Perhaps overconfident now that Scott Walker is out of the race, Jeb Bush says getting rid of those pesky Big Gummint regulations will spur growth and hike wages. "3 percent GDP growth" and "6 percent wage growth" over 10 years aren't impressive figures, since even Obama-era GDPs increase a couple of points every quarter, and naturally the regulations he really wants to kill concern things like carbon emissions, Dodd-Frank, and net neutrality. No word from Mr. Bush on whether, say, the savings in health care costs from clean air and clean water regulations will ever figure into his thinking. I'm starting to think he started wearing glasses because he knew once he started campaigning, people would want to punch him in the face.
Paul Krugman tells us why the banksters are constantly complaining that the Federal Reserve's prime rate isn't high enough. Long story short: they're greedy assholes. Long story somewhat longer: they whined that low interest rates would lead to a death spiral of inflation, and now, after several years of that not happening, they're whining (and I don't know how they can do this with a straight face) that low interest rates cause bubbles. As if bankster schemes don't cause bubbles! And they're still filthy rich! How much is enough for these people?
Surprise, surprise, Sam Brownback's Kansas "experiment" in far-right economics isn't going so well, what with the state actually losing over 8,000 private sector non-farm jobs in July and August. I'd quibble with the notion that good Kansans really wanted to see this experiment through, though -- when Kansas Democrats' mantra is let's phase in new budget-busting tax cuts for the rich a bit more slowly, rather than let's repeal Sam Brownback's entire record, one shouldn't be surprised when voters throw up their hands and fall back on the party that at least agrees with them on abortion.
Ben Carson has stepped in it so bad that even Ted Cruz points out that the Constitution explicitly bans "religious tests" for public office. But he can't help but point out that "I am a constitutionalist," which is obnoxious -- as if he has all the expertise about the Constitution, or as if you can't actually have valid opinions about the Constitution unless you slap such a label on yourself. And he still thinks we should just exclude Syrian Muslim refugees from coming here, as if no vetting of refugees ever happens before arrival.
Finally, we learn that George P. Bush's first year as Texas Land Commissioner has seen the mass uprooting of long-time leadership officials and their replacement with George P. Bush cronies, most of whom got their jobs without the positions being posted. That last item violates state law, by the way, but laws are for little people like us. Other allegations include "creating an atmosphere where all of the employees are hunkered down, waiting to be fired," "demanding loyalty oaths," and "weekly purges." Taking corruption and call it "reform": it's Tha Bush Mobb way.
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