Listening to Republican arguments on the economy, and the potential economic apocalypse should we enact certain policies reminds me of the debate over the Clinton-endorsed economic stimulus bill in 1993. If you are old enough, you might remember the bill passed the House with one vote, the Republicans predicting the death of the United States should it pass. It passed both Houses of Congress, and the results should be memorable - the longest period of robust economic growth in American peacetime. Real wages even started a climb in the last years of the 1990's, for the first time in decades.
We are in the midst of more debates on the potential disaster awaiting us. Now, the times are different of course, in a number of ways. We are in the midst of a recession, and narrowly escaped complete economic disaster last fall. With the economic stimulus package, the passage of Waxman-Markey by the House yesterday, and the upcoming health care reform fight, the Republicans (and not a few Democrats, including Senator Max Baucus of Montana) have rediscovered the virtue of fiscal frugality and are warning of the economic and fiscal disaster that awaits us should we enact any of these bills in to law.
Since the track record these men and women have isn't exactly perfect, one wonders why anyone listens to them at all.
