THERE is one of those Sunday TV morning news talk shows on ABC. The hostess is some woman with a first name of Christiana. She seems to try to do a good job. Maybe this is why she was recently fired. Perhaps in an effort to hide the fact that she is a lame duck, the normal format of the show was changed. Instead there was a “debate” between official Liberal and official Conservative politicians and pundits.
On the Liberal side was Barney Frank. Frank is an interesting fellow. He was one of the people whose job was to oversee the Federal housing agencies that failed. These agencies were key in causing the housing collapse and then the current recession. Frank also is an open homo. In fact, he is more than open. A “friend” of his ran a homosexual brothel out of his his house in Washington. Frank claimed that he did not notice what was going on. Considering how he managed his official duties, maybe this is credible.
Frank has a superior ability in expression and polemics. He is a verbal bully. He talks over, and through, and past, anyone with whom he disagrees. He frequently accuses his questioners of lying. Few can stand up to him. He has recently announced his decision not to run for reelection. He wants to pursue other men… I mean other interests.
The issues on the show, quite naturally, were the current president’s current policies. Frank was defending the bail-outs (the ones sponsored by Democrats). The Conservatives were attacking the same ones, while defending the ones sponsored by Bush. Frank had an interesting comment on General Motors. There seems to be some conflicting reports regarding the company. Maybe it is is doing well, and maybe not. However, Frank declared it to be “thriving.” This is the interesting part.
I often argue that to understand economics a person needs grounding in microeconomics. This means examining the small unit, the company, the consumer, and NOT the overall national (or international) economy. However, Frank seems to me to have established as new standard, a mini-micro standard.
In a certain sense GM is thriving. It used to sell at least eight separate lines of vehicles. Four of those have been discontinued. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of dealerships have been closed. Plants have been shut down Consider it this way. A restaurant has 15 tables. Only one has customers who order food. They order a great deal, pay a large bill, and leave a good tip. That PART of the restaurant is doing fine. If we ignore the empty tables then the entire business is thriving. And if we ignore a serious, fatal heart condition a patient’s foot may be in excellent health.
Politics may make strange (and queer) bedfellows. It sometimes aloes creates a new reality.
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