According to Nobel laureate and raconteur Paul Krugman, Gov. Scott Walker and “his backers” are attempting to “make Wisconsin — and eventually, America — less of a functioning democracy and more of a Third World-style oligarchy.”
Now, it’s common knowledge that throwing around loaded words like “socialism” is both uncivil and obtuse, so it’s comforting to know we can still refer to people as “Third World-style oligarchs.” And boy, that kind of Banana Republic doesn’t seem very appealing.
Democracy, naturally, can only be saved by public sector unions, which attain their political power and taxpayer-funded benefits by “negotiating” with politicians elected with the help of unions who use, well, taxpayer dollars. And you know, that doesn’t sound like an oligarchy at all.
While Walker, who won office using obnoxious Third World oligarchic tactics like “getting more votes than the other candidate,” is a cancer in the heart of democracy, union- funded Democrats evading their constitutional obligation to cast votes are only protecting the integrity of representative government by completely avoiding democracy.
You’re getting it now, right?
In this world, when you tax a citizen a bit less to try to generate economic growth, you are not taking less from the taxpayer but “stealing” from a third party who at some point in his life was told he had an indelible right to your wallet, no matter the cost. And if you don’t hand it over? Well, even though Wisconsin is home to some of the nation’s highest taxes, and even though the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported that tax cuts were “not even in effect yet, so they cannot be part of the current problem,” you can’t stop unionists from blaming “giveaways” to the rich.
[…]
If some public union rollbacks are a harbinger of rebirth of the robber barons, why is it that the Service Employees International Union boss — who represents a sliver of the American workforce — has been the most frequent guest at the White House after he handed Barack Obama $28 million and used tens of million more to campaign for him and his policies?
Is it a sign of pending Third World oligarchy that the president, in turn, uses that money to fund Organizing for America and deploys its activists to agitate for unions in Wisconsin?
Is it impending oligarchy when the president employs the coercive power of government to stick taxpayers (and GM stakeholders) with the bill for a Detroit union bailout, or appoints a rigid union booster to the National Labor Relations Board without as much as a Senate hearing to allow “democracy” to have its say in the matter?
It should not surprise you that in Wisconsin, as elsewhere, it is the oligarchs who support policies that offer parents and children more educational choices, while democracy lovers call in sick and shut down the entire government-run monopoly that offers them none.
What is it a wise man has been saying for years now?
Oh yes: Up is down. Black is white. Freebie is the Bean.
Also, Chachi hates Joanie’s guts.
Harsanyi truly bitch slaps Krugman in this column.
Third World oligarchy ?
Wait, I thought it was a neo-feudalistic oligarchy.
Which, let’s face it, describes our situation more precisely.
*rolls eyes*
For that matter don’t Trade Unions (who I generally support) engage in price-fixing?
Bridget absolutely loathes Bernie.
Walker, who won office using obnoxious Third World oligarchic tactics like “getting more votes than the other candidate,” is a cancer in the heart of democracy…
It helps if you read Harsanyi in Shatner’s voice: “Krug — I’m laughing at the superior intellect!”
I’m tempted to take a train to Princeton, grab this spittle-flecked lilliputian and carry his ass to dwarf tossing night at a bar.
Can someone explain to me how the rants of lefties can survive any serious scrutiny, even from fellow lefties? I guess they don’t even pay attention to themselves, let alone the world around them.
I fucking hate midgets. And lute players.
Yeah, self awareness isn’t a progg strong point.
Government? Shut ‘er down, for the oligarchy of course.
So much of the lefty emotional makeup is invested in the concept of insurrection that they just can’t wrap their heads around the fact that they are the establishment.
As Carney wrote yesterday:
They are “the man.” Fight the power? They are the power. Representing a minority of powerful interests.
We need to start a “union” of free people. Or free workers. Take back their terms.
Speaking of third world, I strongly advise ya’ll stock up on groceries, they aren’t going to get any cheaper.
Former NEA president, Reg Weaver – $686,949 a year. They are “the man.”
Thanks, LBascom. Nice to know more illegals will not doing useful work and instead will live entirely off of welfare.
Blake, as an added bonus, illegals will have more time on their hands, giving them ample opportunity for schemes to advance their lifestyles.
That’s right, ANCHOR BABIES!
There’s that “robber baron” canard again. Just who exactly was it that the robbers robbed in order to become barons of robbery?
And who were the robber viscounts, earls and dukes?
Democracy doesn’t mean voting to elect representatives or a legal initiative that the majority of voters want. It means that the side that fucknuggets like the Krugmans of the world consider disadvantaged wins by whatever means are necessary at the time.
Just who exactly was it that the robbers robbed in order to become barons of robbery?
Mostly they robbed merchants carrying cargo up and down the river Rhine. They called it “tolls” or “taxes,” but these nobles were not authorized by the Holy Roman Emperor to collect any such fees; hence, robbery. During the interregnum of the mid-13th Century, the absence of Imperial authority caused these robber barons to multiply and grow more brazen, to the point of stealing entire cargoes and holding important passengers for ransom.
This led to a confederation of local nobility, who raised an army, besieged and sacked the strongholds of several robber barons, and put them to death, in the hopes of making examples of them. Though not wholly successful, the Rhine League did manage to curb the worst of the abuses.
Hmmm. State officials interfering with commerce to extract unlawful payments from the merchants. Where have I heard that before?
Progressives. You can always tell what they feel by the accusations they fling at others.
Ok Squid, you got me. I forgot about the Graf von Karnagee and the Duc d’Rochefeller.
I just remember how surprised I was that the original Robber Barons weren’t American oil or railroad magnates.
Jennifer Beals is Elsa Lanchester?
Elsa Lanchester is Julie Andrews?
And here’s reasonable-conservative Cap’n Ed to tell us that maybe Walker should compromise on the bargaining-rights part, because why should we want to win outright when there’s a-compromisin’ to be done. Winners are so mean!
Any right-thinking conservative, such as FDR, would say Walker’s plan doesn’t go far enough. Public sector unions are an abomination, and must be eliminated. Period.
In Cap’n Ed’s defense, I think trading vouchers for organizing rights would be worthwhile, if only because I believe that the vouchers would quickly migrate to non-union schools. I think there’s an appreciable difference in a compromise of that sort, versus the “we already agreed to wage concessions so please be nice to us” kind of compromise that our good friends in Madison are offering.
Of course, it doesn’t take much imagination to picture the unions/Dems pulling a North Africa, where they demand payment up front and never hold up their end of the bargain. The only real question would be how many times the GOP fell for it.
North Korea, that is. Can you tell I’ve been reading the news out of Tripoli?
Fair ’nuff, and certainly vouchers would go a long way towards defanging the teachers unions… but isn’t the issue bigger than just the teachers? I thought the idea was to apply similiar limitations on all the WI public sector unions, not just the teachers.
It should be, if it isn’t.
Also not sure why it would be necessary to compromise to get the voucher deal. If the WI legislature can cram through the union bill against an absurd, comical, and potentially violent degree of opposition, I’d think vouchers would be a gimme, comparatively.
Good point.
The way I see it, when you’ve got the other guy pinned down with your boot on his neck, he’s not in a position to demand concessions.
I’d say to Walker what Thatcher said to Bush 41.
Why leave out the police and fire unions?
Everytime I pass a cop directing traffic on his off shift, I know he is making more than $70 an hour. I have a lot of law enforcement friends, and even THEY laugh at this unaffordable stupidity.
Wisconsin is a banana republic? Wisconsin?
While you could get your ass kicked in Wisconsin I had no idea that a short ferry-ride across Lake Michigan would take me to a tropical wonderland.
The things I learn from Nobel-Prize winning econoimists who write for the going broke (Hey Paul! Can you do something about that? ‘Kay, Thanx!) NYT.
Though I do admit that livestock in possession of firearms is pretty frightening. “I’ll make you mooooove.”
#3 LBascom:
If this is feudalism I demand a really cool sword for all of the foot soldiering I have been putting in for years.
No, not too overblown with prongs and such – just a nice, clean hilt, sharp blade, with good balance so I can really stick it to the man! Classy, but not gaudy. That’s how I roll.
#12 Abe: I wonder how many grad students hear these rants from the professors and think “Dude – you are the man.”
The only way to get weirder than to have a tenured Ivy League professor ranting like this in the New York Times is to have a pre-1917 Russian Grand Duke advocating the overthrow of the aristocracy.
“A wise man believes only in lies, trusts no one but himself and learns to expect the unexpected.”
That from Shit Socrates Said When Plato Wasn’t Listening? mojo?
The question mark really is part of the title. The Bambridge Scholars aren’t sure if the notes are Xenophon’s or Alcibiades’s.
More, oh no-shit.
Since I was a Marxist myself at the time, and had studied variations in Marxist theory…
1. Take all of their stuff.
2. Take the entirety of all of their stuff.
3. Take nearly the entirety of all of their stuff.
4. Take almost nearly the entirety of all of their stuff.
5. Bury them in mass graves.
When you’ve got the other guy pinned down with your boot on his neck, the thing to do is lift your other foot.
baracky is a collective nightmare
cranky-d:
I once overheard two co-workers of mine (one farther to the left than the other) arguing about something, with the further-leftist getting the worst of it. After having been refuted on almost every point, he said, “Well, I still think that–” and went right back to Square One as though the conversation had never taken place.
BTW, I’ve noticed that a lot recently; I mean the use of the phrase “I think–” in response to being fact-checked.
Feebie is the Bean?! The End Times are surely upon us…
Third World Oligarchy? Personally, I was hoping that we were a military junta or something like that….for obvious reasons.
Easily fixed: READER POLL!
Does anyone here seriously believe that Paul Krugman has a problem with the US being turned into a third world country? After all, he’s been actively backing Obama, who’s doing everything he can to drag our economy down to third world standards. No, I suspect Krugman would prefer to see the US taken down a peg or three, he just wants to make sure that the right oligarchs rule over the resulting shithole.