Laugh Out Loud, Soulless Hacks Edition

Ryan Cooper writes (The Week) that Democrats need fewer soulless hacks and more true believers:

The narrowness of Hillary Clinton's stunning loss to Donald Trump — especially given the fact that she actually won the popular vote by 2.5 million and rising — has led many liberals to conclude that the Democratic Party only needs a slight adjustment to win future presidential elections. A better candidate, a more competent campaign, or a more credible message on economic issues — any one of them might have kept the presidency in Democratic hands.

There are many things the party must do to rebuild. Here's one more to add to the growing list: The Democrats need a better breed of operative. 

He goes on to describe how Rahm Emanuel and David Brock have abandoned liberal principles in favor of soulless political partisanship. True enough, but then goes on to say this about Terry McAuliffe, Governor of Virginia and close Clinton confidante:

This is a guy so obsessed with party politics that he once left his wife and hours-old infant in the car while he dropped in on a fundraiser. (He's also got a bad case of foot-in-mouth disease.) Yet as governor, he has worked diligently to get ObamaCare's Medicaid expansion in his state, and more importantly, used his pardon power to restore voting rights to 13,000 ex-felons...[H]e is one of only a handful of the Democratic old guard who seems to grasp that sometimes doing the morally right thing (on the advice of left-wing activists, no less) is also smart tactics. Re-enfranchising felons not only guarantees Democrats several thousand votes come election time, it also lends the party extra credibility among black voters (Virginia is 20 percent black) on the most pressing racial justice issue of the day, and among white liberals in the D.C. suburbs. 

Hang on: leaving your family for a fundraiser makes you a true liberal? And enfranchising felons so they'll vote Democrat, that's a liberal principle too? And McAuliffe, a bought and paid for Clinton partisan, is supposed to be a true believer? In what?!

Remember when liberals cared more about people than politics? Yeah, me neither.

Laugh Out Loud, Shutdown Politics Edition

Remember when Harry Reid was "fully in charge of his party’s negotiating strategy"?

Yeah, me neither.

Laugh Out Loud, Paul Krugman Edition

Paul Krugman thinks Ben Bernanke can solve the nation's economic problems by having the Fed perform some or all of the following:

• Purchase long-term government debt to push down interest rates and thus borrowing costs
• "[Announce] that short-term interest rates would stay near zero for an extended period, to further reduce long-term rates"
• "[Announce] that the bank was seeking moderate inflation, 'setting a target in the 3-4% range for inflation, to be maintained for a number of years,' which would encourage borrowing and discourage people from hoarding cash" (emphasis mine)
• Depreciate the dollar

I'm no economist, and I never gave economic advice to Enron, but even I can see the holes in these proposals. First, the Fed's been buying government debt for two years in order to lower interest rates, but private borrowing hasn't increased. Second, as Krugman notes, the Fed has all but announced that short-term rates would stay zero through mid-2013. Call me stupid, but how is a bleak economic forecast for 2012 supposed to increase businesses' and consumers' confidence? Third (I'm taking this out of order), the dollar has already been depreciated against world currencies. In fact it's been depreciating for years. And yet imports continue to rise and exports continue to fall. How does that help the economy?

But here's what really got me laughing: years worth of increased inflation to "discourage people from hoarding cash." Who is he talking about? Who in the world is hoarding cash right now?! Who even has cash to hoard?! Is he talking about large corporations like Apple, Google, and GE, who according to their 2011 Q2 filings had cash reserves of $12, $10 and $91 billion respectively? That's a lot of cash, to be sure. But why would increased inflation motivate these companies to spend more? What would they spend it on? In any case Krugman doesn't say "companies from hoarding cash," he says "discourage people." What does he think "people" will do with all this cash he thinks they've hoarded? Buy more Chinese imports? Buy real estate in Detroit? Invest in precious metals? Trade in their SUV's for sleek new EV's?

Laugh Out Loud, Robert Reich Edition

Reich's a smart guy. I usually learn something when I read his stuff. But not today.

He's attacking the President for not having a good jobs plan. Fair enough, the President deserves such attacks. Reich writes:

This job recession shows no sign of ending. It can no longer be blamed on supply-side disruptions from Japan, Europe's debt crisis, high oil prices, or bad weather.

We're in a vicious cycle where consumers won't buy more because they're scared of losing their jobs and their pay is dropping. And businesses won't hire because they don't have enough customers.

Hard to argue with that. But as part of his solution, he suggests (emphasis mine):

Second, we'll recreate the WPA and Civilian Conservation Corps -- two of the most successful job innovations of the New Deal -- and put people back to work directly. The long-term unemployed will help rebuild our roads and bridges, ports and levees, and provide needed services in our schools and hospitals. Young people who can't find jobs will reclaim and improve our national parklands, restore urban parks and public spaces, recycle products and materials, and insulate public buildings and homes.

Holy green gravy. He's done it! He's solved the nation's problems! We'll just take all those chronically unemployed middle-managers, salesmen, lawyers and put them to work building stuff. What a great idea!

And all those urban and suburban youth who can't get jobs in fast food? We'll send them out into the wilderness, where they will also build stuff. Well, except for the ones sorting stinky milk cartons and tuna fish cans down at the recycling center. Or those installing insulation in buildings that are already R33.

Yeah, that'll happen. I laughed out loud when I read that.