Cross posted from Blue Virginia
One of Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell's economic advisors, Richard W. Rahn, just resigned in protest over a (gasp!) tax increase to fund transportation in Virginia:
Citing his opposition to transportation-funding legislation supported by Governor Bob McDonnell, Richard W. Rahn has resigned from the governor's Joint Advisory Board of Economists.
"I strongly disagree with the new tax/transportation bill that you supported," wrote Rahn in a letter to McDonnell. "Unfortunately, I was not asked for my advice (which I assume was also true of the other Joint Advisory Board members) before you and the legislature embarked on passing the largest increase in taxes in the history of Virginia. This action will do damage to the people of the Commonwealth of Virginia."
Interesting, so who is Richard W. Rahn? You can get a flavor for his views at the CATO Institute website. A few examples of his Voodoo Economics ("supply side," "trickle down", whatever you want to call it) include "The Problem with Spending," "Tax Cuts and Revenue: What We Learned in the 1980s," "Tax Cuts and Revenue: What We Learned in the 1980s," "Taxaholics," "Incorrigible Keynesians," "Spending for Tyranny," "Government against the People," and Job and Liberty Destroyers, in which he writes these classic lines:
Which two have done more to improve your life - Thomas Edison and Steve Jobs, or Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi? Some people, in their pursuit of profit, benefit their fellow humans by creating new or better goods and services, and then by employing others. We call such people entrepreneurs and productive workers. Others are parasites who suck the blood and energy away from the productive. Such people are most often found in government.
Perhaps the most vivid description of what happens to a society where the parasites become so numerous and powerful that they destroy their productive hosts is Ayn Rand's classic novel Atlas Shrugged. The just-released movie version is an entertaining, tension-filled struggle between the productive and the parasites who ally themselves with the envious and evil. Go see it.
Seriously, he really writes this crap, that Democrats and anyone who works for the government is a blood-sucking "parasite." And no it's not parody! Wow, this guy is clearly far off the deep end. So why did Bob McDonnell pick this wacko to be one of his economics advisors? Perhaps because Bob McDonnell is...wait for it...an Ayn Rand-worshiping, supply side/Voodoo Economics adherent too? Hmmm.
Oh, and if all this weren't bad enough, see here for Richard W. Rahn's belief that "Despite the prediction of all the major climate models, the Earth has been getting cooler since 1998" and that "Most evidence strongly suggests modest global warming will be beneficial." No wonder why "Rahn was a speaker at the Heartland Institute's First International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC1)." Ee gads.
P.S. Let's do a quick thought experiment: imagine if a Democrat appointed someone who called Republicans, including President Bush and Speaker Boehner, "blood-sucking parasites?" What would the reaction be from the right-wing media?