Recovery Summer?

[Mr. Dictator]

Just out of curiosity, what about Romney makes you not consider him a candidate at all?

Robots won't be able to run for office until the Great Droid Uprising of 2135.

Romney was probably sent back in time to speed this up, but no one's fooled by the near perfect uncanny valley of that thing's hair.

He'll probably be caught fondling a voting booth before the election and get rebooted to where he belongs.

 

[Leoreth]

At this point, he is one of only two viable candidates.
That's not in anyone's head... that's the sad reality.

It's what's in anyone's head that makes it reality.

And yes, I agree with everything you said about his failures.
Time to try something new, since we know what we have is a failure.

I have a better idea: let's try to figure out why he was a failure, and if the other option would repeat or avoid his mistakes (or make things worse). "Let's try the other guy" without any further introspection of the other guy isn't very responsible when it means you're experimenting with a huge country for the next four years.

 

[kramerfan86]

Considering Romney's plan's similarity to prior republicans, I dont know if you can say his plan isnt a failure itself.

 

[kochman]

It's what's in anyone's head that makes it reality.


I have a better idea: let's try to figure out why he was a failure, and if the other option would repeat or avoid his mistakes (or make things worse). "Let's try the other guy" without any further introspection of the other guy isn't very responsible when it means you're experimenting with a huge country for the next four years.

Unfortunately, we are wrapped in a two party system... so...
My primary concern is the economy, and that's where Romney will beat Obama if he is to win.

I don't think he'll govern as some hardcore social conservative.

 

[IdiotsOpposite]

And under Calvin Coolidge, unemployment averaged 3.3% and for a while dropped as low a 1.8%. That is what came from specifically rejecting any attempts for the government to try to stimulate the economy or boost employment.

I seem to remember that at the end of Calvin Coolidge's term, we had a minor correction called the Great Depression. You may have heard of it. You're saying we should, given the knowledge of what happened via Calvin Coolidge's economy, emulate Calvin Coolidge's economy?

 

[MagisterCultuum]

The Great Depression did not start until after Calvin Coolidge had been replaced with Herbert Hoover. Hoover's views on economics and the role of government were almost diametrically opposed to Calvin Coolidge's, and his interventions make maters much worse.


Regan and Bush did not have that much in common with Coolidge. They were both for massive military spending and an aggressive foreign policy, whereas Coolidge cut the military and championed a treaty that made war as an instrument of national policy illegal.

 

[Cutlass]

But what they did have in common with Coolidge is an economic philosophy of hands off. And so while Coolidge inherited a government that did very little, R&B tried to turn the government back into a government that did very little. And that is the direct foundation of our economic problems today.

 

[kramerfan86]

The market crashed less than 8 months into Hoover's term, are you really trying to suggest Coolidge's administration didnt have at least something to do with it?

 

[amadeus]

Just out of curiosity, what about Romney makes you not consider him a candidate at all?

Too many similarities with Obama.

Which one described themselves as "progressive?"
Which one will cut spending overall?
Which one will reduce the military budget?
Which one will end the drug war?
Which one will get our troops out of Afghanistan?
Which one will stop sabre-rattling at Iran?
Which one will stop domestic drone flights?
Which one will repeal the PATRIOT Act?
Which one will support a policy of neutrality in the Arab-Israeli conflict?
Which one isn't for forcing you to buy health insurance?

But what they did have in common with Coolidge is an economic philosophy of hands off. And so while Coolidge inherited a government that did very little, R&B tried to turn the government back into a government that did very little. And that is the direct foundation of our economic problems today.

Reagan and Bush, hands off? Surely you jest.

 

[Cutlass]

Reagan and Bush, hands off? Surely you jest.

Comparatively speaking. They got the government to stop doing as much as they were able to.

 

[Algeroth]

Which one will stop domestic drone flights?

That's an issue now in USA?

 

[amadeus]

Comparatively speaking. They got the government to stop doing as much as they were able to.

No, not even close. Reagan and Bush intervened as much, if not more, than their predecessors.

 

[IdiotsOpposite]

The market crashed less than 8 months into Hoover's term, are you really trying to suggest Coolidge's administration didnt have at least something to do with it?

I was going to say this, but I had to go to work. Lo and behold, I come back and someone's said it already.

 

[kramerfan86]

I was going to say this, but I had to go to work. Lo and behold, I come back and someone's said it already.

I mean it just boggles the mind that anyone actually suggests going the Coolidge route when the worst trainwreck in american economic history followed. I mean i can buy defending Coolidge so far as claiming guys like Hoover made the problem worse, but to claim Coolidge's policies werent part of the problem when the wheels fell off 8 months after he handed over the keys is just being ridiculous.

 

[Cutlass]

The part you need to understand the most about Coolidge and the economic policies that went before him is that, yes, you did get the occasional stellar years. But you got a lot of hellish years as well. In the Keynesian era, you still got some stellar years, but the hellish years are just a memory. And so overall the Keynesian years provide some 1/3 greater per capita growth per year, simply because the wealth that was previously destroyed in the hell years instead is not being destroyed.

 

[Ayatollah So]

Just out of curiosity, what about Romney makes you not consider him a candidate at all?

Having not read his answer yet, I'm still pretty sure he means that Romney=Obama=Obomney; no distinction to be made here. I almost agree. It's hard to think of a recent prez election with less at stake, IMHO.

 

[Cutlass]

That's not really fair. While Obama is a conservative, Romney has embraced the most radical extremist righwingnuttish of policies.

 

[FriendlyFire]

Too many similarities with Obama.

Obama has shifted sharply to the right, or we could say compromised himself continuously in a vain attempt at bi-partisianship. Given how far to the right the GOP has shifted its has changed how the middle is viewed. I bet not long ago Reagan and Bush1 were considered conservatives, not anymore it seems.

 

[kochman]

That's not really fair. While Obama is a conservative, Romney has embraced the most radical extremist righwingnuttish of policies.

Such as?

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

The Obama plan for economic recovery has brought us trillions in added debt and no economic recovery. The one bright spot is successful businesses like Solyndra and Abound Solar.

And what's the opposition's plan? Oh right, trillions more in tax cuts with no way to pay for it, the abandonment of the American automotive industry, and the removal of protective regulations which would have stopped future needs for taxpayer-funded bailouts.