Wednesday, July 21, 2010

The Real Consequences of Starving the Beast

Just reading the ever insightful OPED piece of Professor Krugman on Voodoo economics and the conservatives peddling it. He makes a good point about the real motives of the perennial tax cut peddlers: they want to starve the beast, and force feed small government ingrained purely as an ideological proposition. But here I for one will accuse Prof. Krugman of an incomplete thought (very rare of his insightful pieces).

For one, why will republicans or conservatives for that matter hue to this "starve the beast" mentality? What do republicans gain by force feeding cuts in social security? What political or economic benefits flow from a smaller "beast" (as the government is perceived on the right)?

First the economic. The GOP hews closely to a pro-business line. It is all about the  money. A leaner beast, is a weakened government that cannot pay its bills, enforce regulations or make new ones. Business loves this. They can pollute your rivers, feed you paint and poison your toys- no questions asked. They can monopolize, cheat, price gouge and then feedback the money via Supreme Court judgement to their republican lilliputians and win by drowning the progressive message out with money. Get it? It makes sense

Second, the politics. Need I say more? Economic power begets political power..the republicans are only seeking to strengthen their message. A strong effective government, which provide social safety nets that encourage entrepreneurship, is bad for republican-conservative ideas. It dies a natural death. Check out Europe, where this small government nonsense simply don't fly. And you read me right- no single policy is more responsible for entrepreneurship in America as much as the Social Security Program. An assurance that you'll never die in penury is directly connected to your decision to strike out and take a bite at creating a business especially when you are younger. Go figure, and they say welfare is bad for capitalism?

It is left for the democrats , the liberals and the progressives to communicate the true intentions and the real life effect of starving the beast. Starving the best means leaner and meander social safety nets, a return to pre-depression era social construct where the super-rich and super-poor abound side by side. Where crime were through the roof because of social disparity. Where social inequality starved consumer spending and economic growth. Where economic speculation, and get-rich-quick schemes were rife, and where stability was substituted for gun-sling economic theories. Where few monopolists held the nation hostage, and permanently financed a politically conservative faction (sometimes, then the Democratic Party-imagine Prez Teddy a republican was the Trust buster!) in power and ensured no light of day for progressive policies. The height of this era was the Great Depression. Want another great depression?

Well my questions for Republics, what will Teddy think? And yes speaking of deficits, guess who piles them? You guessed right! Republicans!

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