Super Tuesday and Your Pocketbook

Posted by: Gene M. | Feb 04,2008


Well, Super Tuesday and I have to say this has been one of the more interesting primary seasons ever.  Almost as amazing as that 3rd down and five throw from Eli Manning yesterday.  I mean, that was legendary.  So we go from Super Bowl to Super Tuesday.  This year there’s a lot of talk about the economy and less talk about national security issues.  This no doubt will favor the Democrats, as the Republicans are in power during a time when a recession is clearly possible.  The fear of a recession is as bad as a recession in the minds of voters.  

Is there credence to the fact that the Republicans are responsible for the current economic crisis.  The short answer is Yes, but it’s also a lot more complicated than that.  It is pretty telling that both the U.S. government and the public consumer have been spending like mad with no clear way to pay for it.  The U.S. government is going deep into debt at the same time that average consumers are going deep into debt and foreclosing on their homes.  Is there something to this?  Has the Republican administration created a culture of debt?

That’s probably taking it too far.  I doubt there are many people who have said to themselves, “The U.S. government is building up a huge deficit.  Hey, that means it’s OK for me to do it too!”  It’s a kind of trickle down economics, where a particular idea about the economy trickles down to everyday people.  I don’t quite see that happening.  What I do see is that this administration is pretty anti-regulation, as Republicans are more libertarian at heart.  They’re all after smaller government, which means less government intervention.  

That’s all well and good if the private sector is able to play nice.  What has been evidenced by the subprime mortgage disaster is that when lenders are left to their own devices, they don’t quite play nice.  Regulation isn’t “intervention” it’s about ensuring that there’s some amount of accountability.  That’s the Democrats vision anyway, and judging by the polls, it has more support than the alternative.  You know where I stand from past blog entries.  This election is a lot about people voting their pocketbooks, which is why the turnout for Dems has been so much higher than turnout for Repubs for every primary or caucus.  Whatever the case, it makes for a deeply satisfying election season and it will end up with a very different vision of how the country should be run.    

Sponsored Resources Ads by Google