Well, That's a Relief
Obama, to BusinessWeek, last week:
"But the last point I would just make in terms of the operating economic philosophy here: My working assumption has always been, if the market could do it better, have the market do it. I have very little confidence in, as I said, some sort of command-and-control regulatory regime. I think businesses create jobs. And I'm a big believer in the profit motive and think free-market pricing is the best way to figure out how to distribute goods and services in a complex economy. In that sense, maybe I spent too much time at the University of Chicago, but I'm pretty steeped in what would be considered a very mainstream view of the economy and government's role in it. I just think it's a sign of how far our ideological pendulum has swung that the things we suggest are somehow deemed anti-business."
Via Derrick Miller
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Did anyone get video of his pants bursting into flame during this interview?
War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength.
It depends on what the meaning of is, is.
I'm a big believer in the profit motive
Two plus two equals five. That's pure profit!
"I just think it's a sign of how far our ideological pendulum has swung that the things we suggest are somehow deemed anti-business."
I think he is being truthful. I honestly think he doesn't understand how doubling the price of energy or charging businesses who can't afford to provide health insurance to their employees a tax for not doing so could possibly hurt businesses.
It is not that Obama is some kind of Marxist Manchurean Candidate. It is that he is so stupid and ill-informed he unintentionally acts like one.
Most of that sounds exactly like something that George W. Bush could have said and did say.
Not that that's reassuring.
The free market remarks coupled with what he's actually doing make me confused. In a dizzy, fall to the floor twitching sort of way. WTF? Am I misreading this?
OK, funny guy, who reprogrammed the Obamadroid with FreeMarket 2.0? We're going to be up all night cleaning this out of its system....
Anyone can say they're for free markets. It's what their actions are that truly matters.
So far, Obama's actions scream "free markets are icky!" like a 8 year old school girl in a face to face confrontation with a spider.
I'm waiting for Tony or Lefiti to show up and bitch-slap Obama for being a market-worshiper.
This is the important part of his statement:
My working assumption has always been, if the market could do it better, have the market do it.
His problem is that he thinks the market can't do what he wants. For example, he says the market only distributes goods and services; the point that the market dictates what goods and services people will use is lost on him.
The market is only a distributor of what the government tells it to distribute. And when the market doesn't do a good enough job at distributing the crap that the government wants it to sell, then then government must step in and help out.
His remark is very telling if you understand Obamaese.
Shouldn't you free-market fanatics come to terms with the undeniable fact that no market economy has ever existed that hasn't had some level of state involvment?
I got this one guys. William, and they have all failed haven't they?
(and you guys call me a lefty and a deutchesbag.)
Phew! I'm glad Obama said that. I was starting to believe otherwise, what with every single thing he's done since taking office.
...no market economy has ever existed that hasn't had some level of state involvment?
Yet. Hush, William.
Anyone ever seen a veterinarian rub a kitten's butt while the kitten is given a shot? The vet is simulating the kitten's mother cleaning it to stimulate a comfort response in order to distract the kitten from the pain of the shot.
Obama is rubbing our, or businesses, collective ass.
*Did anyone here a surgical glove snapping sound?*
"It is not that Obama is some kind of Marxist Manchurean Candidate. It is that he is so stupid and ill-informed he unintentionally acts like one."
I'm going with stupid too. Make that stupid tool.
I think Mike in PA's got it.
Funny...
My working assumption has always been, for the most part, that if the market can't do it, it probably shouldn't be done.
You free "to enslave" marketeers can take your fascist president and go to hell!!!
To William, a mosquito and a vampire are the same thing because they both suck blood.
I've posted this before but:
*SMACK*
"Baby, why you make me hit you like that? You know I don't want to."
WTF? Am I misreading this?
Not at all. The driving force of this administration is the idea that people are so stupid they cannot see the complete disconnect between rhetoric and action.
"It is not that Obama is some kind of Marxist Manchurean Candidate. It is that he is so stupid and ill-informed he unintentionally acts like one."
I'm going with stupid too. Make that stupid tool.
I really do not understand why it is so hard to believe that a politician and a Democrat can't simply be a liar.
How about instead of Obama being stupid and dupe that instead he is smart and a liar?
Sounds remarkably like that TV pitchman "Joe Isuzu" from the late 80s, early 90s.
Did the words "He's Lying" flash in big red letters below the teleprompter?
In the same sense that Obama supports the free market and profit motive, I support his administration.
He's not lying. Read my earlier post.
And if the free market can't do it, billions to Wall Street, the auto companies, and CARS can! See, it all makes sense if you look at it the right way.
The most confusing part for me is that so many people are still surprised when a politician praises the power of capitalism while simultaneously stomping on its neck. Shouldn't we be used to it by now?
hmmm@12:58
I've never been jealous of a kitten before;}
It's not that complicated. He of course has been itching to do exactly what he's been doing, he just knows he's going to get criticism for it. So he claims his hand has been forced.
Pin whatever word on that you like.
"How about instead of Obama being stupid and dupe that instead he is smart and a liar?"
That could be true. But I find that stupidity is the default human condition. So, absent hard evidence that Obama is a evil genius, I just assume by default that he is stupid.
Obama is a liar.
Government Motors.
I rest my case.
...but I'm pretty steeped in what would be considered a very mainstream view...
Isn't this what everyone thinks about themselves? Pauline Kaels's "I don't know anyone who voted for Nixon" is the classic example.
for Voros
"Girl, you just make me so angry. Why you got to make me so angry?" The free-market huddled in the corner of the ruined bedroom, her split lip beginning to swell. The light from the lamp on its side left his face shaded as he stalked back and forth.
"I believe in you, baby. I believe you can make me prosper." He loomed over the free-market; even back lit the free-market could see the dim glow of hate in his eyes. "Now get out there and make me some money, bitch." As always he punctuated the last word with a kick to her ribs. She would have trouble leaning into cars for quickie handjobs. He didn't care as long as he got his money to spend on his friends.
"Healthy whores make more money, but too healthy and they get a lip on them. Start to talk back." He flashed a toothy grin at the camera. The man filming the beating had said nothing the entire time. Balancing the camera on one shoulder, he began to massage his scrotum through the thin material of his suit.
Little green pieces of paper that are printed up and handed out according to political influence.
Step 1: Tax the shirt off your back.
Step 2:
Step 3: PROFIT!
SugarFree--What is that from? Did you just make that up?
It fucking rocked!
Dello, SugarFree has a tongue prettier than a two dollar whore.
SugarFree,
Obama the pimp; the free market his whore. Awesome.
I think Obama is tearing a page from history here. There's a chance that 2010 will prove to be a lesser 1994 (assuming the GOP seizes the opportunity it has). 1994 forced Clinton to become a Republican on a number of issues. Obama is aware of the possibility, so he's setting the groundwork for saying, "What? I was always a moderate! The Era of Big Government is over!"
'The most confusing part for me is that so many people are still surprised when a politician praises the power of capitalism while simultaneously stomping on its neck. Shouldn't we be used to it by now?'
Now I think you have some idea of how the pro-lifers feel with Obama's 'common ground' rhetoric.
brotherben,
If I had known what you'd be doing with it, I would have never sent you that picture of my tongue.
My working assumption is that if the market is doing a less than perfect job of doing something, then it is very, very unlikely that the government can improve on that.
"That could be true. But I find that stupidity is the default human condition. So, absent hard evidence that Obama is a evil genius, I just assume by default that he is stupid."
Yup. An evil genious would know that Austrian isn't a language.
Suge, the paper cuts are a bitch!
I just flipped through the BW interview. What is impressive is Obamessiah's multi-paragraph answers to the questions. He's been well briefed and apparently focused on these issues, discussing management theories, probabilities, the complexity of trying to tax multinational companies. Dubya would have smirked his way through and said nothing useful. That said, give BW credit for printing the view of T.J. Rodgers, president and CEO of Cypress Semiconductor: "We are rapidly socializing the United States, where the federal government is controlling more assets in the country than private individuals are. And I think that is a disaster. If you look at any example of centrally controlled economies, that's been a disaster. And we're headed in the wrong direction. With Obama, there is a major sea change of the ownership of assets in the United States of America."
It is that he is so stupid and ill-informed he unintentionally acts like one.
But... but... but he was the Editor of the Harvard Law Review. He knows how to use endnotes, the proper difference between a colon and semi-colon, and how to grammatically correctly cite a federal appeals court case.
NutraSweet stole that from a Rocco Siffredi script, people. He's a plagiarizer.
Bet he doesn't. I was the senior editor for my law review, and I can't remember much of my Blue Book at all.
Can we please stop wasting intertubes arguing what we all know is true: Obama's lying. Post after post we are treated to some policy or statement that is obviously bullshit. But for some reason the staff feels the need to post it as if there was actually a debate to be had. Are they really this stupid or is there something I'm missing?
Episiarch,
But he added the spice, man.
James Ard,
I think they should post every lie, then run a Top 100 Lies of the Obama Administration in 2012.
He knows how to use endnotes, the proper difference between a colon and semi-colon, and how to grammatically correctly cite a federal appeals court case.
Or he knows how to tell other people to do it. I like my answer better.
My working assumption has always been, if the market could do it better, have the market do it.
And since the market isn't going to support the UAW better than Obama will, he has to pick up the slack. Market failure, nyaaaaaah!
Dello, SugarFree has a uses his tongue prettier than a two dollar whore.
And we all know the spice must flow.
He's a plagiarizer.
So, if he keeps it up and plays his cards right, he could become Vice-President?
We all can!
That is vintage Obama.
He has long being using the tactic of spouting a bunch of rhetoric that is 180 degrees opposite of what he's actually doing and trying to do in an attempt to fool people into thinking he's not a radical leftists.
And we all know the spice must flow.
Yes. Or the Empire will fall.
Hmmmm.......
Epi,
Yes We Can!
So, absent hard evidence that Obama is a evil genius, I just assume by default that he is stupid.
People lie everyday. No need to be an evil genius. Plus Obama beat Clinton in an election. Hard to be stupid and accomplish that.
Obama is not stupid; however, he is clearly in over his head at this point. The only question is whether or not he can pull up out of the death spiral his administration is in.
2010 will be interesting.
Actually he beat her in a bunch of caucuses. Clinton won most of the primaries.
H's plgrzr.
psrch,
ll y d s ccs nd ccs. gss w'll nvr dpt tht lttl frcn bb ftr ll. Dch.
"People lie everyday. No need to be an evil genius. Plus Obama beat Clinton in an election. Hard to be stupid and accomplish that."
You can be stupid in one area and smart in another. Just because he can run a smart campaign, doesn't mean he knows anything about the economy.
Then again there is this
http://www.blippitt.com/obama-joker-poster-photo
Some people just want to watch the world burn.
I've always been significantly more terrified by people who want to make the world better than those who want to just burn it to the ground.
At least the latter people are honest about their effects.
Fck y, NtrSwt.
Great photo, lousy caption.
I've always been significantly more terrified by people who want to make the world better than those who want to just burn it to the ground.
At least the latter people are honest about their effects.
It's the dilemma of knowing your enemies intentions and not the intentions of your friends. With the later being able to inflict more damage.
I've always been significantly more terrified by people who want to make the world better than those who want to just burn it to the ground.
"Who gives a damn about petty special interest politics when there's an entire cosmos to be swept clean with fire?"
"I've always been significantly more terrified by people who want to make the world better than those who want to just burn it to the ground."
The road to hell is paved with good intentions. The devil is charming. He never comes with cloven hooves. He comes as your friend. Evil is always cloked in the common good. And it always promises a better world. All of the worst crimes in history were commited by people who earnestly beleived they were building a better world by doing so.
"I think they should post every lie, then run a Top 100 Lies of the Obama Administration in 2012."
A good place to start...
http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&q=Obama%27s+lies&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=&aqi=g10
"Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the Government's purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal - well meaning but without understanding."
- Louis D. Brandeis
The road to hell is paved with good intentions. The devil is charming. He never comes with cloven hooves. He comes as your friend. Evil is always cloked in the common good. And it always promises a better world. All of the worst crimes in history were commited by people who earnestly beleived they were building a better world by doing so.
cliche bandit is that you? Dear god cliche over load.
Hmm,
It is only a cliche because it is true. Man is always evil. He just can't help himself because he is so easily duped and is never able to develop a perfect ethical system.
John,
Well, sometimes he writes Mein Kampf first.
The lefiti section of my incif file is almost as big as my loneWacko section.
maybe I spent too much time at the University of Chicago
I'm pretty sure that's not the problem.
robc, what about the coveted brotherben file?
"John,
Well, sometimes he writes Mein Kampf first."
Communism really is good intentions gone insane. There are great accounts written by the actual perpetrators of the purge of the Kulaks (I mean the people who actually went around and shot people and threw them out of their homes) where they talk about how proud they were to participate in it. How they felt so happy to be a part of making a better Russia and world by eliminating these people with the wrong political consciousness. It will send a chill up your spin.
The Nazis were not quite as good of a fit. I am not sure the people who committed those atrocities were anything beyond twisted perverts or soulless bureaucrats. I am not sure someone like Mengele or Eichmann ever thought deeply enough to conceive a better world.
It's all Hegel's fault. He inspired (in part) the Communists and the Nazis.
Aw hell, since we're throwing out cliches...
"Yet the test should be so simple: just listen to any prophet and if you hear him speak of sacrifice-run. Run faster than from a plague.It stands to reason that where there's sacrifice, there's someone collecting sacrificial offerings. Where there's service, there's someone being served. The man who speaks to you of sacrifice, speaks of slaves and masters. And intends to be the master.
-Ayn Rand
P.S. Not a Randroid
It is that he is so stupid and ill-informed he unintentionally acts like one.
Dead wrong. The interview shows his intelligence (in that A plus gold star fact regurgitating way). Problem is, he seems to know how to talk about free markets at a cocktail party, but when it comes time to apply that thinking he just throws it out the window. The only explanation is that he's a really good liar.
Here are some key anti-free market quotes from the interview:
You have to read this as a purely political point. It's extremely difficult to get from here to there because of antiquated notions of "property" and "freedom of association". It's not like he wants to tear down any governmental impediments to health care efficiency, he wants to build a whole new layer on top of the system.
And of course he's never read Hayek.
This is particularly infuriating. The groundwork for the 90's boom was the "vulture capitalism" of the 80's that I'm sure Obama was using as a recruiting tool for the Democratic party. Meanwhile, the four sectors he mentioned are inefficient because they are primarily delivered by the government. Irony 1, Obama 0.
And if we don't do that, then [my political allies are] going to be limping along with unsatisfactory growth rates for a pretty long period of time. FTFY Mr. President.
Perhaps his critics are still in the fire and are not a little upset over the unfair treatment?
This has got to be the money quote. I am now going to start all of my sentences with "To the extent that I can identify any aspects of this that make any sense." And how in the hell could a profit-seeking bank "change [its] business goal"? Shall they be ruled by government proxy now?
at the height of the AIG debacle, I used pretty tough language
Listen to what I say, not what I do. And when I do something, it will be cosmetic and despotic (I'm referring to the bonus bill here).
I'm including this because his ignoring of the Goldman Sachs question speaks volumes.
Get ready for rationing!
Or maybe Pro it is all Kant's fault.
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MTk1NzZmMDQwYTI1OTEyNzE5OTU2ZDVlMzcxOWY0MDc=
[Man] just can't help himself because he is so easily duped and is never able to develop a perfect ethical system.
Ambrose Bierce explains why.
SATAN, n. One of the Creator's lamentable mistakes, repented in sashcloth and axes. Being instated as an archangel, Satan made himself multifariously objectionable and was finally expelled from Heaven. Halfway in his descent he paused, bent his head in thought a moment and at last went back. "There is one favor that I should like to ask," said he.
"Name it."
"Man, I understand, is about to be created. He will need laws."
"What, wretch! you his appointed adversary, charged from the dawn of eternity with hatred of his soul - you ask for the right to make his laws?"
"Pardon; what I have to ask is that he be permitted to make them himself."
It was so ordered.
You Kant blame Kant. Luther might be partially to blame in Germany, though, with his pro-autocracy, anti-peasant views.
"It will send a chill up your spin."
I love it!
Funny. I'd vote for Kant over Nietzsche.
Mad props to anybody throwing out Ambrose refs, Rich. One the earliest examples of the idea that you just can't be too cynical.
It will send a chill up your spin.
RC'z Law, how we love you!
All you need to know in order to predict what he will say is what publication is doing the interview, or which special interest group he's addressing.
RC,
If you couldn't bitch and moan about the odd typo, what would you do?
brotherben,
Why would I be filtering you out?
"Funny. I'd vote for Kant over Nietzsche."
Kierkegard 08. A sustainable metaphysical construct!!
RC,
There is a corollary to your law, which is the less someone has to say about something, the more interesting grammar and spelling become.
Another one would be, the less you know the easier something is also means the harder something seems, the more you think you know about it.
Somewhere in Hell, a snowball just formed.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions. The devil is charming. He never comes with cloven hooves. He comes as your friend. Evil is always cloked in the common good. And it always promises a better world. All of the worst crimes in history were commited by people who earnestly beleived they were building a better world by doing so.
Genghis Khan, great utopian!
"Genghis Khan, great utopian!"
Genghis is an interesting character. He looked at himself as being a defender, unifier and avenger of his people. The Mongols had been kicked around by pretty much everyone. No doubt Genghis thought the world would be a better place if Mongols ruled it. Whatever his thinking, it was not just mindless destruction.
Genghis is an interesting character. He looked at himself as being a defender, unifier and avenger of his people. The Mongols had been kicked around by pretty much everyone. No doubt Genghis thought the world would be a better place if Mongols ruled it. Whatever his thinking, it was not just mindless destruction.
I know, I was just being snide. However, though he was an interesting character, it is hard to characterize his efforts as utopian. More like Klingons pillaging, if you know what I mean.
Killing peasants en masse is like eating potato chips.
Violence never settles anything. - Genghis Khan (1162-1227)
You just have to wonder what his points were prior to this comment. He has often praised free market principles and then resorted to speaking about how government interventions are needed.
"I know, I was just being snide. However, though he was an interesting character, it is hard to characterize his efforts as utopian. More like Klingons pillaging, if you know what I mean."
He is not a utopian, true. Although not just rape and pillage either. He is credited with saying something to the effect that any man can ride into a city and conquer and slaughter. The hard part is when you get off your horse, implying that ruling is a lot harder than conquering.
When Obama's done with the American economy it will be slightly less unregulated than it was, meaning it will still be the wild west compared to the rest of the civilized world.
"When Obama's done with the American economy it will be slightly less unregulated than it was, meaning it will still be the wild west compared to the rest of the civilized world."
ARRRRRGGGGG!
When Obama's done with the American economy it will be slightly less unregulated than it was, meaning it will still be the wild west compared to the rest of the civilized world.
God I hope so. I have my spurs and hat all ready to go.
He is credited with saying something to the effect that any man can ride into a city and conquer and slaughter. The hard part is when you get off your horse, implying that ruling is a lot harder than conquering.
Which is probably why he preferred collecting tribute from cities, under threat of a good sacking if not paid, to actually conquering them. I'll say this for the guy, he wasn't 'corrupted' by the ways of civilized people like his descendants were. He slept in a tent his entire life.
Tulpa,
Have you seen the movie Mongol? Allegedly it is fairly close to his life. It was by far the best movie of 2007. It totally kicks ass. It is the first of a trilogy to be made about his life. All filmed in Russia and Mongolia and in the Mongolian language.
Democrats in Congress have finally found a tax cut they can get behind, Legal Newsline reports:
Federal legislation that would afford trial lawyers a special tax break faces an uncertain future, says one of the chief lobbyists for the nation's trial lawyers.The proposal would allow attorneys to deduct fees and expenses up-front for filing contingency-fee lawsuits. The proposal amounts to about a $1.6 billion tax break for plaintiffs' attorneys, estimates indicate."Everyone wants to do it, but the problem is there is not a tax vehicle yet," said Linda Lipsen, American Association for Justice (AAJ) Senior Vice President of Public Affairs. . . ."You cannot have a stand alone bill to help lawyers ? so we have to tuck it into something," she saidUnder current tax law, expenses incurred by plaintiffs lawyers working on contingency are considered loans to the client. If the plaintiff wins the case, he pays his lawyer back out of the award. If he loses, the lawyer deducts the loss from his taxes in the year the case is resolved. Under the proposed change, the lawyer would get the deduction right away. Presumably if the client ultimately reimburses him, he would pay taxes then--which means this effectively amounts to an interest-free government loan for trial lawyers.
Legal Newswire notes that this tax break for ambulance chasers "has the support of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y.," all of whom are eager to raise taxes of non-trial-lawyers.
http://www.legalnewsline.com/spotlight/222204-lobbyist-aaj-looking-to-quietly-pass-plaintiff-lawyer-tax-break
The hard part is when you get off your horse, implying that ruling is a lot harder than conquering.
On that, I think, every conqueror can agree.
"Everyone wants to do it, but the problem is there is not a tax vehicle yet," said Linda Lipsen, American Association for Justice (AAJ) Senior Vice President of Public Affairs.
Ah yes: the American Association for Justice!
I must be headed by Superman!
How could anyone oppose anything this group wants?
If you couldn't bitch and moan about the odd typo, what would you do?
Way to totally miss the point, John. I'm not pissing and moaning about typos. Exactly the opposite! I'm deriving great pleasure from them. Celebrating them, even.
I look forward to your posts because your typos are such fine examples of RC'z Law (which states, after all, that a post with a typo is likely to be funnier or more insightful than what was intended).
Another one would be, the less you know the easier something is also means the harder something seems, the more you think you know about it.
That might be a corollary to one of the Iron Laws, not to be confused with RC'z Law.
Obama is a liar. He gets off on more and more government intervention. He sits in the Oval office jacking off thinking of all-government, all-the-time, in every orifice.
Ah, for the days of Clinton, who sat in the Oval Office and got off in a different way.
"Hey, don't get me wrong," says the President, "Some of my best friends are free-market economists!"
He slept in a tent his entire life.
And how that productive somnambulist got into his pajamas I'll never know.
Pathological liar.