What stood out about the debate last night was seeing Romney having to defend what he did when he was at Bain. Gingrich is of course still going after him, and while I already agreed with Glenn’s assessment that the Gingrich attacks are helping Romney, what was remarkable last night was seeing Romney in a position of having to defend himself by patiently educating the public on the economics of real world business.
I hate to say this, but the public sorely needs educating on the basic economics of business. This OWS stuff is insane, and so is the radical egalitarianism that is suffocating the free market. I was shocked earlier to read (Richard Epstein’s excellent rebuttal which Glenn linked) a so-called “conservative” argument for a “wealth tax” in none other than the Wall Street Journal.
But what was more shocking than that was this:
Beyond mollifying Wall Street protesters, a modest flat wealth tax is the key to flattening the income tax to make it more revenue-efficient.
If I were one of those blowhard bloggers who hurls insults, I’d be tempted to call the guy an effing pig for suggesting that mollifying OWS protesters is conservative. That kind of thinking is what emboldens such people. It is defeatism and cowardly appeasement at its worst. And if it is conservative, then once again, I am very proud not to be a conservative.
Republicans who are tapping into capitalist-bashing — especially the OWS meme — ought to be deeply ashamed of themselves.
This is not an endorsement of Romney, but the fact that he and Ron Paul continue to defend capitalism in the face of Republican attacks might account for their being the two candidates who are now within theoretical striking distance of beating Obama.
Think about it. The free market system is under attack as never before, with the most left-wing president in our history leading the charge. That some Republicans are quite willing to join the attackers does not bode well.
You’d think the free market capitalist system would always be defended by Republicans, and especially now.
That the free market is instead being attacked by Republicans in order to score points is shameful.
More power to its defenders, whoever they are.
Comments
6 responses to “the
BAINbane of the conservative occupation?”Might Romney and Paul make excellent running mates?
I know I’ve just committed heresy in about a hundred different ways, but why not?
Mitt would never go for it. But it might help him to pick up some votes against Obama he wouldn’t get otherwise.
In the future all restaurants will be Taco Bell.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFiDoOgRTpk
I could see Romney tapping RAND Paul as VP. He would get all of Paul’s followers with far less of the baggage. Rubio, Jindal, and Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuno are also good conservative choices with huge upsides.
Great piece, Eric! It sums up a lot of what I’ve been thinking for the past few months.
Sorry, Eric, but I have to disagree with you on something… Barack Obama is not the most left-wing President in our history. I believe that honor properly goes to Woodrow Wilson.
I used to joke that Establishment Republicans (what they used to call “Eisenhower Republicans,” “Rockefeller Republicans,” or “Responsible Republicans”–i.e., Republicans who pose no threat to Plantation and frequently collaborate with it) should be called “Mitt-Too Republicans.” Now with Newt seemingly leading the GOP contingent of Occupy Wall Street, my joke is dated. “Newt-Too Republicans” doesn’t seem to work as well.