printWell of course the Republicans will back Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) for the post of GOP conference chair, “the fourth-highest House leadership position,” in the new Congress, over “Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), a ‘Tea Party heroine.'”
If the Daily Beast, run by airhead Tina Brown—“the author of a gossipy, somewhat obese book about the anorexic dolt, Diana Spencer”—and the life-style libertarians at Reason Magazine (which calls the former outfit an “indefatigable friend”), both favor an establishment Republican over Michelle Bachmann—take it to the bank that Bachmann is the better bet.
Jacob Sallum, a master at sweating the smaller, safer stuff, has concluded that Bachmann, one of the few people in Congress who understands and protests monetary policy, is a philosophical spender because of the “agricultural subsidies her family farm has [allegedly] received.”
Sallum’s case is not worth a straw. I am sure one can find occasions when Ron Paul has fallen short on such minor (albeit important) matters. But when it comes to the big issues—monetary policy (around which the girls at Reason cannot wrap their heads)—he more than makes up for it. Ditto Michelle Bachmann, who joined Ron Paul to do battle against Ben Bernanke.
Of course, the “High Priests Of Pomposity” at Reason panned Ron Paul too.
Reason is famous for its “35 Heroes of Freedom,” which established their criteria for “cool and cosmopolitan”: William Burroughs, a drug addled, Beat-Generation wife killer, whose “work is mostly gibberish and his literary influence baleful,” was included, as well as Larry Flynt, Madonna, Martina Navratilova and Dennis Rodman.
Madonna Reason has exalted for, as they put it, leading “MTV’s glorious parade of freaks, gender-benders, and weirdos who helped broaden the palette of acceptable cultural identities and destroy whatever vestiges of repressive mainstream sensibilities still remained.” This sounds like the unscrambled, strange dialect spoken by a professor of Women’s and Gender Studies.”
I mean “Womyn’s Studies.”
If you lost the post’s thread, here’s the gist: Bachmann understands monetary policy and grasps its importance. Republican leaders, who don’t, are choosing to back their boy over Bachmann for the position of GOP conference chair. Beltway libertarians are backing the boy and his masters.
I left Reason magazine shortly after Virginia Postrel did. The new editor said that since the gun control fight, socialism fight were over that he was going to make Reason into the ‘New Republic’ I already had enough of Michael Kinsley and didn’t renew. If the Republicans ever recognized Michelle Bachmann, it would be a act of God, nothing else can bring their heads out of the mud. Snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and all that.
I disagree about Michelle Bachmann’s understanding of monetary policy. Simply knowing that printing money is likely to produce inflation does not mean you understand monetary policy! We need Austrian economists who TRULY understand the underlying models that Scott Sumner can explain.
Enough of this claptrap about a non-existent hyperinflation. Do you not realize that talking about “impending hyperinflation” that most Austrian econ bloggers have been doing since 2008 while anything but has actually resulted is as destructive to their credibility as Paul Krugman’s endless whining about the stimulus being too small when he said it was sizable enough to keep unemployment below 8%?
Come on Ilana. Make a bet. When is this hyperinflation going to strike? Ill even assume a QE3 of 600 Billion more.
Its not too much to ask that Austrian econ fans study and understand the Monetarist and New-Keynesian models seriously before opining on them. (No thats not OLD keynesian – which is a dinosaur and extinct).
I am a free marketeer. I believe in the power of Austrian econ. Most Austrian econ fans can demolish any microeconomic arguments put forward by leftists or “Republikeynesians.” They can also demolish old keynesianism quite easily and some can also destroy old Monetarism (like Roger Garrison). However, when it comes to the latest synthesis of New Keynesian, quasi-monetarist models, the Austrians are flailing in the winds predicting hyperinflation since 2008.
The Republicans are mostly adept at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. The Republican uppers need to be purged as bad as the Democrats. At least the Democrats are working toward a goal, as reprehensible as that goal might be, but the Republicans are just tryint to hang on to the Democrats coat tails and save their soft gigs inside the beltway. The Tea Partiers may be rough and unsophisticated but that’s why they can be effective. Let’s hope they don’t let the Washington cess pool swallow them up.
I watched a video of Michelle Bachmann questioning, tax cheat, Timothy Geithner about the spending and bailouts and what constitutional authority the treasury had to be spending money in that respect (I believe that I am paraphrasing the video correctly); the look on Mr. Geithner’s face was most telling. You could tell he had no idea what she was asking.
http://firefromtheheartland.com/?gclid=CIK128LQkaUCFUNl7AodHRtlMg
an interesting clip and one that makes Mr. Geithner look incompetent. I wish I could have seen more, but I cannot find the whole of her questioning. Any help would be appreciated.
The only real hope that the Republicans provide for America is gridlocking with the Democrats. Left to their own or forming a “bipartisan” consensus, they would be as disasterous as the Democrats left on their own.
Some observer (whose name I forgot) said that CONSERVATIVES like a government that interferes with everything overseas, LIBERALS like a government that interferes with everything at home, and MODERATES like a government that interferes with everything home and abroad. Sadly, in order to “win”, each party has to compromise with the “moderates”.
Many of the “libertarians” at Reason would be happy in Socialistic Holland or Sweden if they can get sex and dope. Low taxes is “cool” but nothing to get too bothered over. Of course, with the economy tanking, maybe sex and dope is all we can aim for!