Failed Philosophy

by digby

Barack issued a statement on the meltdown today that I think is quite good. He does, unfortunately, say that he doesn’t blame McCain personally for the meltdown on Wall Street, which I think was an unnecessary disclaimer. (Why do they keep doing that?)

But he goes on to say that the meltdown is a consequence of:

… the economic philosophy he subscribes to. It’s a philosophy we’ve had for the last eight years – one that says we should give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. It’s a philosophy that says even common-sense regulations are unnecessary and unwise, and one that says we should just stick our heads in the sand and ignore economic problems until they spiral into crises.Well now, instead of prosperity trickling down, the pain has trickled up – from the struggles of hardworking Americans on Main Street to the largest firms of Wall Street.This country can’t afford another four years of this failed philosophy. For years, I have consistently called for modernizing the rules of the road to suit a 21st century market – rules that would protect American investors and consumers. And I’ve called for policies that grow our economy and our middle-class together. That is the change I am calling for in this campaign, and that is the change I will bring as President.

As anyone who regularly reads this blog knows, I think one of the tasks of liberal politicians is to expose the bankruptcy of the modern conservative philosophy. If you don’t run against that, you end up running against some guy who, even though he’s been an elected member of that party for nearly thirty years, can claim that he’s a change agent. You have to indict the philophy and the party that adheres to it. (Think about what they did to liberalism…)

These financial failures are a recurring consequence of Republican governance. Their faux laissez faire economic policies (in which the rich get richer from unregulated feeding frenzies until taxpayers are forced to bail out the institutions or risk economic catastrophe) inevitably lead to these crises. It is the single most enduring feature of their philosophy. If John McCain doesn’t believe in that then he wouldn’t be running as a Republican. It’s fundamental.

As McCain often says himself he’s just a foot soldier in the revolution. But he’s fought for thirty years on their side, pretending to be a maverick, when all he’s ever really been is an intemperate jackass. At the end of the day, it’s his tribe and he’s as responsible as any one of them for the mess they’ve created.

As scary as this whole thing is, it’s the first news I’ve heard in a long time that makes me feel confident again hat the Democrats will win this election. No member of the Republican party should be put in charge at a time like this — it would letting the lunatics run the asylum. I don’t think that’s hard for people to figure out (even in the midst of our new number one reality TV hit: Culture War XXI: The Alaska Chronicles.)

BTW: I don’t suppose anyone noticed that gas prices jumped to five bucks a gallon in some places over the week-end.

Update: I wonder if Phil Gramm’s whiney at all today. His employer’s looking a little bit shaky. (h/t to bb)

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