If I seem to spend a lot of time attacking the presidential candidate I intend to vote for in November, it's because he keeps pissing me off. The latest, of course, is his support for the alleged "compromise" (read capitulation) on FISA.
Last Monday, Paul Krugman was wondering whether Obama was really a liberal or just another poll-driven, Clintonesque asshole. Okay, Krugman didn't say asshole -- that was me. (As Krugman noted, there are fates worse than Bill Clinton -- but that's not much to celebrate.)
The alternative, of course, is McCain -- and more supply side economics. If the media were a bit less corporate and if liberals invested anywhere near as much in think tanks as conservatives do, supply side would have been the victim of mercy killing years ago. America being Amerika, however, supply side economics marches on like a zombie in a B movie.
What would make any rational person think, at this particular historical moment, that tax cuts for the rich or the corporations lead to economic expansion? Give the rich more money and all they do is bid up the prices of the investments they and their friends already own. Give the corporations more money and all they do is distribute it, in the form of dividends, to the rich. Nothing new gets started that wouldn't have been started regardless. Entrepreneurs start new businesses because they think those businesses can turn a profit -- with or without tax cuts.
Granted, tax advantages always can make a business more profitable, but how often are those additional profits translated into jobs and benefits for workers in the affected industries? The answer: rarely, if ever.
So, yes, I'll vote for Obama -- how could I do otherwise? I just wish I had a better choice.
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