So that's why we have jobless recovery

Houston Chronicle ^ | 3/15/04 | David Broder

[harpu]

IN the left of the Democratic Party, they don't come any smarter than Barney Frank, the 12-term congressman from Massachusetts. Republicans enjoy debating him, because if you've beaten him, you know the next liberal will be easier.

In a speech on March 4, Frank took what has become a commonplace of political conversation, something that President Bush, Sen. Kerry and scores of lesser lights constantly discuss -- namely, the frustrating job market -- and probed it in a depth one rarely hears from a politician.

[Puppage]

they don't come any smarter than Barney Frank

Or, gayer.

[trek]

Bawny Fwank, Communist Stooge. This article is good news. Now the Stalinist Sodomite is out of the closet in more ways than one.

[lady lawyer]

I never realized how much of a social Broder is until now.

[Cyber Liberty]

Broder's doing his best for his party.

[StriperSniper]

Frank urges that we "take some of the wealth that is being created by this wonderful thing, this increased productivity, this new technology and the ways of using it, and all this innovation, and let us use it for our own undisputed public purposes

There are none.

[nmh]

If Barney was sooo smart, he wouldn't be "gay". That defies mere common sense.

[Moonman62]

When I asked him in an interview Thursday if he was sending a message to John Kerry, Frank said, "It's a message for all Democrats. What I'm saying is we're in a situation now where we need the government, and where is it? We've cut taxes, we've criticized bureaucracy, we've almost condemned the public sector. I'm saying it's time to talk positively about government and use it to do what the private economy is no longer doing."

What does he think GWB has been doing the past three years? The government has grown 25% and GWB has not used a single veto. GWB has gone after accounting crooks in the private sector that haven't done anything worse than what the federal government's been doing for decades. That's what the "new tone in Washington" is all about. Broder needs to find something to do besides writing about Bawney Fwank, who is totally disconnected from reality, as usual.

However, this does show that the "new tone" is a failure. No matter how much you spend and grow the government, it will never be enough for the Left.

[expat_panama]

"The ability of the private sector in this country to create wealth is now outstripping its ability to create jobs..."

There you have it: too much wealth.  We've got to stop this excess wealth creation immediately!!  Sounds pretty stupid, right?   You'd think that David Broder would ask Sen. Bahnie Fwank what's wrong with wealth, but instead he just agrees that somehow the BLS is mistaken and there aren't really more people working now earning higher wages than ever before. 

Why not, Liberals don't know how to click here.  In fact, they don't even bother making up numbers any more, they just say that everything is bad and that it's caused by GW's globalization.

Idiots

[OldFriend]

Broder drinking some of that special juice again.

[Citizen Tom Paine]

Last week, I returned from a drive around the eastern half of the country of about 4,000 miles. This country had better take some of the "wealth" which it is generating and rebuild some of the existing interstate highways. They are in sad shape.

Based on the number of cars that I saw on all of the roads, we had better take some of that "wealth" and start a major roadbuilding effort. IMHO

[ilgipper]

Unemployment numbers are NOT high; this is insane. The statistics are pretty good for the point we are at in the cycle. What could be disputed is now many people are out there without jobs or less desirable jobs, but are not counted in the govt. statistics. Regardless, the same system is in place today as in all other recent economic recoveries, and the unemployment numbers are pretty decent.

[CROSSHIGHWAYMAN]

Why is this boom leaving so many worse off?

It isn't.

More people work than ever before and more people can afford their own homes than ever before.

The overinflated boom of the late 1990s has not been absorbed yet.

The Y2K effect will take a while to subside.

[raloxk]

"His proposal is to tax some of the wealth the private sector is now producing so abundantly -- "a fairly small percentage," he said, without being specific -- "and use it to employ people on socially useful purposes.""

This is nothing short of out and out communism

[upcountryhorseman]

You have hit the nail on the head! No-one is investing in
infastructure. There is no investment in new plants (at least, not in this country). New production facilities are
what create jobs.

[Gunslingr3]

Any cargo which has to travel more that 250 miles should be shipped by air, train, or water.

For some reason the free market disagrees with the cost effectiveness of your proposal.

[Iris7]

"The ability of the private sector in this country to create wealth is now outstripping its ability to create jobs." - Barney Frank

This is merely Karl Marx's theory of surplus value. Pure, unadulterated Marxism. I am not being metaphorical; this sounds like something Engels would have said.

[raloxk]

"As Frank acknowledged, this whole approach smacks "to some extent (of) the New Deal philosophy.""

FDR never taxed wealth. This is Marxism pur and simple.


When you tax something, you get less of it. We will get less wealth if we tax wealth.

you think the savings rate is bad now. Just wait till people, who have low incomes but high wealth, face a tax on their wealth. I will personally move my wealth out of the country if it the principal is going ot be taxed.

[Gunslingr3]

There is no investment in new plants (at least, not in this country).

Because capital utilization rates are still low. If your plant is running at 75-80% capacity, why expand it?

[MJY1288]

"In a speech on March 4, Frank took what has become a commonplace of political conversation, something that President Bush, Sen. Kerry and scores of lesser lights constantly discuss -- namely, the frustrating job market -- and probed it in a depth one rarely hears from a politician."

Barney Frank has always been good at probing a subject, just ask his boyfriend! :-)