The Great Houdini

 

 

 

"There's a sucker born every minute"

David Hannum

 


It has often been said the greatest magician off all time was Harry Houdini. When I was growing up, I watched the movie Houdini starting Tony Curtis over and over again. Houdini was the greatest master of misdirection in his time - maybe all time. I did not think anyone could ever be better at misdirection. That is until 2008, when the current crowd moved into the "big house" in Washington D.C.

As we were gone most of the weekend, I had to record some of the Sunday morning news shows to watch at a later time. Last night I watched the ABC show. It was an interesting panel consisting of Professor (Paul) Krugman, David Stockman (Reagan's OMB guy), George Will, Greta Van Susteren, Arianna Huffington and of course the host, George Stephanopoulos. It was a good mix.

I have seen all of these folks previously on other  talk shows. I know their views. David Stockman, who at one time was very loyal to President Reagan, "wandered off the reservation" after the "gippers" term was up and started talking more like a lefty than a conservative. After five years of the Obama Administration, he once again has found his voice, and is back. He has a new book out (The Great Deformation), and George Stephanopoulos wanted his buddy, Paul Krugman, to take Stockman to task "on the facts". 

What happened next was a surprise to even the most jaded of political junkies. Everyone, including Ms. Huffington Post, started ganging up on Professor Krugman. It seems that the game is up - the man behind the curtain has been exposed. The "Great Houdini" of our time (President Obama) has been found out. And Professor Krugman got stuck trying to defend the indefensible.

The fireworks really started to fly after Professor Krugman said the unemployment number was not good, but improving, Stockman reminded him that if the workplace participation was the same as in 2000, our unemployment rate would be over 13% - and that is the U3 number! Greta then jumped on the pile and reminded Paul the disconnect between Main Street and Wall Street was absolute and growing. She said "People are really suffering out there, and nobody in Washington seems to care". George Will took umbrage with the professor about the workplace participation number. Whereas Krugman said it was low due mostly to "baby boomers" retiring, Mr. Will used recent history to set little Paul straight on that point. Finally Arianna jumped in the fray by telling George Stephanopoulos and Krugman that "This President is concerned about everything but the economy. He needs to get focused and help fix this mess". 

The show ended with the usually very smug Krugman looking like he just finished going through a car wash with no car. It was truly a moment. Before they signed off, Stockman had one more tidbit to throw on the fire - our debt. He reminded the panel it is almost $17T, and looks like it will top $20T by the end of Obama's second term. George Will then added that once the Fed allows interest rates become real again, the interest to service a $20T debt will be the problem more so than entitlements. Krugman tried to argue that point, but by that time he looked more like a whipped dog than a Nobel Prize winner.

For a change, I felt very good after seeing a Sunday morning talk show - in fact, I felt ebullient! The cat is finally out of the bag! Even people who are "left leaning" are starting to see how the rabbit comes out of the hat. No more blaming Bush, no more blaming the weather, no more blaming anything. The economy is in the tank. It has been in the tank since the start of the first term, and it continues to grind to a stop. What the Administration has done IS NOT WORKING - IT IS MAKING THINGS WORSE! Thank you ABC, for FINALLY letting the truth out. We now know how Houdini does his tricks.