Confidence Game

Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. So the market is super volatile, and way, way down, and well,investors don't have a lot of confidence in the Government's ability to turn the economy or the deficit around. No kidding. How could they?

This is quite odd, because for decades Republican politicians have been making believe that business, left to its own profit motive, would grow the economy, and that the dreaded Government should stay the hell out of it. Yes, Sir. Give them businesses more tax breaks. Give them businesses more incentives. They'll show you how well good old US gumption and persistence works. They'll turn the economy around. Just you wait and see. How dare you talk about reinstitution of the old tax rates. How dare you talk about the need for stimulus and extension of unemployment benefits beyond 99 weeks. Right. Republicans talk like that until everything is apparently going down the tubes. Like today.

Then, miraculously, it's about Government. The economic crisis is all about the Government. This is laughable. The Republicans gave the nation an enormous wedgie last week. It was not a surprise. That's what they've been doing for 2.5 years. And now they're making believe that they didn't do it. Nope. Never. All of this, well, it happened without their help. But now it's the Government, the one they wanted to drown in the bathtub, that's supposed to find the way out of this.

Apparently, there are no anti-Keynsians in the fox holes. Especially when they're losing their shirts.