Comments on: BUSH: I HAD TO TRASH THE FREE MARKET IN ORDER TO SAVE IT

By: Sharleen Nicholson

Sharleen Nicholson — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 19:34:39 +0000

Bush’s statement doesn’t make sense unless he first admits that the “free market system,” as he administered it, didn’t work.

He should start by saying “I screwed up the free market system so thoroughly it’s close to collapse so now I have to dump trillions in to stave off a depression.”

Yep, folks. We watched it happen and no one did anything. We’ve been watching the jobs leave, the manufacturing leave, the work visas flowing, the illegal immigrants coming in.

We even watched as Fannie and Freddie created a man-made mortgage crisis yet no one in government takes responsibility. Hearings on the hill can’t name a single culprit.

No one tells us that Texas spent an estimated $650,000,000 on healthcare for illegal aliens last year and that California, now going broke, spent $400,000,000 on the same. There are just some things we’re not allowed to talk about.

No one talks about the money, from lobbyists, that Fannie and Freddie threw at everyone to keep going, and going, and going while some profited big time.

There are some things people don’t talk about.

By: Hyperion

Hyperion — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 00:13:06 +0000

DaveinPhoenix wrote:
Maybe I’m the stupid one.

or just slow. it appears that your brain is functioning now.

By: lionheart

lionheart — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:39:55 +0000

Michael,

We’d have to pass “card check” at the national level to ensure that you keep your word.

By: Your Brother Jim

Your Brother Jim — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:30:15 +0000

……I’m just a tad surprised that no one has yet invoked the oxymoronic (or paradoxical - take your pick) absurdism that is the clear parent of Bush’s statement - that of the nameless army lieutenant in Vietnam who remarked after burning a hamlet to the ground that had been a suspected refuge for VC sappers - “It was necessary to destroy the village in order to save it.”

By: DaveinPhoenix

DaveinPhoenix — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 02:41:58 +0000

This sounds like the same nonsense that goes like: “the global cooling is actually caused by global warming”…. WTF ??? Bush is either more stupid than I ever thought or incredibly evil. I’m trying to figure out which one….I just feel bad ’cause I voted for the loser TWICE. Maybe I’m the stupid one. Anyway, I’m off to destroy my computer so I can save it…..how ’bout we all vote NO incumbents in the future so we can save America ?

By: David C.

David C. — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 22:30:00 +0000

“his longtime advocacy for an unfettered free market”

I wonder how massively increasing regulation and regulatory spending throughout his administration somehow makes him a noted advocate of “unfettered” markets.

By: Gayle Miller

Gayle Miller — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 22:23:21 +0000

When I think about the absolutely merciless POUNDING this good man has endured at the hands of the leftwingnut crowd for the past 7+ years, he should be cut miles of slack by everyone. And the unintended consequences of the huge economic slowdown is that those who wish us ill are affected far more than are we! Chavez is running out of money, as is that flaming nutbar Ahmadinejad! Even Putin is going to have to scale back on his maniacal desire to bring back the USSR - his oil revenues are in the toilet right now!

By: michael reynolds

michael reynolds — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 21:32:32 +0000

Actually, I’d like to say that I’m prepared to vote Republican in perpetuity in exchange for a bailout. A modest .01% of that 8 trillion would ensure my loyalty.

By: michael reynolds

michael reynolds — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:25:53 +0000

I find myself uncharacteristically uncertain about this issue. I just don’t know. I guess we’ll see.

The politics, however, are clear enough, including the fact that if Detroit dies the GOP can kiss Michigan and Ohio and much of the rest of the rust belt goodbye for a long, long time. The GOP will be a regional rather than a national party.

Not when 53% of UNION members oppose the auto bailout. I think you underestimate the feeling that is building up out in the country. There are a lot of people who are unsure about $8 trillion being given out like it was penny candy.

ed.

By: Eyas

Eyas — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:11:09 +0000

It amazes me that so many people have seemed to buy into this absurdity. I’m glad you’re not one of them.

“I’ve abandoned free-market principles to save the free-market system.” How can anyone take this seriously?

Is this supposed to be like Nietzsche’s “that which does not kill us makes us stronger”. Or is it more like “if you love something, set it free.”

There may be situations and areas of study where seemingly paradoxical actions yield positive results — but this is NOT one of them. One cannot save the free-market system by not only “abandoning” it, but by thwarting, subverting, overturning, and utterly destroying it.

Anyone remember the first Superman movie with Christopher Reeve? When the Man of Steel flew around the Earth to reverse its rotation and turn back time?

This is what George Bush is trying to say he is doing. Did anyone else, when watching Superman, think: “Um, okay. This guy can fly in space to spin the plante backwards — But, ah, why aren’t all the people, buildings, plants, animals, oceans, atmosphere, and continents simply flying off into space?”

President Bush, like a movie character, is asking us to entirely suspend disbelief.