The other day, while watching the antics of the House Republicans, I looked over to my friend and said, “My god, these guys are as dumb as a box of rocks.” I think an apology may be in order.
You see, today at a press conference the Speaker of the House Ron Richard vowed not to use any stimulus money in the budget for ongoing activities. Then just a few moments later at the same press conference Budget Chairman Allen Icet admitted that the Republican-crafted budget currently under discussion does indeed include stimulus money for ongoing expenses. Woops!
But fear not, Ron Richard still considering a tax rebate as a way of using the stimulus money and Allen Icet was confident he and the senate could find a way to make even deeper cuts in the budget to carve out all of the stimulus money. You heard me right…these two rocket scientists have figured out that the best way to save the sinking ship that is the Missouri economy is to cut jobs, cut investment and not pay for services rendered by health care providers.
In a period of deleveraging, in a time of hemorrhaging unemployment and shrinking GDP, when the sole purpose of the stimulus funds are to artificially stimulate aggregate demand so as to end the death spiral of death spiral of deflation and reignite the virtuous spiral of investment and job growth, these two naybobs have decided that the best way help the economy is to cut jobs and not pay for service provided to foster kids, mentally retarded adults and the children of drug addicted parents. Poor old Professor Walter Johnson, the famous and funny MU professor of Econ 51, who served in the Nixon administration, must be spinning in his grave.
But what do you expect from people so whetted to an ideology that logic, reason, and science matters not.
At the national level more of the same, House Minority Leader John Boehner commented the other day that “It’s time for government to tighten their belts and show the American people that we ‘get’ it.” Huh? Even conservative economists know and proclaimed that in economic conditions like we have now, the government must be the “spender of last resort.”
Paul Krugman characterized Boehner’s comments thusly “Boehner’s idea of economics is completely insane.” But what does Krugman know? He only has a PhD in Economics and a Nobel Prize while John Boehner has a really fake tan.
You see, today at a press conference the Speaker of the House Ron Richard vowed not to use any stimulus money in the budget for ongoing activities. Then just a few moments later at the same press conference Budget Chairman Allen Icet admitted that the Republican-crafted budget currently under discussion does indeed include stimulus money for ongoing expenses. Woops!
But fear not, Ron Richard still considering a tax rebate as a way of using the stimulus money and Allen Icet was confident he and the senate could find a way to make even deeper cuts in the budget to carve out all of the stimulus money. You heard me right…these two rocket scientists have figured out that the best way to save the sinking ship that is the Missouri economy is to cut jobs, cut investment and not pay for services rendered by health care providers.
In a period of deleveraging, in a time of hemorrhaging unemployment and shrinking GDP, when the sole purpose of the stimulus funds are to artificially stimulate aggregate demand so as to end the death spiral of death spiral of deflation and reignite the virtuous spiral of investment and job growth, these two naybobs have decided that the best way help the economy is to cut jobs and not pay for service provided to foster kids, mentally retarded adults and the children of drug addicted parents. Poor old Professor Walter Johnson, the famous and funny MU professor of Econ 51, who served in the Nixon administration, must be spinning in his grave.
But what do you expect from people so whetted to an ideology that logic, reason, and science matters not.
At the national level more of the same, House Minority Leader John Boehner commented the other day that “It’s time for government to tighten their belts and show the American people that we ‘get’ it.” Huh? Even conservative economists know and proclaimed that in economic conditions like we have now, the government must be the “spender of last resort.”
Paul Krugman characterized Boehner’s comments thusly “Boehner’s idea of economics is completely insane.” But what does Krugman know? He only has a PhD in Economics and a Nobel Prize while John Boehner has a really fake tan.
So today I want to publicly apologize to any box of rocks that may have been offended by my comment. It is now apparent that the House Republican leadership is not as dumb as a box of rocks but in fact they are much, much dumber than a box of rocks.
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