Today's Contribution to the Long Island Sentinel

Another modest contribution today to the Long Island Sentinel, this time about Sam Tanenhaus's argument that "conservatism is dead."

I don't think so. I agree that America is not full of conservative true believers. Nor is it full of liberal true believers. There are many people who don't pay attention (which seems to me a sane approach to politics.)

But when people's backs are against the wall, and the porky stimulus god fails, and the economy worsens because of endless meddling (not that I am wishing for that, but there is something about adversity that will concentrate the mind), I think, with some discipline on the part of the Republican Party, conservatism can make a comeback. Here's to the midterms in 2010. Don't blow it this time GOP, with a return to your stupid, big spending ways.

Shlaes Reminds Us of the Cost of Government Arrogance

Excellent piece today by Amity Shlaes, disabusing us of our current New Deal nostalgia. Did you know, for example, that FDR set the price of gold daily at his breakfast table, based upon his own "lucky numbers?" (Shlaes' latest book, "The Forgotten Man" is up there on my reading list for '09.)

Make no mistake: Barack Obama, often compared to FDR on the basis of his nascent popularity and his big spending plans, has absolutely no idea how to fix the American economy. He and his administration minions will "experiment" and tinker like Roosevelt, because, like Roosevelt, they are supremely confident in their own competence.

Shlaes reminds us of the remarkable arrogance and folly of such an approach.

The answer to economic growth is simple. Get out of the way. Animal spirits in the marketplace create growth, not government. Government redistributes resources via coercion, which produces nothing at its best and destroys productive resources at its worst.

Sadly, it seems likely that we will have to suffer for at least 24 months, until the midterm Congressional elections, and perhaps more, if the Republican Party cannot rid itself of its pathetic, grasping leadership and return to its roots in classical free market economics and limited constitutional government.

Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) Nothing More than a Slush Fund

In addition to the secretive manner in which the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) money has been spent by Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson, we now have the possibility that the "vision thing"-challenged Bush Administration will use TARP for other bailouts, such as providing cash to the Big Three car makers.

Can anyone doubt now that TARP is -- and always was given its loose wording and its even looser execution -- nothing more than a political slush fund? And an expensive one at that. Future generations will paying one of the most expensive bills ever for one to two years worth of political gain for Washington politicians.

To break that "gain" down even further, this political slush fund allows the Democrats to derive marvelous benefits at low to no political cost, thanks to the Stupid Party.

Congressional Democrats vote for the auto bailout, but it gets killed in the Senate. Enter the eager to please President Bush, who has already accepted his abuse for the bank failures, very much the fault of Congressional Democrats. Now he stupidly pays the political cost with the rest of America for bailing out Detroit. We're sure the UAW will vote Republican next time around, right? (Michigan Representative Thaddeus McCotter, a Republican, after his fierce attacks on TARP, continues to disappoint with his rationalizations of using TARP or other bailouts to save Detroit.)

And then there is the persistently lucky Barack Obama, who is handed this expensive slush fund at no political cost to him as he takes office.

Didn't the cheerleaders in the financial press, such as the editors of the Wall Street Journal, see any of this coming? The lesson here: the business of America's government is not business. It is national defense, in the strict sense. The rest is subject to endless permutation, manipulation and stupidity.

One More Obama October Surprise This Week?

We got our October surprise for Barack Obama in the form of radio excerpts on YouTube. These were reportedly uncovered by "Naked Emperor News" a relatively unknown web site.

In the interview, Obama speaks rather candidly about his belief in the redistribution of income, possibly through the courts, but more likely through legislation. He cites the paradigm of "negative rights" as a failing in the American Republic.

I had expected this October surprise. But not from the Republicans. The news media are giving them too much credit by suggesting these are Republican tactics.

In fact, I would say that because the Republicans are too incompetent to mount true political attacks, expect a second October surprise later this week, but before Sunday. The true sources of the current surprise are waiting to see if the radio interview can carry a second or third news cycle.

But whenever this story loses momentum, a second arrow will fly. And it will come, as did the first, from the Clintons.

Who is more likely to know Boston and Chicago progressive radio, the GOP, or, say, someone in the circle of a Clintonista like Rahm Emmanuel (D., Illinois)?

If Hillary is going to be president, Obama must lose, so that she can face off against Sarah Palin on '12. That is the Clinton objective. Not a mere seat on the Supreme Court, which Hillary won't get. The Clintons do not leave things to the good will of their rivals.

When Sarah Palin was selected, the Clintons had an epiphany, which caused them to lick their chops all the more. Let Palin take the rest of the hits to break the glass ceiling. The environment will be much more conducive to a "tough woman" in '12. Especially after an aging president decides he can no longer continue and leaves it to his VP (Palin).

Note well: If you see the second arrow fly, you will know where it came from.