Letting the Capitalism Out of the Bag

The wit and wisdom of the chairman of the Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee—basically, he's in charge of everything that has gone utterly FUBAR in recent months:

"This happens because capitalism keeps trying to destroy itself, by getting out of the bag we put it in to control it."

So says Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.), who is the number Democrat on the House Banking Committee, right under Barney Frank (D-Mass.). 

Biden bonus: In the same interview, Kanjorski called the president "articulate."

Comments

[Chris]

Good grief.

[Jess Fields]

How about the ethical bag Kanjorski keeps crawling out of?

[Curious George]

Congress is going to recreate the 70s.

What is in the water in Massachusetts anyway?

[Warren]

Gaaawd dang it.

That's good enough.
Who's willing to buy a round for a fellow American down on his luck.

[iowan]

"This happens because capitalism keeps trying to destroy itself, by getting out of the bag we put it in to control it."

Fuck Pennsylvania for electing someone this stupid.

[Jamie Kelly]

Congress is going to recreate the 70s.

Sweet! Hairy porno and coke! That's worth the inflation any day.

[R C Dean]

Something tells me this clown thinks "moral hazard" is what happens if you wander into a conversation with a fundamentalist Christian.

[Pro Libertate]

Where can I buy this bag of capitalism?

[kinnath]

I hate term limits, but given the near certain re-election of incumbents, I don't know any other way to prevent dipshits like this becoming entrenched in positions of power.

[Orange Line Special]

Oddly enough, Reason seems to have missed the Kanjorski video everyone was talking about yesterday.

[John]

You laugh at this guy but he is typical. Go over to Volokh or Megan McArdle sometime where real no kidding liberals post. You would be amazed at the basic level of economic ignorance. These people honestly beleive that the government can create wealth and jobs from nothing, that the "social value" of government programs out weighs any cost to the private sector and that basic common sense micro economic facts like the broken window fallacy are not valid. At some point, dontrinaire liberals run education for 40 years and not see some effect in the way people think or don't think.

[J sub D]

"Some people say, 'Let the marketplace take care of itself.' But that could mean we go back to living like in the 1850s. We're trying to avoid that $50 trillion loss and stop this whole thing in a year or so.

And he expects to be taken seriously. Really, he does.

[John]

"And he expects to be taken seriously. Really, he does."

Of course he does. What is scary is that he is taken seriously because there are a ton of people out there who are too dumb to know any better and actually think things like this.

[joshua corning]

Sweet! Hairy porno

There is no fucking way I can support ending the current fad of woman shaving their private parts.

[Warren]

Oh man. I hate bald beaver. It's like pedophilia. Bring back the bush (lower case 'b').

[Obama]

I...eh.....eh.....think.....ah.....if....eh..........oh.....where's.....eh.....the............telepromter...eh.

Articulate, that just Michelle throwing her voice.

[Gabe]

I agree, Obama is articulate I am quite surprised by him.

[Invisible Finger]

These people honestly beleive that the government can create wealth and jobs from nothing,

Well, the government CAN create property rights. Seems like they're only interested in creating intellectual property rights while at the same time diminishing real property rights.

[tekende]

Obama is painful to listen to. Anytime he's asked a question, it takes him at least 30 seconds to even start answering, during which time he's going "Uh, well, uh, I think, uh, that we should, uh" and making weird noises with his throat. He can barely string a coherent sentence together. Plus he has an annoying habit of ending every answer with either "mmkay?" or "all right?" which comes across as extremely condescending.

Say what you will about Bush's verbal gaffes, at least the man could communicate an idea in a way that made sense.

[Silentz]

Warren:
Who's willing to buy a round for a fellow American down on his luck

Just stand up at one of Barry's "Town Hall" meetings and cry a lot, or praise the Lord God, and tell him your plight. He'll take care of you. He'll have his "staff" talk to you after the show...er...spectacle...er speech.

[Shannon Love]

So, if the melt down in the financial system resulted from runway capitalism, why did the boom occur in the heavily regulated and heavily state manipulated residential mortgage market but not in the nearly completely free-market commercial mortgage market?

It would be nice if people like Kanjorski even tried to test their ideas against reality.

[HAL-9000]

I am sorry, I am an American citizen (subject?) and somewhat confused.

What is this "capitalism" you speak of?

[Malto Dextrin]

right under Barney Frank (D-Mass.)

The mind boggles.

[Hazel Meade]

It would be nice if people like Kanjorski even tried to test their ideas against reality.

Wish granted.

[libertymike]

Articulate necessarily means an absence of filler in one's discourse. That rules out Obama. He is not articulate. If you can't express yourself without umming and ahhing and you knowing, you, by defintion, are not articulate.

[bill]

Isn't the whole purpose of capitalism to NOT be controlled?

[Marc]

Kanjorski called the president "articulate."

"He speaks so well!"

[Paul]

*head in hands*

God these people are in control of our fucking lives!!!!

[Paul]

Hazel at 6:32 wins the thread.

No fuck that, she wins the week.

No fuck that, she wins the Hit & Run blog.

No fuck that... she just wins.

[Paul]

"He speaks so well!"

He's an educated man, motherf*cker!

[Hazel Meade]

Woot! My first thread-winning comment!

[RL]

To be fair, the most reasonable way to interpret "articulate" as a surprisingly positive characteristic of the current President is not in the context of his race, but in the context of his predecessor...

[JW]

So says Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.), who is the number Democrat

Is this a new species?

Ye gods, save us from the fuckwits we keep electing.

[Readsreasonlessoften]

Libertarians for Obama!!!! Yeah!!! Suckers.

[Nooge]

What is in the water in Massachusetts anyway?

joe juice.

[Nooge]

The mind boggles.

eeeeeewwwwwww 🙁

[theCL]

"Congress is going to recreate the 70s."

Oh, it's gonna get a lot worse.

[Hugh Akston]

"This happens because capitalism keeps trying to destroy itself, by getting out of the bag we put it in to control it."

Didn't Rumsfeld say the same thing about Muslims?

[domoarrigato]

Say what you will about Bush's verbal gaffes, at least the man could communicate an idea in a way that made sense.

Uhhhh... really? really!?

"This happens because capitalism keeps trying to destroy itself, by getting out of the bag we put it in to control it."

Didn't Rumsfeld say the same thing about Muslims?

Can two comments win the thread? Possible?

[Tam]

I know that the "Bushitler" stuff is an ingrained reflex by now, but that's over, okay? It's so... so... December.

We're making fun of Sheriff Bart's totalitarian administration now.

[KD]

So says Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.), who is the number Democrat

Wouldn't that be grammaticer if stated as the "more numb" Democrat?

[Hazel Meade]

I give you the third thread winner:

Witness the horror of this

[JB]

Argh. Most people deserve the coming shit-storm.

Get your guns ready. Maybe if enough civilized folks group together they can take out the crazies after they finish eating the stupids.

[JB]

Warren, you know what's like pedophilia? Fucking people with shaved armpits. That shit doesn't grow in until puberty buddy. According to your "logic", having sex with someone who shaves their armpits is like having sex with a child.

[Paul]

Congress is going to recreate the 70s.

Congress is going to make the 70's look like the 90's.

[Dr. Yogi]

Is that Leo McGary in that photo?

[MJ]

Damn Capitalism from trying to escape that hot, stifling, suffacating bag! Let's beat it with clubs until it stops!

[domoarrigato]

Hazel Meade | February 12, 2009, 12:19am | #

I give you the third thread winner:

Witness the horror of this

"Thank you lord Jesus - I mean Mr. President - for answering my question"

I threw up a little in my mouth.

"One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors." -- Plato (429-347 BC)

[perlhaqr]

Congress is going to recreate the 70s.

Congress is going to make the 70's look like the 90's.

If we're lucky, Congress won't make the 30's look like the 90's.

[Cabeza De Vaca]

I've got a bag full of capitalism & my homies do too.

[AWC]

My question is "Does he even know what capitalism is?". Ayn Rand defined it as the social system designed to protect individual rights including property rights. So is it individual and property rights that Kanjorski is trying to control?

Does he understand that it is immoral to initiate force against others -- whether it is rape, murder, or taxes? Does he understand that as a member of the government his sole role is to protect you and me from those who initiate force? It is immoral for him to initiate it -- as he does with taxes and regulations and debt.

[arf]

whats in the water in Mass.? ... Mary JO Kopechne. The ethically deficient Mr Kennedy is an obvious example of the rotten politician who could get re-elected forever.
Term limits look like the only way to get rid of these people.

[T]

We're making fun of Sheriff Bart's totalitarian administration now.

Now, Tam, surely you of all people realize we don't have to limit ourselves that way. We can make fun of both! And lord knows they give us enough material to work with...

[Peg C.]

I have never been so ashamed of my country or despairing of our miserable, incompetent, malevolent and criminal political class. Off with every single one of their heads.

Incidentally, we are ALL economic ignoramuses. The public education system (and the private; I speak from experience) assure this. They all want us to be clueless as they rob us blind. An educated and informed public is a danger to the ruling class.

We seriously need another revolution.

[subrot0]

The bad news is that there is no other better choice. You think the Dems are bad, the GOP is no better. Its a choice between awful and bad. The GOP could at least stand up and say hell no, but they need their pork legislation as well to stay elected.

Its time to create a 3rd party. No I am not talking the freaking liberterian or green party. I am talking a party like Teddy Roosevelt (the bull moose party).

Its should be a party that represents America in all its glory. I seriously worry about the future of this nation with winners like Kanjorski, Obama, Reid, McCain and Pelosi.

Unfortunately, I know nothing about starting a 3rd party. This country seriously needs to get back to its roots and find its direction before it crumbles like the Roman Empire. Laissez faire or bust!!!

[Jeffersonian]

I wonder what it was like when the federal government was in a bag.

[BrotherJ]

Hazel Meade at 6:32

""It would be nice if people like Kanjorski even tried to test their ideas against reality."

Wish granted."

To which I would add: Please be careful what you wish for next time.

[grichens]

Readsreasonlessoften: "Libertarians for Obama!!!! Yeah!!! Suckers."

Yeeeargh! Finally a payoff to reading the comments!

[James Brown]

Perhaps the problem is not so much with capitalism, but with the bag?

I recommend a new approach; a brand new bag.

[TallDave]

Bag it, tag it, sell it to the butcher in the store!

[Xeones]

Yo, fuck Paul Kanjorski to hell.

[Orange Line Special]

subrot0 writes: Its time to create a 3rd party.

Alternatively, you could help reform the GOP. The problem is that sites like Reason are afraid to hold the GOP accountable for their mistakes.

It would have been extremely easy for Reason to have tried to ask Specter a difficult question about the stimulus that would have shown he hasn't thought through the impacts of what he supports.

In fact, here's video of Melanie Morgan ranting to a Specter aide inside Specter's office. It's not that far from that ineffective rant to someone like Reason asking Specter or a policy aide questions designed to make them look bad.

Instead of just getting 4000 views as her video did, that video from Reason would have been linked from Drudge and gotten hundreds of thousands or millions of views and would have had a measurable impact on the legislation.

Yet, Reason did nothing.

[Shelby]

Kanjorski called the president "articulate."

He forgot "clean".

[P Brooks]

Alternatively, you could help reform the GOP. The problem is that sites like Reason are afraid to hold the GOP accountable for their mistakes.

Good grief.

[Orange Line Special]

Don't get me wrong: Reason is quite capable of ranting and raving. However, when it comes to actually holding legislators accountable in person on video, Reason runs and hides. Despite her other noted problems, Melanie Morgan has bigger ones than Reason.

[JB]

subrot0, me and a few friends thought of creating a new party called the Freedom and Ass-kicking party. Mostly libertarian, but with a recognition that there are bad people out there (terrorists, countries, etc.) who need their ass kicked. No nation-building, no long-term troop deployments (bring the troops home from Europe and Korea and Iraq), but we go in and kick ass now and then and then get out. They want to screw with us, they can face the consequences and pick up the pieces.

[peter jackson]

I'm happy
I'm feeling glad
I've got capitalism
In a bag
I'm useless
But not for long
The future
Is comin' on

[Fatbuttox]

"Where can I buy this bag of capitalism?"

BRILLIANT sentence! That deserves an Instalanche in itself.

[Pro Libertate]

Thank you, Fatbuttox. Soon, everyone will want their own bag of capitalism!

[subrot0]

JB, I like the name Freedom and Ass Kicking Party. Its something that people routinely deserve and people need to be ass kicked every once in a while especially Congressmen and Senators. There are nations that deserve to be ass kicked routinely as well as well as random people. Unfortunately the Democrats already have an ass and it doesn't get kicked that often. There are other things that happens to that particular ass.

Teddy Roosevelt was an ass kicker. The man just kicked ass and people knew not to mess with him or the USA. THIS is what this nation needs now more than ever. The Bull Moose (for lack of a better name) needs a mascot and a ground swell.

So far we have 2 people. All we need are just 250,000,000 more.