welfare State: It sure seemed like a good idea to provide government pensions, health care, welfare, and education to the people. But now they suck up 30-40 percent of GDP, mostly given out as loot and plunder to geezers and teachers. And no politician would dare to reform them.
Climate change: What could be nobler than saving the planet? Except that it means nuking Dutch farmers out of their farms and Sri Lankan prime ministers out of the country and American moms out of their SUVs.
Anti-racism: What could be better -- and more virtuous -- than naming and shaming every eeevil white racist in the U.S.? Except it doesn't seem to have made Black Lives Matter much. I wonder why?
Do you not realize, you liberal fools and knaves, that most of your ideas and your programs Make Things Worse -- economically worse, politically worse, and culturally worse? I wrote a blog post back in 2009 about the Obama administration making things worse and I quoted Kim Strassel:
Nearly every Obama policy has thrilled either the president's base in the Democratic Party or a liberal interest group but practically no one else.
Gosh, does that seem familiar? Yet you Democrats are shocked to discover that you are heading into an electoral maelstrom, and you would 'twere bedtime, Grandpa Biden, and all well?
Earth to liberals: it is your policies that have got Biden into this mess. It's not going to get better in a couple of months. It's probably not going to get better in a couple of years.
And do you know why? Because almost all the policies you guys champion have already been tried and shown to be unjust, uneconomic, and utter failures. And you would know that if you had ever read a book outside of your liberal ladies book club.
Christopher Chantrill @chrischantrill runs the go-to site on US government finances, usgovernmentspending.com. Also get his American Manifesto and his Road to the Middle Class.
Image: Public Domain