Bush: ‘I’ve Abandoned Free Market Principles To Save The Free Market System’
Bush: ‘I’ve Abandoned Free Market Principles To Save The Free Market System’
President Bush has repeatedly touted his adherence to free markets throughout his term. “Free markets remain the best way to promote growth, create good jobs, and ensure rising living standards. That is why the President has actively sought to open markets,” Gregory Mankiw of the Council of Economic Advisers explained in 2004.
But amidst a deep recession characterized by $8.5 trillion in various bailouts, Bush’s laissez-faire ideals are a distant memory. Today on CNN, Bush claimed he has “abandoned” the free market in order to “save” it:
BUSH; Well, I have obviously made a decision to make sure the economy doesn’t collapse. I’ve abandoned free market principles to save the free market system. I think when people review what’s taken place in the last six months, uh, and put it all in one, in one, (sigh), you know, in one package, they’re realize how significantly we have moved.
Watch it:
Bush’s logic of abandoning the free market to “save” the free market is deeply flawed. Much of the crisis was caused by the “belief that markets are self-adjusting and that the role of government should be minimal,” Nobel Prize-winning economist Joe Stiglitz explained. Stiglitz recalled this telling exchange from Alan Greenspan:
Looking back at that belief during hearings this fall on Capitol Hill, Alan Greenspan said out loud, “I have found a flaw.” Congressman Henry Waxman pushed him, responding, “In other words, you found that your view of the world, your ideology, was not right; it was not working.” “Absolutely, precisely,” Greenspan said.
Indeed, one of the chief problems was the administration’s failure to regulate mortgage markets. As the Wonk Room explained, the administration ignored several “prescient warnings” about the crisis. In 2005, regulators proposed stringent checks on bankers and mortgages. Bowing to pressure from big banks, however, the administration ignored these warnings and also gutted several important regulations.
Bush’s market fundamentalism has not been “abandoned.” Rather, it has failed.
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Free market principles destroyed the free market. Thus, I had to abandon free market prinicples to save the free market.
Typical Bush “Strict father model” logic…
I had to kill the kid to discipline him. He won’t break that law again. But, he’s saved.
December 16th, 2008 at 3:33 pmwe had to destroy the village to save it. Wierd Vietnamesque language from a draft dodger.
December 16th, 2008 at 3:35 pmWho the fcuk does he think he is now, FDR?
December 16th, 2008 at 3:35 pmFirst, he thinks he’s Winnie Churchill, then Honest Abe Lincoln, now FDR.
He’s just burning the village to save it?
Where and in what lost cause have we heard THAT before?
December 16th, 2008 at 3:35 pmBUSH; Well, I have obviously made a decision to make sure the economy doesn’t collapse. I’ve abandoned free market principles to save the free market system. I think when people review what’s taken place in the last six months, uh, and put it all in one, in one, (sigh), you know, in one package, they’re realize how significantly we have moved.
Orwell would be so proud of Bush’s mastery of the drunken doublespeak technique.
**eyes rolling**
December 16th, 2008 at 3:37 pmPure unfettered capitalism is corrupt as hell and does the general public no good…
…regulation is always needed in some sense or another.
December 16th, 2008 at 3:37 pmwe had to destroy the village to save it. Wierd Vietnamesque language from a draft dodger.
December 16th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Soul-bump, brudda!
December 16th, 2008 at 3:37 pmOOooohhh, i get it dummya: you’ve picked and chosen what free market principles to abandon. for example-socializing the losses of wall street=good. bailing out main street=bad.
This scumbag will be known as one of the biggest whores in history…more notorious than mary magdelene
December 16th, 2008 at 3:40 pmHe also murdered hundreds of thousands of Iraqis in order to save them from Saddam Hussein.
December 16th, 2008 at 3:41 pmI guess as long as they don’t use cursewords they can just say anything…..oh, wait a minute, Cheney can even do that!!
If no one calls bullshit on this then they never will.
December 16th, 2008 at 3:41 pmi wish at least one reporter would have the nerve to tell this assclown he ain’t “saved” shit
December 16th, 2008 at 3:44 pmMaybe we could abandon the war in Iraq to save it.
December 16th, 2008 at 3:45 pmIt would be more accurate for the Chimp to say:
“I’ve abandoned principles“.
Simple, direct, and to the point.
December 16th, 2008 at 3:46 pmThat is the essence of Dumbya, people.
The scariest thing is that he actually believes the stupid crap he says!!!
December 16th, 2008 at 3:47 pmPlease watch http://www.freedomtofascism.com . The documentory recieved a standing ovation and was critically acclaimed at the Canes Film Festival in 2008, however the US media refuse to discuss the movie. Google pulled the movie from it’s web site. Why???? There is no violence, sex or volger text. WHAT IS THE REASONE GOOGEL???? Maybe the government had you pull it down??? Why hasn’t the media discussed the censorship of a news story on the internet.
WE REALLY DO LIVE IN A FACIST COUNTRY!!!
If you cannot get the moive, you can purchase the movie for a $1.00. Pass it on, tell your friends…time to wake up.
December 16th, 2008 at 3:48 pmNOLIESPLEASE Says:”Google pulled the movie from it’s web site. Why????”
my best guess would be copyright infringement.
December 16th, 2008 at 3:50 pmBush’s market fundamentalism has not been “abandoned.” Rather, it has failed.
Bush’s religious fundamentalism has not been “abandoned.” Rather, it has failed.
Bush’s financial fundamentalism has not been “abandoned.” Rather, it has failed.
Bush’s diplomatic fundamentalism has not been “abandoned.” Rather, it has failed.
Bush’s military fundamentalism has not been “abandoned.” Rather, it has failed.
Bush’s compassionate fundamentalism has not been “abandoned.” Rather, it has failed.
Bush’s conservative fundamentalism has not been “abandoned.” Rather, it has failed.
Bush’s ‘frat boy’ fundamentalism has not been “abandoned.” Rather, it has failed.
Bush’s promises have not been “abandoned.” Rather, they have failed.
December 16th, 2008 at 3:52 pmStupidest. President. Ever.
Bush always thinks he has to destroy something to create something else. It’s not a flawed concept, it is an insane concept.
Remember: Bush had to destroy our Consitution to save us from terrorist. Bush had to destroy NOLA to save the profits for his crony’s. Bush had to destroy Iraq because God told him to.
December 16th, 2008 at 3:52 pmI’ve abandoned logic to try and make sense…..
December 16th, 2008 at 3:53 pmI don’t think they do Annie. I believe they are malicious towards America and they want to retain some kind of credibility in case they get the opportunity to do it again.
December 16th, 2008 at 3:53 pmLeftside Annie Says:
That is the essence of Dumbya, people.
The scariest thing is that he actually believes the stupid crap he says!!!
He may well believe it, but I am not too sure that even he understands what comes out of his pie hole.
December 16th, 2008 at 3:54 pmIndeed, one of the chief problems was the administration’s failure to regulate mortgage markets. As the Wonk Room explained, the administration ignored several “prescient warnings” about the crisis. In 2005, regulators proposed stringent checks on bankers and mortgages. Bowing to pressure from big banks, however, the administration ignored these warnings and also gutted several important regulations.
Failing to regulate was not a failure, it was part of the plan.
December 16th, 2008 at 3:55 pmIgnoring the warnings was not an act of incompetence, they welcomed the upcoming crisis the warnings were raising a flag in regard to, and gutted the regulations in anticipation of and to take advantage of, the upcoming ‘crisis’.
It’s how they roll.
So much for the fabled invisible hand nonsense…
December 16th, 2008 at 3:55 pm‘It takes a smart village to raise a good leader’
but…
‘One village idiot can destroy an entire village’
December 16th, 2008 at 3:56 pmafternoon lushy,
December 16th, 2008 at 3:58 pmlayoff guzzling the listerine…it renders you incomprehensible.
Lush have you been drinking “ocean” again?
December 16th, 2008 at 4:04 pmDrink away your cares…That’s what W does.
December 16th, 2008 at 4:06 pmLushInterior, you’re not like most people, you’re just a sad mistake…..it happens.
December 16th, 2008 at 4:07 pmLushInterior Says:
Like most Progressives I know that there will not be a nickels worth of difference between Bush policy and Obama policy but I just love to hate the guy. Its therapeutic. As global cooling has obviously began and ice and snow fall across the globe “white” jobs will be the trend of the future. I hope the new administration can retool in time to take advantage of the situation. Damn its cold!
Another master of the drunken doublespeak technique.
December 16th, 2008 at 4:11 pmDid Bush teach you in one of your ball washing sessions?
This would be funny if so many people didn’t get hurt buy this dumb ass.
December 16th, 2008 at 4:11 pmthere will not be a nickels worth of difference between Bush policy and Obama policy
Well, for a start, Obama is hiring intelligent people with experience in appropriate fields. Bush hired people with loyalty to Bush and not much else. The difference in policy will be reflected by the difference in policy makers. The problem, of course, is the failed policies of the last 8 years will take some time to be reversed. Hopefully you won’t die before we see the benefits of having intelligent people with real ethics and morals making policy for the US. But if you can’t take it and off yourself, well, you won’t be missed here.
December 16th, 2008 at 4:11 pmFred Says:
I don’t think they do Annie. I believe they are malicious towards America and they want to retain some kind of credibility in case they get the opportunity to do it again.
Fred: I know that the neocons pulling Chimpy’s puppet strings don’t believe the abjectly stupid, jingoistic crap that gushes out of his mouth. No, Chimpy’s simply the figurehead; the everyday hardworking all-American Christian Joe that Americans want to have a beer with, the actor on the stage with the laugh lines, the grinning, gladhanding moron who does as he’s told and says what they tell him to say.
No, the men who hold the real power – the sinister ones are ‘in the shadows’ working hard to destroy not only America – but the entire world – so they can sit on piles of gold and rule over hordes of slaves.
December 16th, 2008 at 4:12 pmi gotta snowball with lushy’s name on it, it’s yellow with a rock in the middle of it
December 16th, 2008 at 4:12 pmBush, “I had to destroy Lehman to save the Bush legacy. It happened to help my cousin George Herbert Walker and brother Jeb. They kept their share of $2 billion in bonuses and purchased Neuberger Investment Management for half off, with no money down.”
December 16th, 2008 at 4:13 pmPoor deluded, delusional George. He just doesn’t grasp the significance of his destruction, his arrogance, his incompetence, his complete disregard of the law.
December 16th, 2008 at 4:15 pmIf you stay drunk long enough, the oblivion is permanent.
“I’ve abandoned free market principles to save the free market system.”
Those pesky “free market principles”! You know, no regulation whatsoever, tax perks for investors, no ceiling for CEO salaries, opposition to the minimum wage, etc.
American capitalism is the problem. American socialism is the answer. We need to rein in these “free markets at all costs” people and take a huge dose of reality.
The truth is that businesses are not capable of regulating themselves. The government MUST regulate businesses in order to maintain economic health. The more regulations, the better (in most cases).
One of the best solutions to our economic problems is to nationalize the healthcare industry and remove the burden of providing healthcare from the business owner to the government. Reduce their overhead, regulate their industry and bring CEO salaries more in line with European companies.
Oh, and tax the piss out of dividend income. Income from dividends should be taxed at least at the same rate as payroll income is taxed. Better yet, make dividend income subject to a 40% tax…. that will raise some revenue and inject some fairness into the system.
December 16th, 2008 at 4:21 pmI wish H.R. Giger would do a statue of G.W. Bush, or perhaps an allegorical series depicting the Bush Legacy.
Giger is the only artist I know of who could capture the flavor of the last eight years.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFhy7S2WFPA
December 16th, 2008 at 4:23 pm“I’ve abandoned free market principles to save the free market system.”
~George WTF Bush
This nonsense can only cross the mind of a man who has no clue what he talking about most of the time.
But I guess it’s the way he rationalises destroying Iraq in order to save it, and why he thinks he will save democracy and the American way by trashing the Constitution.
December 16th, 2008 at 4:26 pmFinal proof that neocons like Botch are NOT conservatives! They are just corporate, fascist a$$holes!
December 16th, 2008 at 4:29 pmLushInterior Says:
Like most Progressives
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
You are NOT a progressive you are a liar and a fool. One so stupid you like making a fool out of yourself. So deluded you think you are clever istead of a pity inducing, pathetic, piece of stupid. Time to stop making us feel sorry for you. Go away. You are pathetic and only humiliate yourself. For the sake of any self respect you have ever had stop being such an ignorant fool.
December 16th, 2008 at 4:34 pmdixie blood Says:
Final proof that neocons like Botch are NOT conservatives! They are just corporate, fascist a$$holes!
That bullshit meme has been circulating since last winter. Bush is the very picture of a conservative – it’s just that conservatism as a whole is a scam, perpetrated on the weak-minded. You could count on one hand the “conservatives” who opposed Bush; all the others supported every big-ticket item that Bush asked for, every time he asked for it.
So conservatism was never about fiscal, moral, or ethical responsibility. It was always a means to achieveing power. Nothing more.
December 16th, 2008 at 4:41 pmThe Borgen Project has informative statistics on addressing global poverty.
$30 billion ends world hunger
$550 billion is the US Defense budget
This organization has the ability, resources, and policy-makers to suppress the threat of global poverty by enacting legislation here in the US, which is tied to the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals. Please support organizations such as The Borgen Project so that we may rid the world of poverty.
December 16th, 2008 at 4:42 pmWE NEED FREEMARKET!
wait…
WE NEED BAILOUTS FOR THE FREEMARKET!!!
It’s hilarious to watch these rich a-holes squirm as their precious free-market collapses. Capitalism means well, but like organized religion, it’s implemented horribly.
December 16th, 2008 at 4:44 pmNOLIESPLEASE,
I went to find it at Netflix and it was already in my queue!
December 16th, 2008 at 4:45 pm#47 barfly,
We do not disagree…except on the words…
True conservatives do not run up deficits.
True conservatives do not start unneccesary wars.
True conservatives do not destroy personal freedoms.
True conservatives obey the law.
True conservatives do not pick one religion over another.
True conservatives do not screw the poor enmass for just one more dollar.
True conservatives do not try to enforce their religious morals on others.
True conservatives leave others alone in their personal lives.
I could go on…I hope understand me better now.
December 16th, 2008 at 5:07 pmbarfly,
There is a diff. between neocons like Botch and true conservatives which I am not.
And I am not “weak minded!”
December 16th, 2008 at 5:13 pmDoes he tie his own shoes? I need proof at this point.
It goes ‘Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.’ He seems to be saying that the baby has to go.
December 16th, 2008 at 5:14 pm#53
Does that mean we can get some stem cell research fired up soon?
December 16th, 2008 at 5:17 pmNo, the scariest thing is that 23% of the people still actually believe the stupid crap he says!!!
Keltoi, are you listening?
December 16th, 2008 at 5:21 pmBush always thinks he has to destroy something to create something else. It’s not a flawed concept, it is an insane concept.
Actually, that’s pretty much boiler-plate kapitalism, and while I agree that it is insane, it is the basis for our economy. Jos. Schumpeter, kapitalisto par excellence, memorably coined the phrase “creative destruction.”
It was Keynes, i think, who said something like: Kapitalism is the insane belief that letting bad people do evil deeds will increase the general happiness of all…
December 16th, 2008 at 5:25 pmWhere is Tracy_5 to scream about the evils of socialism?
December 16th, 2008 at 5:26 pmI’m not a fan of capitalism or socialism. We need a third way.
December 16th, 2008 at 5:30 pmI am a fan of the barter and freegan way. Have you considered that ctalk?
December 16th, 2008 at 5:30 pmI’m not a fan of capitalism or socialism. We need a third way.
December 16th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Anarcho-syndicalism! Yes…
December 16th, 2008 at 5:31 pmWhen my surgeon suggested that he kill the patient in order to save the patient, I wasn’t very amused.
December 16th, 2008 at 5:31 pmActually, Bush’s economic plan is a third way. It is socialism for the rich, and brutal dog eat dog capitalism for the rest of us. It’s cronyism.
December 16th, 2008 at 5:34 pmI agree with Dixieblood. I think this administration is more like radical statists than true conservatives. The expansion of executive power alone is ANATHEMA to true conservatives. They ARE rightwing but they ARENT traditional conservatives.
December 16th, 2008 at 5:41 pmWhat he is saying is that the Free Market System, touted by his administration and the neo-conservative wingnuts, failed miserably.
December 16th, 2008 at 5:48 pmdbadass, Can’t say I know much about those. It’s good to hear about alternatives to this corrupt way of life we have now.
December 16th, 2008 at 6:04 pmwhy don’t we all chip in and buy this loser a great big box of pretzels
December 16th, 2008 at 6:06 pmThat’s like using a snub-nosed .22 to solve your migraine.
December 16th, 2008 at 6:56 pm“Indeed, one of the chief problems was the administration’s failure to regulate mortgage markets. As the Wonk Room explained, the administration ignored several “prescient warnings” about the crisis.”
How many times have I heard where the Bush administration ignored something, leading to a huge catastrophe?
“Hair on fire” warnings” before 9/11 attacks.
Possible New Orleans levee breaching before Hurricane Katrina.
Pre-Iraq War intelligence that contradicted Bush policy for war plus all the pre-Iraq War warnings about what would happen in Iraq following an invasion, especially if too few troops were sent.
The one thing American citizens can’t ignore (unless they’re die-hard right-wingers who only watch Faux News) is how much damage has been done to our nation and the future of our nation’s children by Republicans, who obviously over the past eight years have ignored what was best for our nation as a whole while pursuing a totally partisan, totally corporatist, totally delusional anti-American agenda…and the corporate lobbyists running the executive branch aren’t through yet, not with over a month still left to rewrite rules to their sole advantage, endangering even more U.S. citizens in the process.
December 16th, 2008 at 10:04 pmSo what? You abandoned all principles years ago. So what’s new?
December 16th, 2008 at 10:19 pmNot another infamous Bush quote !
Dear Santa,
December 17th, 2008 at 3:31 amI have did my best at being good. Please give me Obama as President for Christmas. I realy can’t wait until Jan 20……
enjoy the cookies and milk, I left out for you.