Read it and laugh

We all knew it was inevitable--the ghastly return of far-right prophet Morris, Dick. Yes, yes, I know, Dick's about as reliable for political prognostication as Sarah Palin is relevant to econometric analysis, but damn he's fun. Here's some of his latest:  

President Obama’s massive and voluble campaign against the sequester has a deep political motivation that is not apparent on the surface....

He knows the economy is tanking. He realizes that we are headed for a double-dip recession. He expects unemployment to soar. He understands that his almost $300 billion in tax increases this year will drive us into recession. So he needs an out.

That’s where sequestration fits in: If it goes into effect, he can blame Republican budget cuts for the economic disaster that will probably unfold this year.

Naturally this is all just a setup for Dick's familiar prediction-as-possible-wish-fulfillment: "Obama’s blame game won’t work.... Voters will pay him back for his economic stewardship in 2014. Big time."

Left unmentioned is that by force of electoral orneriness presidents traditionally lose partisan seats in midterm meltdowns; but then such mention would only deny this contemptible Dick of a prognosticator his expertly derived insight. He's on a desperate road to credibility recovery, and he needs a schtick.

What probably won't help, however, are passages (same column) like this one:

FDR faced his own double dip when the economy crashed in 1937 and joblessness rose back up above 20 percent. The causes were the imposition of the Social Security tax--no benefits were paid out until 1940--and the Wagner Act, which gave unions new power and radically increased wages.

Say what? The cause of the 1937 recession within a depression was FDR's abrupt withdrawal of government stimulus in an ill-advised attempt to cut the deficit. Couldn't Dick at least feign a little honesty, at least once? Collapsed credibility is really hard to rebuild atop incredible inaccuracies.

Which reminds me. Since CPAC's organizer has said that Chris Christie is out but Sarah Palin is in, because "CPAC is like the all-star game for professional athletes; you get invited when you have had an outstanding year," I can only assume that Morris, Dick--whose outstanding professionalism, like Palin's, even Fox News could no longer stomach--is somewhere on the agenda?

Comments

[japa21]

I am heartened by Dick's dickishness. Sounds like the Dems will take back the House. And BTW, I think FDR won reelection.

[Robert Lipscomb]

The one thing for which a consensus is emerging - and for once the conventional wisdom is correct - is that these issues will soon be settled, once and for all.

For thirty years, Americans have been guilty of wanting a certain level of goods and services from the federal government but have refused to pay for them. We are a nation of dead beats.

We must choose. If we want them, then we have to pay for them. If we won't pay for them, then we can't have them.

Obama seems to be pursuing a "third way" (hat tip to Morris). Pay for them by restoring progressivity to the tax system while making reasonable cuts to healthcare payments and the military.

[Peter G]

Read it and hope. Given the accuracy of Dick's previous prognostications I am relieved to find that everything will be just fine. Whew! That is a relief.