07-09-2010, 09:30 PM
This is a very enlightening article, by Kim Priestap, that includes personal quotes. I think our country just might have a chance next November.
Remember all those Hollywood types who said mean and capitalistic America should be more like cultured and fair Europe? Well, now that these Hollywood types have Obama, their dream candidate, as Americaâs president, theyâre panicking. Why?
Because theyâve come to realize that Obama actually is making America more like Europe, and they donât like it. They know Europe is a continent filled with nations in decline because of their massive social programs that are running their budgets deep into the red in spite of very high taxes. Apparently, these folks liked the idea of America adopting the European policies of redistribution of wealth in theory, but when those policies are put into practice, well, thatâs an entirely different story (emphasis mine):
âIf youâre asking if the United States is about to become a socialist state, Iâd say itâs actually about to become a European state, with the expansiveness of the welfare system and the progressive tax system like what weâve already experienced in Western Europe,â Harvard business and history professor Niall Ferguson declared during Mondayâs kickoff session, offering a withering critique of Obamaâs economic policies, which he claimed were encouraging laziness.
âThe curse of longterm unemployment is that if you pay people to do nothing, theyâll find themselves doing nothing for very long periods of time,â Ferguson said. âLong-term unemployment is at an all-time high in the United States, and it is a direct consequence of a misconceived public policy.â
Ferguson was joined in his harsh attack by billionaire real estate mogul and New York Daily News owner Mort Zuckerman. Both lambasted Obamaâs trillion-dollar deficit spending programâin the name of economic stimulus to cushion the impact of the 2008 financial meltdownâas fiscally ruinous, potentially turning America into a second-rate power.
âWe are, without question, in a period of decline, particularly in the business world,â Zuckerman said. âThe real problem we haveâ¦are some of the worst economic policies in place today that, in my judgment, go directly against the long-term interests of this country.â
Zuckerman added that he detects in the Obama White House âhostility to the very kinds of [business] culture that have made this the great country that it is and was. I think we have to find some way of dealing with that or else we will do great damage to this country with a public policy that could ruin everything.â
Ferguson added: âThe critical point is if your policy says youâre going run a trillion-dollar deficit for the rest of time, youâre riding for a fallâ¦Then it really is goodbye.â A dashing Brit, Ferguson added: âCan I say that, having grown up in a declining empire, I do not recommend it. Itâs just not a lot of fun actuallyâdecline.â
Ferguson called for what he called âradicalâ measures. âI canât emphasize strongly enough the need for radical fiscal reform to restore the incentives for work and remove the incentives for idleness.â He praised âreally radical reform of the sort that, for example, Paul Ryan [the ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee] has outlined in his wonderful âRoadmapâ for radical, root-and-branch reform not only of the tax system but of the entitlement systemâ and âunleash entrepreneurial innovation.â Otherwise, Ferguson warned: âDo you want to be a kind of implicit part of the European Union? Iâd advise you against it.â
This was greeted by hearty applause from a crowd that included Barbra Streisand and her husband James Brolin. âDepressing, but fantastic,â Streisand told me afterward, rendering her verdict on the session. âSo exciting. Wonderful!â
Brolinâs assessment: âMind-blowing.â
I find it particularly interesting that Niall Ferguson called Paul Ryanâs ideas in his Roadmap for Americaâs Future âradicalâ when they are basically what economic and fiscal conservatives and libertarians have promoted for years: low taxes and reduced government regulations and intrusion so as to unleash American ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit. These ideas may be radical to Mr. Ferguson and his Hollywood friends because they have occupied their efforts over the past few decades with promoting the very policies that have brought us to the very place we are now that scares them so much.
Now that Barack Obama is working to reduce Americaâs position of power in the world, Hollywoodâs elite are suddenly a wee bit uncomfortable with the idea. Perhaps it is because they are beginning to understand that if America isnât in the worldâs most powerful and prosperous nation, then another nation will naturally come forward to take our place, and the only other nations capable of holding that position are China and Russia, neither of which values or promotes freedom and liberty.
Remember all those Hollywood types who said mean and capitalistic America should be more like cultured and fair Europe? Well, now that these Hollywood types have Obama, their dream candidate, as Americaâs president, theyâre panicking. Why?
Because theyâve come to realize that Obama actually is making America more like Europe, and they donât like it. They know Europe is a continent filled with nations in decline because of their massive social programs that are running their budgets deep into the red in spite of very high taxes. Apparently, these folks liked the idea of America adopting the European policies of redistribution of wealth in theory, but when those policies are put into practice, well, thatâs an entirely different story (emphasis mine):
âIf youâre asking if the United States is about to become a socialist state, Iâd say itâs actually about to become a European state, with the expansiveness of the welfare system and the progressive tax system like what weâve already experienced in Western Europe,â Harvard business and history professor Niall Ferguson declared during Mondayâs kickoff session, offering a withering critique of Obamaâs economic policies, which he claimed were encouraging laziness.
âThe curse of longterm unemployment is that if you pay people to do nothing, theyâll find themselves doing nothing for very long periods of time,â Ferguson said. âLong-term unemployment is at an all-time high in the United States, and it is a direct consequence of a misconceived public policy.â
Ferguson was joined in his harsh attack by billionaire real estate mogul and New York Daily News owner Mort Zuckerman. Both lambasted Obamaâs trillion-dollar deficit spending programâin the name of economic stimulus to cushion the impact of the 2008 financial meltdownâas fiscally ruinous, potentially turning America into a second-rate power.
âWe are, without question, in a period of decline, particularly in the business world,â Zuckerman said. âThe real problem we haveâ¦are some of the worst economic policies in place today that, in my judgment, go directly against the long-term interests of this country.â
Zuckerman added that he detects in the Obama White House âhostility to the very kinds of [business] culture that have made this the great country that it is and was. I think we have to find some way of dealing with that or else we will do great damage to this country with a public policy that could ruin everything.â
Ferguson added: âThe critical point is if your policy says youâre going run a trillion-dollar deficit for the rest of time, youâre riding for a fallâ¦Then it really is goodbye.â A dashing Brit, Ferguson added: âCan I say that, having grown up in a declining empire, I do not recommend it. Itâs just not a lot of fun actuallyâdecline.â
Ferguson called for what he called âradicalâ measures. âI canât emphasize strongly enough the need for radical fiscal reform to restore the incentives for work and remove the incentives for idleness.â He praised âreally radical reform of the sort that, for example, Paul Ryan [the ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee] has outlined in his wonderful âRoadmapâ for radical, root-and-branch reform not only of the tax system but of the entitlement systemâ and âunleash entrepreneurial innovation.â Otherwise, Ferguson warned: âDo you want to be a kind of implicit part of the European Union? Iâd advise you against it.â
This was greeted by hearty applause from a crowd that included Barbra Streisand and her husband James Brolin. âDepressing, but fantastic,â Streisand told me afterward, rendering her verdict on the session. âSo exciting. Wonderful!â
Brolinâs assessment: âMind-blowing.â
I find it particularly interesting that Niall Ferguson called Paul Ryanâs ideas in his Roadmap for Americaâs Future âradicalâ when they are basically what economic and fiscal conservatives and libertarians have promoted for years: low taxes and reduced government regulations and intrusion so as to unleash American ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit. These ideas may be radical to Mr. Ferguson and his Hollywood friends because they have occupied their efforts over the past few decades with promoting the very policies that have brought us to the very place we are now that scares them so much.
Now that Barack Obama is working to reduce Americaâs position of power in the world, Hollywoodâs elite are suddenly a wee bit uncomfortable with the idea. Perhaps it is because they are beginning to understand that if America isnât in the worldâs most powerful and prosperous nation, then another nation will naturally come forward to take our place, and the only other nations capable of holding that position are China and Russia, neither of which values or promotes freedom and liberty.
