Tuesday, March 24, 2009

With A Cheerleading Squad Like This, Who Needs An Opposing Team?

Do you read the Huffington Post? It's one of my few "normal" reads -- meaning that I normally read it, not that its posts are anything I consider normal. Led by the former conservative Arianna Huffington, it is filled with left-wing ideas and socialism in various forms. During the Presidential campaign, when I wanted to see how far Obama-worship could go, I went to the HuffPo.

Well, there or the New York Times. But I digress.

Take a look at what they're saying. Here's Alan Schram:
None of the above scenarios is very promising; none leads to a good denouement. And what bothers me most is that we bet our financial system and the economic recovery on this plan, hailed as a panacea. It is never a good idea to bet the house on any grand scheme. Any system as complex and reflexive as the US economy is by definition unpredictable, and nobody could be confident this plan will work. If it fails, shattering the high hopes of so many, the price of disappointment will be immense. We will be with our back to the wall, facing another wave of panic.

The very premise behind the plan is flawed....

Here is Ann Pettifor:
President Obama is in danger of making the same mistake Nelson Mandela made. Like Mandela he is abrogating power to shape a vision for the recovery of the US economy, and handing over the baton of leadership to Wall St. and lesser mortals....

Like Mandela, Obama is a lawyer in awe, it appears, of economists. He is surrounded by members of the profession who are, we would contend, the slaves of a defunct economics. Defunct, but dangerously ingrained, since these men are clearly experiencing the most intense difficulty escaping from old ideas and policies, and developing new ones.

Here's a bit of satire from one of the HuffPo's Genuinely Funny People, Andy Borowitz:
"Desperate times call for desperate measures," White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel said on CNN last night. "If anyone can convince investors to buy a worthless piece of paper, it's Bernie Madoff."

Here's m'lady Huffington Herself:
No wonder the public is not convinced when Geithner, having laid the groundwork that made the AIG bonuses possible, and having gotten Chris Dodd to include a bonus loophole in the stimulus bill, now acts shocked over the bonuses.

Geithner's feigned surprise at AIG has been a body blow to public confidence in the president. According to Sunday's Rassmussen poll, just 12 percent of those Rassmussen defines as "Populists" have a favorable opinion of Geithner while those Rassmussen identifies as "America's Political Class" have a 76 percent favorable opinion of him.

It was painful to watch Obama, just hours after Geithner had admitted his role in the Dodd/bonus loophole affair, go on Jay Leno and say that Geithner is doing an "outstanding job." Even before Frank Rich's Sunday column was titled "Has a 'Katrina Moment' Arrived?," Obama's assessment had more than a whiff of Bush telling Brownie he was "doing a heck of a job."

...the issue isn't Geithner's delivery, it's what he's delivering: an approach to the crisis that is as toxic as the assets that have hamstrung the economy. Geithner, brilliant and hardworking though he is, is trapped within a Wall Street-centric view of the world and seems incapable of escaping....

It might seem extraordinary to be calling for the resignation or demotion of President Obama's point man on our financial system.

But let me remind you of a few other things that are extraordinary: the government has spent $2.2 trillion and committed another $7.7 trillion to bolster America's struggling financial system; $7 trillion of shareholders' wealth was lost in the stock market in 2008; over 4.2 million jobs have been lost in the last 14 months; 2.3 million houses were foreclosed in 2008, with another 121,756 foreclosures last month alone.


This is what Obama's fans are saying.

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