Admission: over the course of my NewsBusting, I've actually developed a certain admiration for Bob Herbert. Not that I agree with virtually anything the NY Times columnist has to say, but that I appreciate his directness and the absence in his work of the superfluous sarcasm that marks that of a number of his colleagues.
That said, I offer up Herbert's lament of this morning, "Where Are the Big Ideas?", as the epitome of wrong-headed liberal thinking. Herbert's complaint is that when it comes to the role of government, the presidential candidates aren't thinking big enough. Hillary and Obama's proposals to subject 1/7th of the nation's economy [or whatever the current proportion that health care represents] to government control are small beer in Bob's eyes. He dismisses their plans as "masterpieces of minutiae."
Herbert says that "the essential question the candidates should be trying to answer — but that is not even being asked very often — is how to create good jobs in the 21st century." The columnist gives us an idea of the kind of big-government thinking he has in mind to answer his question:
- An obvious potential source of new jobs would be a broad campaign to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure — its roads, bridges, schools, levees, water treatment facilities and so forth.
- Another area with big job creation potential is the absolutely vital quest to develop alternative sources of energy. That effort should carry the same high national priority that was accorded the Manhattan Project during World War II. I’d even call it Manhattan II.
Herbert sees direct government action as the key to job creation. Want people to work? Have the government hire them to build roads or invent the perpetual motion machine!
Herbert obviously never passed No Free Lunch 101. If creating jobs were as simple as having the government hire people, there'd never be any unemployment. And I suppose there never was in that ultimate bastion of big government, the Soviet Union. The only problem is that jobs for all meant wealth for none -- except for the plutocracy that went by the name of the Communist Party.
No, I'm not calling Herbert a closet Commie. I'm saying that he doesn't understand that the money for those new government jobs doesn't come from under the bed. It's taken in the form of taxes from the private economy, from the entrepreneurs who can create real jobs and wealth -- not just for themselves but for millions of others. Bill Gates created more jobs and made more people productive and well-off [not just within Microsoft but at untold firms whose productivity he increased] than any well-intentioned Washington bureaucrat.
In a free society, the big ideas come from the people, not the government. The most thrilling, the biggest, idea a presidential candidate could have would be to liberate people to pursue happiness as they define it, and in doing so, create opportunities for others.
—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.
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DUCT TAPE ALERT!!!
February 9, 2008 - 07:45 ET by motherbeltOh. My. Gawd. Resurrect the WPA?
The government should be repairing roads and bridges because that's their flippin' responsibility for crying out loud!!!
Hire people to work at government expense, to find alternative sources of energy???? What, private industries are not doing enough??
"You can't professionalize unless you federalize?"
The government should be creating jobs?????
Yeah, that'll work.
<sound of duct tape being pulled off roll....>
mb, I couldn't agree more.
February 9, 2008 - 09:16 ET by DaBirdmb, I couldn't agree more. Instead of taking our gas taxes and funneling it into BS social programs. Let's spend it on what it was intended to be spent on: infrastructure!
Sorry, Mark, but
February 9, 2008 - 07:53 ET by sarcasmo"The most thrilling, the biggest, idea a presidential candidate could have would be to liberate people to pursue happiness as they define it, and in doing so, create opportunities for others."
That idea obviously didn't sell this time...
And one thing which might help Mr. Herbert in his quest to better understand the role of government in the economy is if fans of particular Presidents/Parties would stop acting as if Bob's right, by stopping trying to take credit for every good thing that happens in the economy while desperately trying to dodge any responsibility for bad things. I don't expect it to happen, least-of-all around here, but it's easy to see where he might pick up a few economic misconceptions.
JMR
If this is winning, I think I'd rather lose...
Amen, sarc. That's why I'm
February 9, 2008 - 08:36 ET by motherbeltAmen, sarc. That's why I'm so terrified of Her Royal Clintoness. She has stated, very firmly, that the she intends to "manage the economy."
Gee, the government does so well managing its own money and programs, right?
Well, I guess we are not supposed to take that "literally." If we did, we'd have to ask her what experience in economics she has that makes her qualified to "manage" a process involving 13 trillion (quadrillion?) dollars. (Wiki describes the US GDP as 13,194,700 in "millions of USD")
No doubt she'll tell us her "35 years of experience" (at spending other people's money?)
The Big Ideas Are IN THE WORD OF GOD.
February 9, 2008 - 08:53 ET by thoridflyDon't get sucked in by Herbert ... he's a dyed-in-the-wool liberal at heart.
Small verses ... big ideas (about a citizenry that is willing to work) :
1 Thessalonians 4:11-12
(11) And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business [stop worrying about everybody else's business and trying to "save the world"], and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;
(12) That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.
Ephesians 4:28
Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
Proverbs 14:23
In all labor [beneficial to society, the community, and the individual] there is profit : but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury [lack, need, want ... the negatives and negative thinking of this world].
A Few More Verses ...
February 9, 2008 - 09:16 ET by thoridflyRomans 12:11-13
(11) Not slothful in business [at work]; fervent in spirit [passionate about your job]; serving the Lord;
(12) Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation [strong in believing through challenges ... see Romans 4:20-21]; continuing instant in prayer;
(13) Distributing to the necessity of saints [the genuine need of believing Christians and just men]; given to hospitality.
Ecclesiastes 9:10
Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.
Ecclesiastes 3:13-14
(13) And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labor, it is the gift of God.
(14) I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.
Colossians 3:22-24
(22) Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing [reverencing and loving] God:
(23) And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
(24) Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance; for ye serve the Lord Christ.
Galatians 6:9-10
(9) And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
(10) As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
big ideas are stalling tactics
February 9, 2008 - 10:37 ET by bulbasaurPsychologists used to say that when someone has a pathological need for achievement, they'll seek out unrealistically difficult tasks on the theory that if they fail, it's easy to construct a narrative that puts the blame on the difficulty of the task, not themselves.
I think there's something to this. Libs are great dreamers, and God bless them for it, but how about we set our sights on modest, realistic, attainable goals?
Big ideas like Changing the Earth's Climate, or Making Superman Walk Again, or Ending Poverty Forever, are avoidance tactics. Whether intended or not, the effect of this kind of rhetoric is to remove any possibility of evaluating the outcome of their efforts. It seems to me the big ideas gambit does little more than take accountability off the table. And we can't have government without accountability.
Let's pick a simple, attainable goal and start with that. I have one: could you guys build a decent 700 mile long fence on our southern border, please? That sounds really manageable! Show us you can do that one thing, then we'll talk.
Economics NYT Opinion Page Style
February 9, 2008 - 11:13 ET by pilsenerHerbert's thoughts on economics are crystal clear and shared by the NYT editorial board and many others:
There is an infinite everflowing river of money that government merely has to dip into and fund all meaningful programs. New jobs with better pay - no problem. Free health care for all - no problem. Free college tuition for all - no problem. Utopia is just a matter of using a small portion of that vast river.
NO action that government takes will have any effect on the quantity or rate of flow, so why not take action. It is just wrong, even evil, to not dip into the river. Anyone who cautions against using the river is either stupid or evil themselves in depriving everyone of the water of life - government spending.
Did you actually quote that
February 9, 2008 - 11:55 ET by motherbeltDid you actually quote that from Herbert's column?
LOL
You're right..that's his (and many others') belief...they're just more subtle about expressing it.
Not A Quote
February 9, 2008 - 13:05 ET by pilsenerNo, it's not a Herbert quote. Just my version of the words of many others.
You are so right Mark and you say it so well
February 9, 2008 - 11:18 ET by Dee BunkIt was Bill Gates not Bill Clinton who created jobs in the 90's. Bill Gates and others like him have the big ideas that count when it comes to jobs.
The big ideas in Government need to be about the best ways to keep this country free so that the Bill Gates of the world can make it possible for poor people to live like the rich. Most poor people in the U.S. live better than the middle class in many countries that the left want to emulate.
Big ideas involve spreading our ideas to poorer nations and giving power to their people not their corrupt governments and terrorist factions.
Bob Herbert's Brain
February 9, 2008 - 11:47 ET by rammingspeedBob Herbert is a Marxist. There's nothing more to say.
"Where Are the Big
February 9, 2008 - 12:09 ET by Jack BauerTry reading the United States constitution Bob. It's all there in one neat, magnificent document.
We the people... probably the three most influential words in the English language.
Of course, Bob probably prefers 'Free' Stuff People.