Krugman takes on his own paper.
By on Dec 5th, 2007 at 9:49 am
Krugman takes on his own paper.
Paul Krugman writes on his NYT blog, “I have a lot of problems with this Kit Seelye piece.” Among his chief concerns is Seelye’s description of the American Enterprise Institute as “a nonpartisan group.” Krugman writes, “‘Is it really possible for a veteran reporter to believe that AEI is nonpartisan? Not even a qualifier, like ‘right-leaning’ or ‘free-market-oriented’?”
UPDATE: More on AEI’s ideology here.
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No, it is NOT possible.
December 5th, 2007 at 9:53 amThe AEI is nonpartisan just like I’m a giant talking crab.
December 5th, 2007 at 9:55 amAbout as possible as Brusch not having heard about the NIE, I’d say.
December 5th, 2007 at 9:56 amAt least he’s not calling it a “think tank” anymore. That part has certainly been disproven.
December 5th, 2007 at 9:58 amAEI = Always Evil Incorporated
December 5th, 2007 at 9:59 amI was going to say something mundane like “AEI is as nonpartisan as ThinkProgress” but toasterhead got there first with a much better line.
December 5th, 2007 at 10:03 amHow can a NY Times reporter be so intellectually corrupt? Oh, wait, Judy Miller. Never mind.
December 5th, 2007 at 10:03 am#6 Yeah, the giant talking crab comparison is simply delicious.
December 5th, 2007 at 10:04 am#6 Yeah, the giant talking crab comparison is simply delicious.
Comment by VerbalKint — December 5, 2007 @ 10:04 am
You’d be amazed how difficult it is to type with these pincers.
December 5th, 2007 at 10:07 ammmmmmmmm…..
GTC…the new KFC
December 5th, 2007 at 10:17 amKrugman is correct in his assessment of AEI. But I see a fair amount of value in the rest of Seelye’s piece. Mandates ARE almost impossible to enforce, and any system that has only mandates for a safety net will have a lot of holes in that net.
The comparison to auto insurance is apropos. When I lived in California, auto insurance was required for everyone who drove. Yet many didn’t have it because the cost of it was so high. And the cost of it was so high because the people who COULD afford it had to pay so much more for “uninsured motorist” coverage. Does this spiral sound familiar? There’s a similar one going on for health insurance.
The only way to provide insurance for all is with a single payer system and kicking the grubby profit-makers out of the loop. Enacting mandates won’t work for people who can’t afford it, mandate or no mandate. Giving people credits or tax breaks for it will help a few, but it’s just a bandaid on a problem that requires major surgery.
December 5th, 2007 at 10:27 amAu contraire mon ami, the AEI em>says it is non-partisan:
["The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research is a private, nonpartisan..."]
http://www.aei.org/about/filter.all/default.asp
Therefore it must be non-partisan. Sheesh. When he tells you he is the Decider it MUST BE SO. Don’t y’all understand this is the United STATES of America? We are united by what we STATE, so please don’t attack this cornerstone of democracy.
Now where’s that giant talking crab? Please tell me the wonder llama has not eaten him…
December 5th, 2007 at 10:37 amthe AEI is a criminal organization which makes the mafia look like girl scouts.
December 5th, 2007 at 10:45 amPerhaps a neocon powerdrunktank would be more appropos.
December 5th, 2007 at 10:47 amUm….how about this for a reason: Seelye is a rightwing tool and apologist for a neocon think tank…?
That seems to cover it.
December 5th, 2007 at 11:06 amAssholes
Enjoying
Idiocy
AEI is a Neotrud spin machine. Kagan, et al, are among the most dangerous of this cult.
Nonpartisan? I hardly think so.
December 5th, 2007 at 11:19 amSeelye’s reporting was salient, concise, and otherwise fair, imho (m.j., 12 years in local news and features). Editors do sometimes obtrude in the most inobtrusive ways. jus’sayin’…
December 5th, 2007 at 11:22 amAren’t all Americans for the free market?
December 5th, 2007 at 11:22 amAren’t all Americans for the free market?
Comment by Roger_Roger — December 5, 2007 @ 11:22 am
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Not real Americans.
December 5th, 2007 at 11:29 amReal Americans understand that the right wing’s “free market” ideology is happy to sacrifice the health and lives of American children rather than have properly funded and led agencies protecting us from their murderous greed. Real Americans understand that the “Free market” as practiced by Republicans means that only billionaires get bailouts and tax breaks. Real Americans understand that corporations do not deserve personhood, and that the officers of corporations that choose the deaths and injuries of Americans over the regulation of industry deserve long prison sentences and forfeiture of all their ill-gotten gains. Real Americans favor the fair market, not the non-existent free market.
December 5th, 2007 at 11:34 amAEI is about as non-partisan as the Republican Party.
December 5th, 2007 at 11:41 amAren’t all Americans for the free market?
Comment by Roger_Roger — December 5, 2007 @ 11:22 am
Oh yes. Also Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and other fictional entities.
December 5th, 2007 at 11:45 amAll you have to do is read a list of AEI members, or watch footage of one of their meetings to come to the conclusion that the AEI is one of the more extreme right wing organizations in America.
December 5th, 2007 at 11:50 amToasterhead; you left out the Easter Bunny.
December 5th, 2007 at 11:54 amToasterhead; you left out the Easter Bunny.
Comment by Uncle Ho — December 5, 2007 @ 11:54 am
The Easter Bunny is real. And he’s watching…
December 5th, 2007 at 12:04 pm“Aren’t all Americans for the free market?”
No. It should take considerably more effort for vacuous toads like you to access complicated technology like computers.
December 5th, 2007 at 12:14 pmKit Seelye has been a partisan tool for years; have a look at her prime role in the press’s undermining Al Gore and his presidential campaign. Has she been equally hard (and dishonest) about Monkey Boy? Ah, no.
December 5th, 2007 at 12:20 pmWhat do you expect? They call the international crime of the Iraq invasion and occupation as “promoting freedom and democracy”!
December 5th, 2007 at 1:16 pmThey call the inside job of 9/11 as a “islamic extemist terrorist attack”!
December 5th, 2007 at 1:18 pmThey call rampant capitalism as “free market”.
December 5th, 2007 at 1:19 pmLet’s not forget Kit Seelye’s horrendous performance during the 2000 election when she took every opportunity she could to convince us that Gore was simply a vile, self-glorifying liar. Seelye pounded phony, right-wing stories about Gore so relentlessley that when the Economist a conservative magazine in Britain, published an article about how the media was treating Gore poorly, they specifically mentioned Seelye’s dishonest articles.
December 5th, 2007 at 1:54 pmFirst of all, there is no such thing as a “free market.” Secondly, capitalism has shown on a number of occasions during our history that it MUST be regulated, or it destroys itself and the social system surrounding it.
December 5th, 2007 at 1:55 pmFirst of all, there is no such thing as a “free market.†Secondly, capitalism has shown on a number of occasions during our history that it MUST be regulated, or it destroys itself and the social system surrounding it.
Comment by Ret. Col. Jack Ripper — December 5, 2007 @ 1:55 pm
Exactly. It exists only on the blackboards of Econ 101 professors. In the real world, the “free market” is a corrupt system of inequal access, inequal information, and uncompetitive practices. Why the wingnuts cling to it as a motivating mythology defies all reason.
December 5th, 2007 at 2:13 pm