Remember the Three Stooges? Moe, Larry and Curly entertained a generation of kids with antics that were a combination slapstick comedy mixed with unrelenting stupidity. Most comedy today is much more "sophisticated." So where do we find today's Three Stooges? Inhabiting the government, or trying to. I present to you Exhibits A,B, and C--or if you prefer, Treasury Secretary Timothy "Moe" Geithner, Massachusetts Democrat Senate candidate Elizabeth "Larry" Warren, and North Carolina Democrat Gov. Bev "Curly" Perdue.
Treasury Secretary Timothy "Moe" Geithner
Let's start with Tim. Speaking with ABC News a couple of days ago, Geithner didn't dispute a Harvard economist's (lowball) estimate that Barack Obama's latest jobs plan averages out to a cost of $200,000 per job. As far as Moe--I mean Tim--is concerned, that's the wrong way to look at things. Furthermore, Tim says there is "no other option" for getting the economy back on track. "You've got to think about the costs of the alternatives," he told ABC's David Muir. "If government does nothing, it does nothing now because they're scared by politics or they want to debate what's perfect, then there will be fewer Americans back to work, the economy will be weaker."
Where oh where to begin. Who besides a stooge thinks another $447 billion spent on Son of Stimulus, following $860 billion on Stimulus Senior, is a good idea? No doubt the progressive wealth re-distributers do. So do the public service unions who were bought off with Stimulus Senior. Toss in the people who invariably believe that government has to "do something" about everything--even at 200K a pop--and you have a perfect storm of elitist arrogance, shameless self-entitlement and bureaucratic inefficiency.
As for the costs of the alternatives, here's some that wouldn't cost a dime: take every job-killing regulation these socialist stooges have imposed on the country in the last three years alone, most notably ObamaCare and the Dodd-Frank Fin Reg bill, and kick them to the curb. Club the EPA like a baby seal and stop letting people like Lisa Jackson run roughshod over the Constitution. Reform the tax system so America becomes a place to invest in, not outsource from. Or more succinctly, do exactly the opposite of what Moe's advocating: get the government out of the way and stop letting a bunch of Ivy League stooges, whose theories "unexpectedly" explode when they come in contact with the real word, run the country into the ground at a price tag of 200K per job--"created or saved."
Massachusetts Democrat Senate candidate Elizabeth "Larry" Warren
Next up Liz "Larry" Warren. "You built a factory out there? Good for you," she said back in August. "But I want to be clear: you moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for; you hired workers the rest of us paid to educate; you were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn't have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory, and hire someone to protect against this, because of the work the rest of us did. Now look, you built a factory and it turned into something terrific, or a great idea? G0d bless. Keep a big hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along."
Apparently Larry--I mean Liz--hasn't figured out, among other things, that roads, educated workers, police, firemen etc., weren't paid for by "the rest of us." They were paid for by everyone, including the people who had the ambition, took the risks and created those "terrific ideas" that put "rest of us" to work--by the millions. Furthermore, Larry--I mean Liz--has it exactly backwards here. Last time I checked the Constitution, the government derives its power from the consent of the governed, not the other way around. Moreover, Liz might want to ponder where government would get its resources if those factory builders stopped building factories, or every other business that forms the economic backbone of our nation stopped doing what they do as well. Read "Atlas Shrugged" if you can't figure it out for yourself.
As far as this stooge is concerned, we proletariat Americans work for the all-powerful state, which is the only entity with the intellectual firepower--and beneficence--to determine who gets what, based on a the familiar refrain: from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs. That's Marxism. And I don't mean Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Gummo or Zeppo.
North Carolina Democrat Gov. Bev "Curly" Perdue
Last up is North Carolina Gov. Bev "Curly" Perdue, who uttered this sparkler: "You have to have more ability from Congress, I think, to work together and to get over the partisan bickering and focus on fixing things. I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won't hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover," she told a Cary Rotary Club. "I really hope that someone can agree with me on that...You want people who don't worry about the next election."
Maybe you don't, Bev, but I'd bet my life most Americans want members of the ruling class, not only to be worried, but terrified of losing their jobs if they don't do right by the people. This stooge from North Carolina may not remember, but that's exactly why Democrats got shellacked in 2010, after they rammed ObamaCare down the public's throat. And believe it or not, a ton of Americans look at what you call "partisan bickering," much of which has arisen as a direct result of that election, more like putting a straight-jacket on the Keynesian Krazys who would spend us into oblivion. Their "fixes" have added almost five trillion dollars of additional debt in three years to the five trillion dollars it took an irresponsible Bush administration to run up in eight. And for accuracy's sake, it's worth remembering the Democrats were in total control of Congress the last two years of the Bush administration.
Curly--I mean Bev, had her office "clarify" her remarks. "Come on," said spokeswoman Chris Mackey in a statement. "Gov. Perdue was obviously using hyperbole to highlight what we can all agree is a serious problem: Washington politicians who focus on their own election instead of what's best for the people they serve." Hyperbole? More like sedition, or an Alinsky-inspired trial balloon to see how many Americans might be receptive to a dollop of Temp-Totalitarianism--for the "greater good" of course.
Needless to say Tim, Liz and Bev--or Moe Larry and Curly if you prefer--are dedicated leftists. And sad to say, more than a few Americans take their brand of slapstick comedy mixed with unrelenting stupidity far more seriously than they should. But I'm betting it's not a majority of Americans.
I'd even wager that if the original Three Stooges were still around, having them in the respective positions of power occupied by our current trio of stooges would be better for the country.
