Wednesday, September 12, 2012

The best thing Ronald Reagan ever did...fire David Stockman

Ronald Reagan will always be remembered for many things--Winning the Cold War, bringing back pride in America and calling her the "Shining City on a Hill," comforting a grieving nation following the Challenger disaster--but the BEST thing Reagan ever did was to fire his incompetent budget director, David Stockman.

Stockman thankfully disappeared from public view for a long time after that, but he has since come back with a vengence, spewing forth all this hysterical, nonsensical, crap about the debt and deficits. Every time I see him I literally want to puke. This guy is an absolute moron.

Some of you may remember a run-in I had with Stockman at Fox Business last year. It was very eye-opening, to say the least.

Stockman's been all over the news again lately, saying things like we'd be "better off" if we just jumped off the fiscal cliff, and that we are "living beyond our means" (how's that with 20 mln unemployed?).

Stockman argues, with a straight face, that "thowing the economy into recession," would allow us to "come out with some better fiscal balance on the other side." Nevermind that we've seen this prescription applied in Europe with exactly the opposite consequences.

Stockman is really one dumb jackass, but sadly, there are many "Stockmans" out there in the real world. Let us all acknowledge that Moody's has recently joined that list.

16 comments:

Sam said...

And yet, liberals were using HIM to attack Republicans.

mike norman said...

Liberals are as bad as the Repubs.

Anonymous said...

Come on Mike, tell us how you *really* feel! :-)

Broll The American said...

Talking about Jack-Asses...

Did anyone see Mark Walker on Morning Joe the other day? He brought his giant debt clock with him.

BfO said...

Seriously, you should debate this guy on TV. It would be the most hilarious thing I've ever seen.

BfO said...

I don't recall liberals using him to attach the GOP - I thought it was some media outlets pointing to his criticism of Lyin' Ryan, and that was it.

And the liberals are not as bad as conservatives. I'm certain they don't want to slash spending, but are only doing so because of party politics. And unlike teabaggers, they can at least listen to reason and facts.

You should focus on getting Obama elected, while doing our part to spread the word.

mike norman said...

Broll-

You mean David Walker?

Where's the asset clock?

beowulf said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
beowulf said...

Reagan didn't fire him. Stockman lasted the entire first term and resigned in the first year of the second term over the President's objections.
http://articles.latimes.com/1985-02-26/local/me-25012_1_david-a-stockman

You're thinking of Reagan "taking him to the woodshed" over Stockman talking out of school to reporter Bill Greider in 1981. WH Chief of Staff James Baker reprimanded Stockman but kept him around (I imagine because Baker understood that since Stockman had resigned a safe congressional seat to become OMB director, it would not play well on the Hill to fire him in his first year in the Administration).

mike norman said...

I stand corrected.

The best thing Reagan ever did was take him to the woodshed, then.

Roger Erickson said...

So did the level of discussion in the highest levels of government elevate or sink after Stockman mercifully went silent?

Or is the gov Bozone layer dense enough that Stockman's contribution simply got lost in the noise, and, present or absent, had insignificant impact?

That might be the hidden silver lining of the Bozone layer. It's hard to make it worse!

Roger Erickson said...

This is what set you off?

U.S. Debt Downgrades Are a Foregone Conclusion: David Stockman
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/u-debt-downgrades-foregone-conclusion-david-stockman-125039267.html

You know, at some point, it's the media'ss fault, and reader's fault for buying or listening.

Matt Franko said...

do these people ever retire????

Stockman, get a life and play golf and go fishing! You're not relevant anymore! Nobody wants to hear what you have to say moron!

Charles Hayden said...

Here's video of Stockman, going off on TBTF:

http://vimeo.com/35369616

His fiscal policy views are totally insane. But his views on TBTF only sharpen our sticks.

"Politics makes for strange bedfellows"-Charles Dudley Warner

Charles Hayden said...

Keep in mind:

There's a big difference between Mosler "Narrow" Banking and the various Chicago School 100% reserve banking plans.

Calgacus said...

Sam: And yet, liberals were using HIM to attack Republicans.

Mike Norman: Liberals are as bad as the Repubs.

Was just reading Mat Forstater's In Memoriam: Robert L Heilbroner The Continuing Relevance of The Worldly Philosophy on his teacher: "Heilbroner also addressed and influenced policy issues, for example in his Primer on Government Spending (1963, co-authored with Peter Bernstein). President John F Kennedy, who even pointed out a typo to the authors, read the Primer, and held the book up during a speech outlining his tax cut plan. Twenty years later, the authors of the Primer would write an updated and revised version, entitled The Debt and the Deficit: False Alarms. Real Possibilities (1989). This time, though, the book was not embraced by Democrats in Washington, because they had since decided to turn their backs on sensible fiscal policy so they could criticize the huge deficits run during the Reagan Administration."

The reversal at that time of the Democratic Party's economics since FDR is too little studied as far as I know.
What a difference a couple of decades makes!