Pobres y estúpidos

Me encantó este análisis de la situación económica infernal que estamos viviendo. Totalmente de acuerdo con Luskin:

I have to say I'm a little surprised. I didn't support Obama in the campaign, but I had expected that the wave of good feelings from the election of such a charismatic man would help lift the economy and the markets out of their doldrums. And while I don't agree at all with his liberal orientation in economic policy, at least I thought he was generally a centrist who wouldn't muck things up too much or too quickly. I even hoped his so-called “stimulus” bill would at least have a placebo effect.

But Obama has done nothing for confidence in the markets. I'm not sure he even cares. When asked by a reporter whether it was the president's job to do so, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs stammered, “Oh, absolutely. I don't think that -- I mean, I think the president would agree with that wholeheartedly. But again, I think…Well, again, I think the -- I think -- obviously I'm not on Wall Street, but I think it is not…”

But I didn't count on the extent to which he'd use the present economic mess as an excuse to push his agenda of more government regulation, greater involvement of government in the economy, and higher taxes. Why am I surprised? White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel laid out the strategy a week after the election when he said, “Rule one: Never allow a crisis to go to waste.” This is really no different than what power-seeking politicians have done since time immemorial. Please forgive what may seem like an outrageous comparison, but this is exactly how Adolph Hitler came to power in 1933 -- by exploiting public panic in the aftermath to the Reichstag fire.