This page was last updated on February 24, 2010.
The market needs government help; Daniel A. Bosh; Beaver County Times; February 24, 2010.
If you’ve read Mr. Bosh’s letters over the years, you recognize him as a died-in-the-wool leftist. In the 2004 presidential campaign, Mr. Bosh was a Democrat national delegate committed to Dennis Kucinich. Mr. Bosh is a representative of the Steelworkers Pension Trust. There’s nothing wrong with Mr. Bosh representing the USW but it means Mr. Bosh isn’t an impartial observer when it comes to labor union issues.
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“The Feb. 13 column ‘J.D Prose on Politics’ reported that state Rep. James Marshall, in defense of his record of doing nothing about jobs in Beaver County said, ‘The market creates jobs, not politicians.’”
[RWC] This is Mr. Bosh’s second letter on the letter’s central “thought.” The first was a response to a letter to the editor I wrote just over a year ago.
“While the market is a vehicle for job creation, the market frequently hits bumps, and sometimes it stalls, as illustrated by the repeated panics and depressions so often experienced prior to the New Deal.”
[RWC] In case you missed it, Mr. Bosh claims FDR’s New Deal cured our economy’s ups and downs. Heck, FDR’s New Deal couldn’t even cure the Great Depression. Other than by perpetually killing an economy as we’ve seen in communist countries, the idea government regulation can eliminate the perfectly normal (but sometimes disruptive) business cycles of an economy is folly.
“The market does provide jobs, but, like any vehicle, it needs to be maintained and regulated by our democratically elected government. In fact, we could not have a free market system without government.”
[RWC] While the second sentence would be 100% correct if it said “limited government,” the first sentence is central planning BS.
“When government fails to or refuses to do its job properly, such as during the Bush regime, the market breaks down. When that happens, the market needs government to jump start it.”
[RWC] Mr. Bosh never tells us what then-President Bush refused to do. There’s a reason. If he is looking for a villain, Mr. Bosh need look only as far as the leftist policies he supports.
As for Mr. Bosh’s assertion “the market needs government to jump start it,” I’d sure like an example of when this has ever worked when the “jump start” wasn’t cutting tax rates and other unnecessary government interference.
“Waiting for the market to fix itself only delays getting the economy back on track and running again. During that time, things get worse, and, most importantly, people suffer.”
[RWC] After a year of Obama policies apparently supported by Mr. Bosh, unemployment is higher than Mr. Obama predicted if we did nothing and at least about 25% higher (about two percentage points) than he promised (8%) if we enacted his “stimulus” plans. So, not only are things worse than if we had done nothing, we’re saddled with about another $850 billion of debt. This is Mr. Bosh’s “jump start?”
“Government at all levels can do a great deal to relieve suffering and simultaneously increase demand and create markets resulting in more jobs.”
[RWC] Mr. Bosh never tells us how government achieves this utopia.
“If Marshall does not understand that he really should not be in government.”
[RWC] Mr. Bosh’s lack of understanding (real or feigned) of government’s role in a free country is consistent with his support for Dennis Kucinich.
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