It wasn’t so very long ago that the comments dismissed as awkward and inelegant by MIT’s economist Jonathan Gruber stating “Lack of transparency is a huge political advantage. And basically, call it the stupidity of the American voter or whatever, but basically that was really really critical to get for the thing to pass,” (see cites everywhere) made headlines because well…They were true. We knew they were true because we had been tricked into “buying” Obamacare based on lies and omissions that we are still living with to date.
Fast forward to the Democratic Debate of November 14, 2015, with a transcript provided by THE WASHINGTON POST, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/11/14/the-cbs-democratic-debate-transcript-with-insight-from-the-fix/, where Hillary Clinton reveals the reciprocal fan club of Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton with yet another economist, Paul Krugman. As transcribed, “Well, I'll tell you who is on my side. Paul Krugman, the Nobel Prize winning economist, who said my plan for what we should do to reign in Wall Street was more comprehensive and better.”
First, I’m loving the use of reign in rather than rein in, since one refers to monarchies and their reign, which arguably is apropos of Wall Street and the other is rein in as in hold your horses, the proper word in this instance.
But more importantly, we’re all too familiar with yet another elitist economist whose hatred of Republicans is matched only by his contempt for Americans who don't see things his way. If you scan this website you’ll see how far this guy is willing to go, referring to the King v. Burwell issue of subsidies as a “typo,” http://conoutofconsumer.blogspot.com/2014/11/king-v-burwell-subsidies-and-of-course.html, to defend Obamacare simply because he really despises Republicans. Or, describing Obamacare as a “major success story.” “The Inconceivable Success of Obamacare,” July 10, 2015 THE NEW YORK TIMES. Or who dismisses Americans' valid criticisms of Obamacare as a sign that WE'RE MISINFORMED, like on June 12, 2015, in his article, THE OBAMACARE DISINFORMATION LOOP,” where Krugman worried that only HE could discern the truth as he sat “watching a real-time demonstration of how American voters come to be misinformed about key policy issues”?
Regarding Hillary Clinton’s financial plan for reining in Wall Street compared to Sanders, Mr. Krugman actually only used the comparison as an opportunity to bash Republicans and concluded “…while there are some differences in financial policy between Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Sanders, as a practical matter they’re trivial compared with the yawning gulf with Republicans,” “Democrats, Republicans and Wall Street Tycoons,” 10/16/2015, THE NEW YORK TIMES.
These “thinkers” who show such easy contempt for the whole nation, or half the nation of citizens have no business tickling the ears of our Presidents.
We don’t need another bad alliance between a President and an “economist.”
