"The GOP's Privatization Pathology" by Paul Krugman at TruthOut

[applegrove]

The GOP's Privatization Pathology

By Paul Krugman, Krugman & Co. | Op-Ed at TruthOut

http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/12756-the-gops-privatization-pathology

"SNIP.............................................

There's something pathological here. It's really hard to think of a public service less likely to be suitable for privatization, and given the massive inequality of impacts by state, it really, really isn't block-grantable. Does the right somehow imagine that only Those People need disaster relief? Is the whole idea of helping people as opposed to hurting them just anathema? It's a bit of a mystery, calling more for psychological inquiry than policy analysis.

................................

Now, a recent blog post by Mr. Quiggin takes on both Mr. Mulligan's specifics and the broader claim that increased use of the social safety net is a cause rather than a result of a depressed economy.

As one of his commenters points out, this amounts to the claim that soup kitchens caused the Great Depression. Mr. Quiggin does an admirable job of refuting this claim.

I would, however, add one more point. If you really believe that the problem is that excessive generosity to the downtrodden is reducing the incentive to work, so that what we really have is a supply problem rather than a demand problem, you should expect to see upward pressure on wages. But that's not the case.

..............................................SNIP"

[Jim__]

1. "... this amounts to the claim that soup kitchens caused the Great Depression."

This comment deserves to go viral.

[gollygee]

2. I'm becoming the biggest fan of Paul Krugman

I think there needs to be more outrage about the whole privatization scheme the Republicans have been running. The rich are making a fortune off it and everyone else is suffering.

[reformist2]

3. I'm convinced each and every one of their leaders is an apostle of Ayn Rand.

There's no other explanation for why they all the same things, and how everything they say sounds like it comes from Atlas Shrugged.

[applegrove]

5. They are surrounded by manipulators in politics, media and think tanks.

They take on a paranoid stance against the enemies of their masters. Reality is not theirs. They feel what he feels. They destroy who and what he wants destroyed. They feel things are realer than real, never clearer, and want to take action on every feeling (how it is when you are being manipulated by a psychopath). Their feelings didn't steer them wrong before, so why wouldn't they follow such feelings.

[Hydra]

7. Ayn Rand gave a "moral" argument(excuse) as to why people

Can and should loot, rape, and pillage the world and know they are "holy" for doing so.

Greenspan even SAID as much.

I hope she's happy with the swath of destruction her babbling caused.

[frostfern]

4. The GOP are nothing but trolls.

The argument makes absolutely no sense.

[ProudProgressiveNow]

6. Nice read!

K&R

[phantom power]

8. The privatiziation movement is the most massive theft in history.

Plutocrats attempting to steal America's greatest public assets, and trillions of tax dollars. Sadly, they've already had too much success. And they won't stop trying.

[Doctor_J]

9. Terrorists and sociopaths

every Repuke is a rabid animal with no redeeming features. They are worse than the Nazis

Edit: This is my 25,000th post.