[lbo-talk] OT: Qaeda at Work (was the Iraqi resistance at work)

[boddi satva]

On 11/21/06, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
>
> On Nov 21, 2006, at 6:01 PM, www.leninology. blogspot.com wrote:
>
> > So, to be clear, they deliberately refused to hear from those who
> > told them
> > not to do what they were planning, because it was obvious what
> > would happen.
> > Now why would they have done this?
>
> Because they really believed their own propaganda. Because they were
> a small, self-reinforcing circle of know-it-alls. They didn't listen
> to people who knew anything because they thought it was going to be a
> "cakewalk." Remember? I didn't think this was controversial, but
> evidently it is to some.
>
> > Then why did they drive a huge increase in state investment in the
> > US economy?
>
> Huh? Federal nonmilitary spending is 2.3% of GDP, unchanged since the
> mid/late 1990s, and below what it was when Daddy Bush left office
> (2.5% - Clinton took it down to 2.1% in 1997, and it rose to 2.2% as
> he was heading for the exit).

So what of Bush increasing domestic non-discretionary spending faster
than Johnson? Is this not true? Is there a measurement problem there?


> > Why the military Keynesianism?
>
> They want to build a lot of weapons, and threaten and kill people who
> get in their way. That's obvious. They haven't been very good at
> winning wars though, have they?
>
> > I don't doubt that the Bush administration is capable of all manner
> > of fecklessness
> > and stupidity, but they know their interests.  And so far, because
> > people keep
> > underestimating them, they keep getting away with it: as will the
> > Dems.
>
> You certainly have an original view of US politics. Most people here
> think the Bush admin is crippled, and will not be able to accomplish
> anything on their agenda for the next two years. We'll see who's right.
>

I agree with you on Bush, of course, but I do think that the domestic
spending was deliberate. I think Republicans talk a pre-Keynesian
game, but they know perfectly well that it's crap.