Not my title. That title was used by a fellow named Scott Sumner, who Paul Krugman identifies as a conservative and a neo-monetarist economist. Mr. Sumner writes a blog entitled "The Money Illusion".
The definition of treason
He quotes AP:
On the eve of the Fed’s two-day policy meeting, the leaders sent a letter to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke warning that the Fed’s policies could harm an already-weak U.S. economy.
The letter, sent Monday, was signed by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Senate Republican Whip Jon Kyl of Arizona, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia.
And then Sumner writes:
I think Congressmen have the right to speak out on monetary policy. As long as their advice is not politically motivated. Ask yourself the following question: Would these men be pressuring the Fed to adopt a tighter monetary policy if:
1. Unemployment were over 9%.
2. Inflation had averaged 1% over the past three years.
3. George Bush were president.
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Unlike Rick Perry, I don’t think it is treasonous to advocate easy money or tight money. Treason is advocating policies that you know will hurt the country, because you hope you can derive political gain from America’s misfortune. I’ll leave it to my readers to decide who should be charged with treason.
More below the Orange Squiggle of Power.
As you might expect, writing such opinions on a blog frequented by conservatives excited some people. Consider the opinions of one Morgan Warstler:
Once we agree taxation is theft, Obamacare is immoral, and the Federal government violates the rights of states and individuals, anything that hacks Democrats goals is valid game play.
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9% unemployment is Obama’s fault.
He CHOSE not to be Bill Clinton.
HE did this.
There is no right to be liberal.
So this is what we're up against. The Republicans in Congress are deliberately hurting the economy, and at least Republicans some know it, but consider it to be moral because Obama Must Be Stopped. Because he's so wrong that it doesn't matter how much damage you do to America, the damage he's going to do is worse. Or, to put it another way, the people of America must be forced to do what Republicans believe is correct by whatever means come to hand.
Which, come to think of it, is the definition of ...