Obama has announced a new Economic Recovery Advisory Board.  And who does he name to the board, Martin Feldstein.  Who is Feldstein?
      Many years ago, the haves of this country would reject the notion of giving anything to the have-nots by saying "they'll spend it all on strong drink."  More recently, this strong drink image was replaced by Cadillacs and coke.
      In a recent piece in the Washington Post, Martin Feldstein expressed the latest concern of the haves:  the undeserving among us might waste the money which they're given on foolishness like savings and paying off debt.  Have the people of this country no shame?  no national pride?  We lead the developed world in low savings rates and high debt, and some selfish people might want to jeopardize our country's lead in these categories.
      Of course, other people might spend a tax cut to pay medical bills, or rent, or a mortgage.  How foolish!  How wasteful!
     What would Feldstein have them do?  Buy a car.  No matter that they might not have a job to drive to, buy a car anyway.  Make sure it's an SUV, so you can also stimulate the oil companies.  Or, take out a home improvement loan.  You might lose the house soon to the bank that won't let you refinance an exorbitant adjustable rate mortgage, but improve the house anyway, as a favor to whoever buys the house at auction when the bank forecloses.
    Feldstein also wants to postpone expiration of the dividend and capital gains tax cuts, claiming that a postponement would raise share prices and lead to increased consumer spending.  He doesn't explain why the shares of companies on the edge of bankruptcy would rise, nor how this would put money in the hands of consumers unless they sell those shares, but never mind the petty details.  What's important is that consumer spending will somehow go up, and all those Chinese exporters who are so dependent on us will be making more money, some of which they might lend to us.  More likely, they would use that money to buy up the few remaining healthy American businesses that aren't already foreign owned.
      Finally, Feldstein offers us a spending plan.  Don't waste money on things like transportation, after all, unemployed people don't need to travel anywhere, spend the money on the military.  After many years of base closures, let's build new military bases, creating a construction boom.  Let's buy more and more weapons, to replace the arms that rotating units routinely leave behind.  This would create a weapons boom -- as if there isn't one already.  Of course, what would we then do with all those news bases and new weapons?  Maybe we could start another war.  I'm sure Feldstein can offer suggestions for targets.
       Feldstein describes himself as a conservative economist.  That would be funny if it weren't so tragic.

Remember Orwell's Animal Farm?  The pigs had led the farm animals in a revolt against the men.  By the end, the pigs had joined with the men to exploit the animals, who could only look in from the outside in dismay.

When Tom Daschle, supposedly a man of the people, was defeated for reelection, he sold himself to the highest bidders.  $5 million in four years is chicken feed to the big guys, but it got them what they wanted.  Daschle, who has never run anything, is suddenly the best qualified person to run one of the biggest and most complex agencies outside Defense.  His power over the health care industry, which contributed mightily to his wealth build-up, will be enormous.  And we're to believe that there will be no pay-back.

Who assures of us this?  The members of the milliionaires' club, aka the Senate.  I don't find that reassuring.  Remember the Keating five?  When Daniel Inouye was called as a character witness for one of them, what did Mr. Integrity have to say?  That what they did couldn't be wrong because "we all do it."  This is the kind of moral and ethical standard that the rest of that crowd look up to.

Daschle, Geithner, and now Nancy Killefer, the wannabe "Chief Performance Officer," want to run the country and they supposedly can't figure out their taxes.  Until nominated for a prominent job, then it suddenly occurs to them.  The Washington Post, in an editorial today, found it hard to understand how these people could have made such mistakes.  I don't find it hard at all, because I don't believe those were mistakes, but the product of greed.  The Post ended the editorial saying that, even with their problems, the President deserves to have the people he wants in important jobs.  Sadly, the Post doesn't bother to address what the country deserves.