Geronimo

Destiny

“When politics get chaotic, it is always the people who are sacrificed.” — Toyota Motor President – Akio Toyoda

By J.M. Hamilton (11-21-12)

Christmas came early for some of us this year, with the re-election of President Obama and the defeat of the Private Equity candidate, Mr Romney.

That’s not to say, I expect great gifts from Mr. Obama.  I expect my taxes to go up.

No, the gift that we all have been given is a Commander in Chief, who genuinely cares about 100% of us versus a cad who wrote off half the population.  It seems that the GOP can’t stop the hemorrhaging, with Mr. Romney confirming in a conference call to donors that he really thinks Americans were bought off by Mr. Obama.  Mr. Romney, of course, doesn’t feel that when Bain Capital rigs the rules in it’s favor, from looting legitimate businesses to gaming the tax code, both to the detriment of the economy and the fiscal health of the nation, that Private Equity is behaving in a parasitic manner.  Indeed, Mr. Romney, believes his and private equity’s behavior is a paragon of virtue.

Which goes to explain why a party that is bankrupt of new ideas, and is both obstructionist and exclusionary, is in rapid decline.  It’s no accident that the Romney candidacy and Hostess (the makers of Twinkies, Ho Hos, and Ding Dongs) were both brought down by the greed, rapaciousness, and an utter disregard for humanity caused by…. Private Equity ( the most extreme and virulent form of laissez faire capitalism practiced today).  Hostess will come back, thanks undoubtedly to employee self-sacrifice, what remains to be seen is will the GOP make it back?

One hopes the GOP learns, because the DNC, indeed America, is going to need healthy political
competition.

I’ve learned over the years never to gloat in victory because fate can turn events on their head in less than a second.  A friend of mine once celebrated the seeming demise of an arch-competitor during the height of the 2008 financial crisis.  This company was subsequently bailed out and I believe is still partially owned by the Feds to this day.  What this meant for my friend’s industry was said company, who was grounded on the rocks of bankruptcy in Fall 2008, lived again to fight another day, and was able to underprice their products and services in subsequent years, due to the implicit and explicit backstop and support of the Federal government.  Which was neither good for my friend’s  industry or the company he worked for.

So a rare admonishment from me to my readers:  Never gloat in victory, for Fate is always sleeplessly watching and she’s one cruel mistress.  Turn your back on her at your peril.

President Obama doesn’t appear to be turning his back on anyone these days: he’s reached out to labor, CEOs, and the Republican leadership in the house, in an effort to avoid “the fiscal cliff.”  Why both Political Parties should be so eager to do away with legislation they both agreed upon is beyond JMH?  The cuts to defense spending are long over due, and the Bush tax cuts – which have imperiled the financial health of the nation – clearly need to expire.  By way of comparison, the expiration of the Bush Tax cuts would mean a reversion back to the Clinton era tax rates, which if memory serves was not only a time of late 90′s economic prosperity but also a time of federal budgetary surpluses.  And as Mr. Krugman pointed out recently in the Times – the apogee of Republican nostalgia – the 1950′s –  was also a time when the top income tax rate was 91%.

Despite such high tax rates, the world did not end, the 1950′s U.S. economy did not falter, executives and workers still showed up for work every day, and we lived in more economically egalitarian – less economically predatory society (albeit admittedly, in terms of social justice and civil rights the 50′s were a backwater).  Private Equity would have never been permitted by the 1950′s Republican Party.

The House Republican leadership says they have a mandate too, which is laughable when we consider how badly Mr. Romney was defeated – nationally, and how Dems held onto the Senate – again a more nationally oriented democratic body.  The House, on the  other hand, is more representative of smaller regional preferences, local politics, and gerrymandering, and arguably, is not indicative of national trends.  Mr. Obama should not yield to the obstructionist.

Let the sequestration take hold, embrace the sequester, love the sequester.  Be the sequester!  The sequester is our friend.

And if per chance in the new legislative session the GOP leadership wants to demonstrate they are not the plutocratic party, and reduce taxes on the middle class than that would be nice too.  There’s never a provident time for tax increases or fiscal and budgetary sanity. But your humble blogger can assure you – there’s no better time than now.

Mr. Obama’s legacy is now on the line.  Ideally, his second administration will be the start of a return to fiscal sanity, the end of two crippling wars, and of our elected leaders making hard choices for the long term health of the nation, as opposed for the good of wealthy special interests.  Raising taxes is easy, cutting spending is harder, but the truly difficult part of governing is holding rich vendors, special interests, and corporations – who often profit directly or indirectly from their relations with government – accountable.  Many would argue cleaning out the Augean stables of waste, fraud and abuse is what our government, nation, and our economy needs now; but it is something our elected officials are loath to do.

At the end of the day the nation learned two things this election: one, the American people believe government can be a positive force in society; and two, the fairy tale that tax cuts for the wealthy create economic opportunity for all has been rejected and demoted to the ash heap of history (hence, GOP efforts to quash a congressional research service report, which told us that tax cuts for the rich do NOT create jobs).  This means the party that governs the most efficiently and effectively, to the benefit of the most constituents, wins.  Republicans take note.  Governing is not about “free stuff;” it’s about human dignity, leveling the playing field, and increasing the odds of success for many!

Do you hear that?  That’s the sound of Destiny calling…  Fate’s twin sister.

 Copyright JM Hamilton Publishing 2012