Why I Want a Democratic Landslide

Why I Want a Democratic Landslide

I want to see the Democrats win all the way around; the Presidency, the Senate and the House of Representatives. It is not for the reasons you might think. I have no illusions. I do not think they will do anything to address any of the issues I consider important. I think they will do all the wrong things and it will accomplish nothing but to make things worse. Not that I think the Republicans are any better. They would also accomplish nothing either.

I have no doubt that the United States are headed for a financial crisis that will make 2008 look life a picnic. None of the underlying issues that rose to the surface then have been addressed.¹ They have simply been papered over with lies and flimflammery. Sound and fury signifying nothing.

The problem is the media and the punditry have created a false narrative. Voters have been told that there is a clear choice. On one side is a Democratic party that believes government should take extraordinary measures to stimulate the economy and alleviate the effects of unregulated greed among the big Wall Street banks. On the other side is a Republican party offering radical free market policies that would cut government spending to the bone and take us back to gilded age of robber barons and sweatshops.

The portrayal of the Democrats is for the most part accurate. They really do believe that government should act despite the fact that every time such policies have been enacted they have failed. One only has to compare the responses to the depression of 1920 to those 1929. One resulted in a quick recovery, the other lead to fifteen years of stagnation was only relieved by the demobilization at the end of World War II and the explosion of prosperity in the 1950s brought about by the reduction of federal economic management.²

It is the image of the Republicans that bothers me. Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are being portrayed as champions of free markets. Nothing could be further than the truth. Ryan's proposed budget has been criticized as drastic.³ The truth is even Fox News recognizes that Ryan's "budget plan doesn't actually slash the budget."⁴ In reality, the Republicans wouldn't know a real budget cutting plan if it were presented to them.⁵

However, the people who vote don't look at details, they listen to the sound bites and rhetoric that tell them what they want to hear. Herein is the source of my desire for a Democratic landslide. As I said, I believe the worst is yet to come. There will be a collapse worse than 2008 and if Romney is President what the majority of the people will believe is that the “free market” plan did not work. All they will know is Romney's “radical capitalism” caused a disaster and the very idea of genuine free market solutions will be set back for decades, if not generations. My hope is that if the Democrats are in charge when the collapse comes the idea of government as an economic savior will collapse as well and that maybe a real free market solution⁶ will have a chance.

Notes

1. Why The 2008 Financial Crisis Is A Warm Up For The Horrific Collapse Coming, by Sara O. Hill.
2. The Depression You’ve Never Heard Of: 1920-1921, by Robert Murphy. Why You've Never Heard of the Great Depression of 1920, by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.
3. Paul Ryan's 'Path To Prosperity' Hurts Americans In These 10 Ways, By James Sunshine and Harry Bradford.
4. Fact Check: Ryan budget plan doesn't actually slash the budget, Fox News, unattributed.
5. Ron Paul’s budget cuts put U.S. on right track, by Jacob Sullum.
6. State or Private-Law Society, by Hans-Hermann Hoppe.