Let me see if I am clear on all this...
Me and my fellow taxpayers in Raleigh are already on the hook for $724.6 million in approved spending for the war on Iraq. That money could provide 345,581 children with health care for a year. That amount could more than cover the estimated 260,000 North Carolina children who are uninsured.
The total cost for this blunder of a war is likely to exceed. $3 trillion. That's $3,000,000,000,000, once you account for restocking our military, providing lifetime benefits to veterans and surviving families, and recovering our economy.
But now fiscally responsible Republicans are coming to a tax-and-spend liberal like me to ask for more money?
The long-term costs of the Iraq war would increase the national debt by one third, and guarantee that George Bush would be responsible for doubling the national debt in his eight years in office from around six trillion to over 12 trillion dollars.
And now, the Republican administration wants to add ten percent more to the national debt to bail out financial markets - at least $900 billion. This does not even include a plan to rescue failing banks that will surely run into the hundreds of billions of dollars.
For evidence of how the ruling class thinks on matters like these, follow along with National Review Online economics editor Larry Kudlow below, and try not to get whiplash. [Warning: Wanker Alert]
Larry Kudlow, September 15:
Paulson’s view ... is that the private sector has to take responsibility, including a consortium of private bank funds to assist the beleaguered AIG insurance company. We are now in for some Schumpeterian gales of creative destruction. But this is how it must be.
"Moral hazard," said Paulson, "is something I don’t take lightly." He’s saying bad financial behavior must be penalized, not rewarded. That’s the essence of the issue. The risk of failure is essential to an efficient economic system, and that includes financial risk.
...
The alternative, of course, is that the U.S. goes down the old European path of government domination of markets and the economy. But the moment the U.S. becomes bailout nation, that is the moment our economy and country heads irrevocably down the road of decline. However, Paulson set down a marker and said, "No we won’t."
Kudlow, three days later (September 18):
This week, Treasury secretary Hank Paulson said "no" to a government bailout of Lehman. Paulson and Ben Bernanke then took over AIG with an $85 billion bailout, with the Treasury issuing roughly $100 billion in new T-bills so the Fed has the cash to resuscitate AIG.
All this was necessary. A collapse of AIG would have been unfathomable — it is simply too interconnected globally. But it turns out this rescue mission only elevated investor fears. Shareholders are asking: "Who’s next?"
...
Well, it’s time for some perspective. The world is not coming to an end. The stock market has tumbled, but it’s still over 10,000. In late 2002 it was 7,500 and in mid-1982 it was 750. Are things really that bad?
Yes, the stock market is still over 10,000. (In fact, with rumors of more government bailouts, the DJIA is over 11,000 this morning.) And that is just about where it was when George W. Bush took office in 2001. For younger people whose 401(k) planning involves heavy reliance on stocks, where did my growth go? What happened to the power of compounding interest? I contributed for eight years to my plan and little net growth. This is the system to which I am supposed to entrust my Social Security safety net, Senator McCain?
Where is this money coming from? Are we selling more indebtedness to unstable countries, a practice we were supposed to stop when we became "energy independent"? How can the government spend or guarantee loans of what will be over $1 trillion without involvement of the Congress?
If I agree with Kudlow on anything, it is that the economy requires smart regulation right now. Did our government screw up? You betcha. But Congress decided that sometimes, the free market requires individuals to fail. It is how they learn their lesson. It is how the markets stay strong - booms and busts, Schumpeter's cycles of failure and creation. Congress affirmed that with the 2005 rewrite of bankruptcy laws to place more burdens on the indebted. How else will they learn to manage their spending more wisely?
The same banks, credit card companies, and other creditors who championed the 2005 bankruptcy law rewrite are clutching their pearls at the thought of the same standards applying to them. When Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG, and Bear Stearns were in trouble, the markets tanked as investors looked for safer havens. "How did this happen? We could have never seen this coming." But each time the government opened up its wallet, markets swooned. The Visible Hand is here to save the day. And fortunately for those firms, there is no means test in sight.
When does it end? It ends November 4.
Do you know someone who is still on the fence? Do you know someone who feels like they just don't like Barack Obama enough? Do you know someone who is trying to grow investment income for their retirement? Do you know someone who relies on Social Security for their livelihood?
Tell them that Republican legislation with unanimous Republican support broke this system.
Tell them that a Republican administration wants to spend a trillion dollars to try to fix it.
Tell them John McCain wants to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to bail out failing banks that engaged in risky behavior. Tell them that the same Republican administration will not be sending a penny to help them.
Tell them John McCain will give them a $5,000 voucher for health insurance, but eliminate the employer insurance requirement, leaving them to cover the difference of thousands of dollars yourself.
Tell them that John McCain wants to privatize some of Social Security through "personal accounts", exposing their assets earned over a lifetime to the whims of the stock market.
It is time to end this irresponsible spending. After all, it was John McCain who said
It is not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they are big banks or small borrowers.
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