When Arlen Specter changed from being a republican to a democrat I started thinking about what a moderate republican was and what was the real difference between republicans and democrats. In many ways it’s just a matter of style and trivial perspective. I suspect that for a lot of republicans they are anti-communist and the republicans offer a bias that is as anti-communist as you can get; even though democrats are not communists. For that segment of the republican coalition they choose an ideology that forces religion on people over the communist ideology that bans religion; the democrats believe in freedom of religion and to that end try to keep it out of government. I suppose a moderate republican would dismiss that part of the coalition as extremists. The anti-communists consider any government meddling in economic affairs a form of socialism. I’m guessing that a moderate republican would heed the lessons learned when 19th century robber barons glommed so much of the GNP that there wasn’t enough left to sustain the economy and so they tolerate a certain amount of government intervention; especially if it serves their own personal business interests. Sadly, many democrats share that with the moderate republicans but, I suppose that’s what democracy is all about: the majority of the people deciding what’s in their own best interests and steering the government in that direction. My own personal bias is towards a government that stays out of my personal life, my religion and keeps the robber barons at bay. We still have robber barons but, they are global and the popular belief has it that they are Middle Eastern Sheiks. I have my doubts. I think they are Texas oil men who control the refineries. In either case, I would like us to return to that economic philosophy that touted an ever expanding middle class and distribution of wealth over an ever larger segment of the population; a philosophy that seems to have been shared by every 20th century president with the exceptions of Hoover, Reagan and Bush II. But, I could be wrong. Maybe, wealth distribution is what separates moderate republicans from democrats. I’m still trying to figure out what a moderate republican is.
Archive for the ‘Economics’ Category
What is a moderate republican?
Thursday, June 25th, 2009Where did the money Go?
Sunday, March 15th, 2009The truth is; it never existed. The ‘poison assets’ were agreements between banks and borrowers that was based on the premise that the house was going to be worth more in the future and that somebody was going to have enough money to pay the loan back. Ultimately, some wage earner was going to have to indenture his or her services for 30 years. The free market system decided that the average indentured servant wasn’t worth the cost of the house or the loan. The bankers, the lawyers, the title searchers, the builders and the sellers all took their cut and spent it on whatever they spend it on and the money was never there. It lay off in the murky future of someone who got killed by supply side economics.
Spend vs Save
Friday, March 13th, 2009It’s better if everyone else spends and you save. Then you have all the money and if they need the money they have to come to you to borrow it. Then you get to charge interest on the money they borrowed to pay you for all the stuff you sell them.
What is Money?
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009Money is a tangible object that some government fashions in order to extract goods and services out of people. It’s only value is in what people are willing to do for it. The idea of nationalizing the banks is a purely ludicrous idea. The whole banking system is pretty much an arm of the government. Where the money goes is a prerogative the government has been exercising since before the bible was written. Whether it goes to Haliburton or a police department in Ohio, it’s still arbitrary.
Some argue that printing too much money will cause inflation. I never saw that happen. I’m not saying it can’t but, the only time I saw inflation happen in my lifetime was when the oil companies started raising their prices and everyone else tried to catch up. The last time they did it everyone started economising and the whole thing fell apart. I’m starting to think the only reason for the way our banking system is structured the way it is is to delude idealogues into thinking we have a free market system.