new to the blogroll
Please welcome economic meta-blog It's Still The Economy, Stupid, an invaluable resource on Bush's economic incompetence, and Billmon's Whiskey Bar. I've also trimmed the blogroll of a few inactive blogs; if one's yours, please notify me when you resume posting.
Planet Swank position paper: It's been suggested by some intellectually dishonest conservatives that Democrats hope the economy will get worse, in order to aid their 2004 Presidential campaign. Planet Swank asserts the following:
- Democrats do not "hope" the economy gets worse; to the contrary, they want the economy to get better.
- Democrats have little confidence in Bush's economic plan -- tax cuts and more tax cuts -- as effective in helping American consumers worried about their jobs and health care.
- That skepticism is amply justified because Bush's economic plan is clearly not doing enough to improve the economy. Yet another experiment in supply-side economics has failed to produce the claimed benefits -- prosperity for all -- while delivering on the obvious but little-acknowledge purpose of enriching the wealthy.
- There's no need for the economy to get worse in order to portray Bush's economic plan as a failure. Remember, we've already had a massive tax cut, with little tangible benefit for many. And ironically, as the Republicans have been saying the conclusion of the Iraq war would improve the economy somewhat, slight gains in the future can't be claimed to be a result of their policies, but rather the end of one.
- Moreover, the GOP now controls both the White House and Congress, so a lagging economy is their responsibility.
- Democrats should take careful note of the bogus rationales Bush has used to sell his policies -- economic and otherwise -- and the marked contrast with their actual results.
- In sum: Democrats want the economy to improve, and they know that Bush's corporate-cronyism policies aren't the ticket. As Harry Truman said, if you want to live like a Republican, vote Democrat.
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