October 8, 2008

At an early point in the debate, John McCain scolded Obama for wanting to raise taxes in a time of deep economic uncertainty and shrinking growth.  He reminded the audience that Hoover had done the same thing, and mentioned protectionism only to put it aside with the remark that surely the debate would return to the issue of free trade in a world where economic growth is crucial to every nation's rise.

McCain overestimated Tom Brokaw's talents.  The debate never returned to a serious discussion of tax policy in the face of frozen credit markets or to a conversation about the need to keep the world moving towards one market and one rising standard of living.  It never got back to the first principles of freedom, nor dynamic democratic capitalism's amazing strengths and benefits.  McCain only got in one very tough punch on the origins of the financial crisis in Freddie and Fannie and Obama and the Democrats’ complicity in it. He promised more, but the rest of the bout was shadow boxing until it turned to foreign policy which, important though it is, isn't where the electorate is right now.

The argument about the disastrous economic policies being pushed by Obama must be made by McCain every day going forward, even as the campaign continues to hammer Obama for his past judgment and future inclinations when it comes to allies and associates.  Ayers-Rezko-Wright-Khalidi are part of a pattern that would certainly follow into the staffing of the vast federal establishment.  The Daily Kos-Michael Moore wing of the Democratic Party wants its pages from the Plum Book, and the Pelosi-Reid staffers have all got their assistant secretary offices picked out. The Left is planning for a huge sweep, and a big party, and...

Then what? 

Obama-Pelosi-Reid will not be able to resist the massive tax hikes that have lurked behind their every scheme for the past 28 years since Reagan wrested the government from the last group of statists.  The unions have wanted protectionism since Bill Clinton signed on to NAFTA.  The environmentalists want the sort of global warming regime that will not merely curb but positively punish economic growth, and the anti-nuclear reflex within the Democratic Party is so deep that while Obama can make a few noises about the need for new nuke plants, none would begin under his tenure.  Obama said last night that we need new oil exploration off-shore.  Does anyone really believe that will happen?  Energy shortages would go from a predicament to a policy overnight.

High taxes, falling trade, declining energy use: These are the macro issues.  At every level of the government, though, the young Ayers-Rezkos-Wrights-Khalidis would be working their magic on the micro issues, and this without a House or Senate in the hands of a GOP majority to moderate their enthusiasms. 

When Bill Clinton roared into town with House and Senate majorities in 1993, he was a "New Democrat" inheriting a growing economy on the cusp of a technological revolution that would drive productivity forward at an amazing rate. His early energies were expended on a vast health care scheme too complicated even for his own party.  His tax hikes were modest, but he did no lasting legislative damage before Newt arrived to clamp down on the Democrats' worst instincts. Obama is no centrist, and the Dems have gone much farther to the left since 1993. The international economy is in the throes of a panic that everyone hopes eases soon but which could grow worse.