A tip of the hat goes to Andrew Roth at The Club for Growth for pointing me to this, from Arnold Kling at the :
"It seems likely to me that more people oppose the auto bailout than support it, more people oppose the housing bailout than support it, more people oppose the stimulus than support it, and more people oppose the bank bailout than support it.
"Starting last September, our country has gone through six months that shook the world. We have abandoned free markets. We have abandoned democracy, in the sense of having policies that reflect the popular will…"
While I share Kling’s enthusiasm and long-term faith in our economy, I don’t necessarily agree with his statement we’re living in a "technocratic dictatorship." Obama and the Congress will be held responsible for their job-crushing spending bills in November of 2010. The only way to force them to do exactly what majorities wish in the meantime is direct democracy on all issues, which isn’t always a great idea.
In fact, Kling is looking at the situation from the wrong end. We have indeed seen "six months that shook the world" and may even get worse. Yet, majorities still oppose bailouts, "stimuli" and greater government intervention in the market. People recognize this problem was started by government interference in the housing market, and they realize more government interference is simply making it worse.
The stock market continues to fall, unemployment festers and the CBO reports Obama’s "stimulus" package will delay the inevitable recovery, yet poll after poll shows Americans have more faith in the free market than in government and believe both Republicans and Democrats are doing more to hurt the economy than help it.
One commenter, who’s lost not only his job, but his home, his retirement account and his children’s college funds, still has faith:
"I’m tired of it too. Through a layoff during the tech crash and some mistakes of my own, my wife and I lost our house, my retirement fund and my children’s’ college fund. We are rebuilding while living in an apartment. I work 2 jobs, my wife works, we have not bought a new car in ages (both our cars have over 100K miles on them), we do not go out, we do not take vacations and do not get help from the government. Why should my money go to keep people from facing the same problems I am facing? Shouldn’t my money be used by me to rebuild?"
That’s a ringing endorsement of libertarian beliefs and a faith in capitalism that bodes well for both our nation and the Libertarian Party. People know the free market is the best stimulus package there is, and the Libertarian Party is the only party that agree with them.
