06.28.12
Stunning – the Democratic US Senate debate
The debate was stunning. Stunning in how little of any consequence was debated. Stunning how little was said by the candidates, and questions the panelists asked, that would make a difference in anyone’s life. The wing nut panelist who asked the question, why shouldn’t we abolish the Department of Education? WTF? Are they paying attention to education in Texas? If it was for the federal government public education would be dead already in Texas.
On economics I found both of them lacking. Paul Sadler’s harping on the deficit was sad, barely mentioning jobs, treating unemployment insurance like leprosy – when it’s the best “bang for you buck” stimulus, etc.. Neither one of them mentioned the simple fix for Social Security – lift the cap. Grady Yarbrough was a little better wanting, at least, to end tax subsidies for big oil, and extend unemployment insurance.
There was nothing either one of these guys said that would fire up a Democratic voter to work for, or vote for them, much less donate to their campaign.
My suspicion is that Sadler, if elected, would a “Gang of..” type Senator. Like Mark Warner and Kent Conrad, who are all too eager to compromise on issued like Social Security and Medicare, and tax cuts for the rich. He would certainly be better than Dewhusrst or Cruz.
It’s not about purity, so much as we at least need candidates that will talk about issues that matter to the people (99%). No one gives a crap about the deficit if they don’t have a job. The only people that care about the deficit are Republicans or people with money and a job. If you don’t have the latter two, a job is more important than anything, so you can have money to take care of yourself and famiely. I can’t figure out why that is so damn hard for Democratic politicians to figure out.
If Democrats would have gone Keyenesian and unemployment was down to 6 or 7 percent we’d be looking at a Democratic takeover. Instead we’re talking about the deficit and other stuff that doesn’t matter to people who need a job. Put people back to work and the deficit goes away. Yes, we can grow our way out of this depression!!
I’d much rather have Sean Hubbard in place of these dudes.Oh well, who’s running against Cornyn in 2014?
Watch it here.
PDiddie’s take, Grady wants a border wall; Sadler parts company with platform.
[UPDATE]: They should both read and run on this, A Manifesto for Economic Sense.
As a result of their mistaken ideas, many Western policy-makers are inflicting massive suffering on their peoples. But the ideas they espouse about how to handle recessions were rejected by nearly all economists after the disasters of the 1930s, and for the following forty years or so the West enjoyed an unparalleled period of economic stability and low unemployment. It is tragic that in recent years the old ideas have again taken root. But we can no longer accept a situation where mistaken fears of higher interest rates weigh more highly with policy-makers than the horrors of mass unemployment.
Better policies will differ between countries and need detailed debate. But they must be based on a correct analysis of the problem. We therefore urge all economists and others who agree with the broad thrust of this Manifesto to register their agreement at www.manifestoforeconomicsense.org, and to publically argue the case for a sounder approach. The whole world suffers when men and women are silent about what they know is wrong.