Thom Hartmann: Two Santa Clauses or How The Republican Party Has Conned America for Thirty Years

[babylonsister]

Two Santa Clauses or How The Republican Party Has Conned America for Thirty Years

by Thom Hartmann


This weekend, House Republican leader John Boehner played out the role of Jude Wanniski on NBC's "Meet The Press."

Odds are you've never heard of Jude, but without him Reagan never would have become a "successful" president, Republicans never would have taken control of the House or Senate, Bill Clinton never would have been impeached, and neither George Bush would have been president.

When Barry Goldwater went down to ignominious defeat in 1964, most Republicans felt doomed (among them the then-28-year-old Wanniski). Goldwater himself, although uncomfortable with the rising religious right within his own party and the calls for more intrusion in people's bedrooms, was a diehard fan of Herbert Hoover's economic worldview.

In Hoover's world (and virtually all the Republicans since reconstruction with the exception of Teddy Roosevelt), market fundamentalism was a virtual religion. Economists from Ludwig von Mises to Friedrich Hayek to Milton Friedman had preached that government could only make a mess of things economic, and the world of finance should be left to the Big Boys – the Masters of the Universe, as they sometimes called themselves – who ruled Wall Street and international finance.

Hoover enthusiastically followed the advice of his Treasury Secretary, multimillionaire Andrew Mellon, who said in 1931: "Liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate the farmers, liquidate real estate. Purge the rottenness out of the system. High costs of living and high living will come down... enterprising people will pick up the wrecks from less competent people."

Thus, the Republican mantra was: "Lower taxes, reduce the size of government, and balance the budget."

more...

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/01/26-0

[ihavenobias]

1. K & R

[JSK]

2. Get Thom's podcast for today

Jan 26. He spent the first hour talking about this.

He is the best.

:loveya::loveya::loveya:

[ihavenobias]

3. Thanks for the tip. I'm a member, but I don't always have time to download all of his podcasts.

:)

[NorCalDem]

4. Kicked & recommended.

Absolutely awesome read, thank you!

[OwnedByFerrets]

5. The smartest man in the room.

[KansDem]

6. 1968

Even four years later when Richard Nixon beat LBJ in 1968...

Nixon beat Hubert Humphrey. LBJ chose not to run for re-election.

on edit: But a damn-good article!

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

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[TahitiNut]

9. "we"???

Are you speaking for yourself and your tapeworm? :eyes:

[butterfly77]

8. Kick &Recommended

[santamargarita]

10. Excellent show today - he really boils down the GOP

smartest man on radio