The dim demagogue could scarcely contain himself during the CNBC debate last week as he turned to Ron Paul, his fellow Texan whose sincere hatred of government verges on anarchism, saying: "I will tell you, it is three agencies of government when I get there that are gone. Commerce, Education and the—what's the third one there? Let's see."
With the world watching, he literally didn't know what he was talking about. And from there it only got worse.
Grinning and groping for an answer, Perry flailed embarrassingly until Paul helpfully suggested "EPA?" But for some reason that didn't satisfy Perry, who smirked as if someone was trying to trick him into giving the wrong response. "The third agency of government I would—I would do away with, Education, the ..." For painful moments, he kept digging.
"Commerce and, let's see," said Perry at last. "I can't. The third one, I can't. Sorry. Oops." Later, he identified the Department of Energy as the third agency he would eliminate. (And as Think Progress blogger Matt Yglesias quickly suggested in a tweet, that answer may well mean he also has no idea what the DOE actually does, such as providing subsidies to the nuclear and coal industries and overseeing atomic weapons research and development.)
Romney Should Know Better
"I stepped in it," he told reporters immediately following the debate, and observers across the ideological landscape agreed. But by morning, the Texas governor was offering the same kind of excuse he must have used when he got D's in school. There are just too many federal agencies, he explained to NBC's Ann Curry, who might have retorted that there are only 15 Cabinet departments.
What was revealed by Perry's inability to regurgitate coherently his little blurt about eliminating whole departments of government—aside from proving one more time that he is unfit for campaigning and public office? Perhaps what it shows is how little he actually thinks before delivering these canned rants.
But of course the Texas governor isn't alone in his ignorance—or his dissembling.
Mitt Romney, whose sole memorable achievement as governor of Massachusetts was the passage of a health plan he now mostly disowns, said that what America needs is a "market-based" medical system, relying on "health savings accounts" to pay for care. We need that, he said, because as a nation we now spend 18% of gross domestic product annually on health care, while our competitors spend 12% or less.
Those figures are roughly correct—but to say that such comparisons prove the superiority of the market over the public sector is simply a lie. France, Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the Scandinavian countries all use different mechanisms to achieve excellent results at reasonable cost, but none of them depend more on the private sector than the United States, and all rely on a combination of public financing, strict regulation and universal mandated coverage to achieve those goals. As Romney surely knows, because while he panders like all the other Republicans, he isn't stupid.
What is very stupid, as former president Bill Clinton pointedly demonstrates in his new book, Back to Work: Why We Need Smart Government for a Strong Economy, is the constant, mindless denigration of government indulged by the Republicans.
The facts are simple enough even for the average tea party voter to understand: The countries that tax more, spend more and regulate more than the United States are mostly doing better than we are, whether measured by educational attainment, social and economic mobility, income equality, employment growth or infrastructure quality. They use market incentives and private sector partnerships more intelligently than we do, too—because they know that a strong, competent government fosters enterprise without allowing corporate domination. And despite their current crisis in the eurozone, they will emerge from the recession with those strengths intact.
But then again, European conservative parties would never nominate the likes of Rick Perry, Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann or Ron Paul for public office at any level. No doubt they find the GOP debates bleakly amusing in these dark times. It's the only attitude that makes watching tolerable.
Joe Conason is the editor in chief of NationalMemo.com.
© 2011 Creators.com
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What planet are you from? I swear conservatives live in another universe. I do not think it would be possible for you to have missed the point of that statement anymore than you already have. Joe was not saying European conservatives would never nominate a woman or a person who is a member of a minority group, he was saying they would never nominate somebody so stupid as Bachmann, Cain, or Perry (who is white by the way). European conservatives use their brains, display compassion, and, most importantly, pay their bills unlike American conservatives who do none of those things. That is why Europeans enjoy a higher quality of life than do Americans; they enjoy nationalized health care, state-of-the-art mass transit, and excellent public education. Regardless of why Europeans immigrated here in the past, though many were escaping despotic monarchies, they have not been coming to the US in large numbers for nearly a century. Why do you suppose that is? Could it be that moving to the US from Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, etc. would actually be step down?
I have a friend in the UK that just had a stoke at age 68. She will not be getting treatment because they feel there is no hope for her. She can no longer be productive.
Look this is the USA, if you say something negative about a black person or woman you are being racist and sexist. Maybe they do things different in Eurpose but is the USA we are polite and give our woman and minorities a free pass. When you call Bachman and Cain stupid, why not use the C word and N word while you are at it. Its best that if you think a minority or woman is stupid to just ignore them. But never call them names. If you can't say something nice about a woman or minority, then don't say anything. White people its ok, because they are tougher and not as sensitive.
Europe is not that great. I can afford to hire domestic help here. I couldn't in Eurpose. Gas is cheap here. Not in Europe. I get to keep more of my hard earned money here, not in Europe. No waiting in a queue for health care for me here. Cheaper groceries here. Can buy big honkin house in Lake Country on a big lot for less than a million. Not in Europe. I can drive a big gas guzzler SUV here. In Eurpope I'd have to get a Mercedez for twice as much. If you think Europe is so great, by all means move there. Europeans from Romania, Yugoslavia, Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, Poland -- they are dying to get into the USA. Go to the north shore and see where all the maids, nannies and housekeepers are from. Some of these gals has college degrees. Talk about education in Europe, huh, well ask my kid's nanny how that big European college degree is working out for her?
Apparently the concepts of racism and sexism are elusive to you. I can criticize a woman without being sexist against all women just a I can criticize a black person without being racist against all black people. Judging people as individuals based upon their words and their actions is the complete opposite of discrimination. Your comments about women and minorities getting "a free pass" and white people being "tougher" are far more offensive. As for your friend in the UK being denied treatment for a stroke, I find that very hard to believe. First of all, if she has already had a stroke, then her doctor would focus on preventng future strokes through preventative measures like change in diet, exercise, and medication that I know people in the UK are entitled to regardless of age or condition. And second, if her brain starts hemorrhaging and she ends up in the ER, then I guarantee she will recieve surgery to stop the bleeding. So let's not go repeating these fallacious Republican horror stories of socialized medicine that your kind seems so fond of repeating despite being totally made up. To your other points: gas and food are artificially cheap in the US and this fact will catch up eventually. Take away corporate welfare to oil companies and agribusiness and you will see $15 gas and much higher gocery prices. And really, "agribusiness" is merely a pseudonym for chemical companies, an industry who derives the majority of their pesticides and fertilizers from petroleum byproducts. We do not wait in queue to recieve health care, if you are fortunate enough to have health insurance. What about all the people in our society who are not covered? What happens to them when they get hit by a bus or get cancer? Our constitution entitles everybody to the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Ironic, that Republicans care so much for unborn babies' right to life (as long as their mothers have health insurance, but are indifferent to the plight of humanity once you leave the womb.
Here is what my friend in Europe sent to me regarding her health care system:
Aging people, of average income in Europe are really screwed with the health system. You can wait years for general surgery as you are on a list for beds. Whoever is most serious, and can be 'fixed and is still young and useful' will be put first. Some people wait years for hernia repair or other general surgery. The hospital she is in was built in 1910 and looks like something from a horror movie. Big wooden wheel chairs, no bathrooms in rooms...just hall baths. Dark lighting and lino floors....really depressing. This is not what I want. I don't mind paying $10,000 or $20,000 a year so I can get excellent first class health insurance. Jacob, all you keep telling me is my life will be worse off if we go to the European model. Prices for everything will go up. I enjoy a very nice standard of living - cheap food, cheap gas, cheap mortgage, reasonable domestic help, decent health care. Why would I want to mess with that? LIfe is good her in the USA - aint broke, don't fix it. If other people want to choose not to embrace capitalism, make lots of money, buy health insuarnce, well thats their business. You can't make people work hard and earn money if they are not compelled to do so.
Life is good in the US for 1% of the population. The other 99% get screwed. The tides are turning, change is coming. Not prepackaged, corporate imposter Obama change, but real change. People like you got a free ride on the backs of the poor and working class, not the other way around. If you think the spirit behind Occupy Wall St. will fade away or be co-opted by the elite like the Teabaggers were, then you are mistaken. Even if Occupy fizzles out another movement will spring up and others will follow until something meaningful is achieved. People are waking up to the fact that the system is rigged to favor the rich at the expense of the majority. Enjoy your gluttonous way of life while it lasts because it is about to go the way of the dinosaurs.
The Teabaggers, gnerally seem like average folk who have worked for what they have. Typically they arn't millionaires but just average folk who don't like seeing people complain about havig to work to make a good living. The OWS kids realize that if they want what their parents have, they might have to actually work. They complain there are no jobs but there are jobs. Then when shown there are jobs , well its not the right kind of job, or not the job they went to college for. Aways some excuse not to work.
I'm not sure why Jacob Clark thinks 99% are being screwed. Go west of Milwaukee. As soon as you hit Tosa and go west to the Mississippi River, it would appear people are doing quite well. I just don't see the poverty and dispair.
Jacob Clark should be very thankful for the corporate welare that has made his gas and groceries cheap, able to buy a fairly priced home with a 4% interest rate. Insurance that gets you that operation right away. Doesn't he realize that cheap groceries and cheap gas benefits poor people. A 4% mortgage benefits poor people. Opening up the Dakotas to oil exploration and providing $100k per year jobs helps the unemployed.
Finally I'd never call Herman Cain or any other billionaire stupid. All us readers are free paper flunkies. I'm not going to call anybody who has become a millionaire, a governor, or a president stupid. Now some flunkie who refuses to work and whines about having to work for a living at an OWS rally, to me that is stupid.
The Teabaggers started the current social upheaval we have been experiencing since 2008. Their movement began as a protest against government bailouts of big business and ending the Federal Reserve, very similar to OWS. They were corrupted by the likes of Karl Rove and the Koch brothers and their attention was turned to Obama's health care legislation and away from the real culprits. The teabaggers are, for the most part, a hardworking bunch of folks. Their problem is that they still buy into the fantasy of the American Dream, and they seem to think supporting big business will result in prosperity and opportunity raining down on them from above. Trickle down, voodoo economics at its finest. It is equivalent to a robber breaking into somebody's home and stealing their most cherished and valued possessions, only to have the homeowner come home mid-robbery and assist the robber with their getaway. In this case Wall Street is the robber and the Tea Party is the homeowner, helping Wall Street make off with all of their hopes and dreams for the future.
West of Milwaukee is places like Janesville and Beloit, both of whom are hurting as bad or worse than Milwaukee. Then you have Crawford County, one of the poorest counties in the US and second poorest in Wisconsin. Try again. Just because Waukesha County is doing well, does not mean the whole state is doing well.
I should be thankful for corporate welfare? Why? The fact that gas is still relatively inexpensive has been the primary reason why we have not addressed our serious public transportation and urban planning deficiencies. What will happen when gas does reach $10-15 a gallon and our cities are still designed for automobiles rather than humans? Only the very wealthy will be able to afford gas for their vehicles and the rest of us will be stuck living in a dystopian Mad Max road warrior world. Cheap food is the end result of a broken system that wreaks havoc on the environment and infuses what we eat with dangerous chemical pesticides, fertilizers, and antibiotics. The real cost of cheap food can be seen in the increase of disease across the board and the costs associated with treating them. How does this help me again?
Like I said before, enjoy your antiquated way of life while you can David, because it will not be around much longer.
I think the average Teabagger type doesn't get it because they are just average Joe's making $100k or $200k a year. Not super big bucks but enough to live a decent life without working overly hard. They are not in the 1% crowd. I'd say they are in the 25%-50% crowd. Everyone with enough guption can go out and make money. Thats the easy part. Wanting to bad enough is the problem with most OWS types. They don't want to confrom to being wealth producing people. They choose not to.
The reason why a lot of TeaBaggers buying o the fantacy of the American Dream is they are living it every day. Nice $600k home in Lake Coutry, a couple of SUVs, kids in private school, bills are paid off. Its the lifestyle they chose. Sure the same people could have partied their student loans away in college, majoring in philosophy. But they chose to become upper middle class instead. So why be so hard on the for trying harder?
Basic finance decisions can make the difference. Instead of racking up credit card bills and paying 30% interest, pay it off and get 5% rebates. Stop drinking and doing drugs. Work instead of collecting a government check. Don't buy a house you can't afford. Finish school. don't fornicate with people who are not financially repsonsible. Basically, don't be a dumbass. When you are marching on North Avenue in the cold when you could be working and producign wealth, you have to realize what you are doing isn't going to make you a dime. I just don't understand what is so f...ing hard about getting a job and going to work? I don't want to hear excuses with the words "but" and can't"
Jacob Clark - Europe is way worse off than the USA. Most of the welare type countries are now broke from giving away health care and welfare. We need to put a stop to socialism before its too late. What good is national health care if doctors suddenly only will accept private insurance or cash?
You are absolutely hysterical. Europe is not worse off than the U.S., I have no idea where you got such an idea. This argument holds no water as every meaningful measurement of health outcomes from infant mortality to life expectancy to overall quality of life has Europeans ranking much higher than Americans. Our health care system is ranked 37th in the world, behind Costa Rica and ahead of Slovenia. If you could point to one single country that has a for-profit health care system where the people lived longer and had a better quality of life than people living in countries with socialized medicine I might take you more seriously, unfortunately, no such place exists on this planet. Why do conservative Americans think they are privy to information regarding for-profit health care and education that the rest of the world is not aware of? Again, if you could point to some free-market utopia where the disparities in health, education, and wealth less than they are in socialist-leaning Scandinavia, then you might have a leg to stand on.
Europe is going through a financial crisis, but not because they provide health care and vacation pay for their citizens. The reason the EU is on the verge of collapse is because they followed America's example and deregulated their markets, removed trade barriers, erased international borders, and destroyed the sovereignty of their own nations all in the name of globalization. They became caught up in America's neoliberal, globalist, predatory system of capitalism and now they are paying the price for it. We hear the term 'austerity measures' repeated often in the news media, this is simply the privatization of the public sector. In order for governments to pay off their loan sharks, sorry I meant debt holders, they are being forced to sell off their most valuable publicly owned resources. In the case of Greece, they are being forced to sell their ports to foreign corporations at a great loss. These manufactured financial crises and the ensuing austerity measures that follow are really just excuses for mega corporations to gobble up more and more of the world's resources for themselves. Open your eyes.
I'm quite sure that the infant mortality, life expectancy, etc for people who have privately funded health insurance is better than those in a national health care plan. The only thing that drags the stats down in the USA is people who refuse to get private health insurance.
If Europena countries would simply ditch their crazy health plans, stop paying people to take excess vacations, stop all welfare, it would go a long way to pay their debts. I would rather live to be 85 than live to be 80 so some homeless drunk can live to be 65 instead of 50. We have higher infant mortality in is country because we have given people too many Food Stamps. They became obese and then end up rolling over on their kids when they are drunk.
We could start paying down our debt if we just stopped the crazy spending. Required those on welfare to work. Required the unemployed to work. Turn our government into a profit center. Why don't we just sell the oil wells we captured in the Iraq war? Just sell them to China or whoever. It looks to me like we just let them keep their oil. How messed up is that? You go to war, win, and then give back the spoils?
Where do you get this 1% crap? Look up and down Shorewood, Whitefish Bay, Bayside, Mequon, River Hills, Delafield, Merton, Pewaukee and on and on. We got a lot more than 1% who get out of bed, put on their work cloths, and go to work to make lots of money everyday. I'm just confused as to why you think 99% are being screwed? Some people enjoy making a lot of money. They enjoy going to work. Life, liberty and happieness dude. Making money is easy and it really doesn't take a huge leap of effort. I think this OWS crowed thinks they deserve all the riches without having to go to work. The funniest thing I heard was a woman who stood up and yelled "we want what rich people have!!!" I wondered what is was that she thought rich people had? And what is rich anyway.