Sunday, January 30, 2005
Behind 'Pleasantville' facade
Vast debt, Bush administration ineptitude may lead to economic collapse
By Jim Hoover
The Bush administration forces of fantasy and delusion are at it again. The White House is now preparing a budget that will help it attain its stated goal of cutting the federal deficit in half by 2009. How will the Bush administration do that? By providing imaginary numbers in an imaginary agenda-driven world.
In the Bush world, there is a $521 billion deficit (the amount of an outdated previous forecast), not last year's actual $413 billion budget shortfall. Why? It makes half of $521 billion, $260.5 billion, easier to attain. Starting with $521 billion and using last year's $413 billion budget shortfall, Bush can, most likely without media equivocation, state that he's already reduced the deficit by over $100 billion dollars. Then if he achieves cuts down to $260.5 billion, by slicing social programs and selected Pentagon programs, he can craftily claim achievement of his goal.
(snip)
But the voters have cooperated. The post-9/11 voters have lulled themselves into a "Pleasantville" world - a black-or-white world without terrorists. Bush handlers enhanced this scenario. The macho Bush image promised a stalwart, no-nonsense sheriff. Gays and abortionists became stand-ins for terrorists. Terrorist alerts were cooked up periodically which suppressed any remissions into a non-"Pleasantville"-state, at least long enough for a Bush victory.
(snip)
The ingredients for a hard economic fall are at hand. We have a culture permitting, if not feeding, this self-delusion during an insecure era. We have irresponsible leadership in key legislative and executive positions. We have Americans eager for a "Pleasantville"-type shell around us that will filter out moral decay, effete intellectuals and critical foreigners. We have foreign economic leadership alienated by our administration- foreign financial leaders who will eventually abandon efforts to support our economic folly.
(snip)
Last November, Stephen Roach, the chief economist at investment banking giant Morgan Stanley, predicted that we have a 10 percent chance of avoiding economic Armageddon.
I wonder if his odds would be less now.
http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/2005/02/04/sections/commentary/commentary_columns/article_392138.phpt
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