What a Difference an Elections Makes
When the GOP was struggling to find a message, a candidate and a reason for people to vote for them (despite eight years of Bush-led dumbfuckery), Karl Rove's brilliant idea was for Republicans to start talking about all the things they could do for America. Remember: this was the guy who had a job at the White House while Bush was dreaming about invading Mars.
Fortunately for us, America realized two things: Republicans were already pretty much in charge already, and Karl Rove is a liar.
Fast forward past the disturbingly entertaining Hillary "I Don't Wanna Quit the Primaries" Clinton, the debacle that was John McCain/Sarah Palin, and the joke know as "the mainstream media." We know have a president-elect who, by all appearance, plans to invoke a level of pragmatism into the White House that's sorely needed.
This includes ideas...ideas, like, salvaging our crumbling infrastructure. This great country of ours has pipes, buildings and facilities that, while in constant use, hasn't had a serious look-at in (some cases) decades.
So Karl Rove's response to the suggestion that we should make sure that we are brushing our teeth with sewage, or that no more bridges crumble during rush hour?
In other words: "You know the private industry? The one that helped destroy our economy because my buddies didn't want them to be regulated in any way? Let's let them work things out."
Of course the flaw with that logic is that other than personal gain, nothing will really motivate the private sector. As I say all the time about this sort of thing: companies exist for one reason only: to make a profit. If they can do that be helping people, they'll do it. If they can make a profit through harming people, they'll do it. Regulations are key in making sure that the later happens less often than the former.
Fortunately for us, America realized two things: Republicans were already pretty much in charge already, and Karl Rove is a liar.
Fast forward past the disturbingly entertaining Hillary "I Don't Wanna Quit the Primaries" Clinton, the debacle that was John McCain/Sarah Palin, and the joke know as "the mainstream media." We know have a president-elect who, by all appearance, plans to invoke a level of pragmatism into the White House that's sorely needed.
This includes ideas...ideas, like, salvaging our crumbling infrastructure. This great country of ours has pipes, buildings and facilities that, while in constant use, hasn't had a serious look-at in (some cases) decades.
So Karl Rove's response to the suggestion that we should make sure that we are brushing our teeth with sewage, or that no more bridges crumble during rush hour?
What we’ve got to worry about some of these sort of goofy, pie-in-the-sky spending ideas in which this wisdom of the government is substituted for the wisdom of private individuals in the market, and there we have every right to question. For example, look, I’m in favor of infrastructure spending, but let’s be honest about it. It’s not stimulative.
In other words: "You know the private industry? The one that helped destroy our economy because my buddies didn't want them to be regulated in any way? Let's let them work things out."
Of course the flaw with that logic is that other than personal gain, nothing will really motivate the private sector. As I say all the time about this sort of thing: companies exist for one reason only: to make a profit. If they can do that be helping people, they'll do it. If they can make a profit through harming people, they'll do it. Regulations are key in making sure that the later happens less often than the former.
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