Paul Krugman is the Mack

This op-ed by the Krugmeister just reminds me how great it is to have him around. When I was unemployed and angry and low on hope, before I discovered blogs, one of things that got me through were his columns. This particular column is quite snarky (the righty blogosphere would say shrill), but it hammers home something very true and very important about the Bush administration- their aggressiveness, unilateralism, and pandering may serve them in the short term, but in the long term it leads to real problems.

In the long term it translates into incompetence. Considering the myriad challenges our nation faces, do we really need this petulant nincompoop as president?

Another Reason To Vote Him Out Of Office

This lovely AP article demonstrates how vitally important it is to get rid of our current president next November. The fact the Bush has turned the record surpluses he inherited into half trillion dollar yearly deficits is bad on its face, but it is more troubling when you consider what these deficits will do.

If America's infrastructure is in terrible shape, with our electrical grid at risk of terrible blackouts like the one that recently struck the Northeast, with bridges structurally deficient and dams failing, these problems aren't going to solve themselves. Despite the utopic fantasies of conservatives and libertarians, the solutions aren't going to be found in deregulation and the invisible hand of the market. In fact some might say, in the case of our power grid, that deregulation has put increased strains on the system.

The solution to the problem of declining national infrastructure is going to be increased government spending, both at the federal and state level. And that would probably mean increasing taxes. Either Bush is going to have to bite the bullet and sacrifice his tax cuts for the good of the national welfare, or he will bequeath these problems to his successor. Considering the irresponsibilty of this president, I doubt he'll leave America's roads, electrical systems, schools, and dams in any better shape than America's credibility.