Getting High on Your Own Supply-Side

Carpetbagger's got a post titled Republicans Just Don't Like the Unemployed, Cont'd..., which is pretty self-explanatory, as well as an earlier post in which he wrote:

It's unpleasant to think about, and I really hope it's not true, but it may be time for a discussion about whether GOP lawmakers are trying to deliberately sabotage the economy to help their midterm election strategy.

And this was later followed by a post about how Senator Stabenow (winner of this year's award for Worst Name in Senate), who outright said:

It is very clear that the Republicans in the Senate want this economy to fail. They see that things are beginning to turn around.... In cynical political terms, it doesn't serve them in terms of their election interests if things are beginning to turn around.

And yeah, I suppose there's probably some of that in play here.  But I really don't think that's the main issue. 

They Really Are That Dumb

After all, can any of us seriously think that we'd be seeing awesome bills helping the unemployed and creating more jobs if we had a Republican president and Congress?  Of course not.  Their only solution would be to cut taxes and remove "burdensome" regulations, and hope for the best. 

And if that didn't work, they'd rinse and repeat.  We know that because that's exactly what they did during the Bush years, and his employment record was absolutely dismal.  Whether they want things to boom or bust, their solution is the same: Get government out of the way and reward the people who gave them money.

And the real reason requires us to think outside our own concepts of strategy, and take things a whole lot simpler: They're just stupid.  They really don't know what they're talking about.  They're getting high on their own supply and really do imagine that taxcuts are some magical formula for growth, and believe that government is the real problem.  And since the only solution a politician can devise must naturally involve the government, their only answer is to remove the government from the picture.  They have no other recourse.

And it's really just a sick joke.  Like someone who so firmly believed in Santa Claus that they refused to buy their children presents each Christmas, and then blamed their kids when they didn't get anything.  "I guess you guys were naughty again this year.  Better luck next time." 

No, Really.  They're That Dumb

Because the whole thing was a hoax.  The guys who crafted this garbage didn't really believe it.  They just wanted an excuse allowing them to keep more money and screw over more people.  And the politicians were game, as it gave them something better to say than "I support this because it helps the people who gave me money."

But somewhere along the line, the message got screwed-up.  The people saying this crap were so convincing that the current generation of dopes really believed it.  I mean, for as much as Republicans pretend to be the party of High Finance, look at their resumes.  Even the ones who were actual businessmen weren't real number crunchers, and the only people they'll hire are the ones who tell them what they want to hear.  Any Republican who can make money in the real world would be a fool to enter politics. 

And the point is, even if Republicans loved the unemployed and wanted the economy to boom, their ideological beliefs would force them to take the same actions they're taking now.  They have no other option as they really do believe the bullshit they're spouting.  And if God himself came down and explained to them their errors and they decided to support Obama, their base would erupt in furious anger and they'd be replaced quicker than you can say "Jehovah."  That's just the way it is.

Somewhere, up in Heaven, there's a group of crafty Republican politicos, shaking their heads, hands on face; wondering how it was that they failed to leave someone halfway intelligent in charge.  Or, more likely, they're down in Hell, laughing their asses off.