It’s always interesting to look at issue through an outside perspective, and an insightful BBC News article today, Economy puts Republicans at risk, does just that.  Will history judge Herbert Hoover and George W. Bush in the same light? Only time will tell…

As much as I hate reductive labels, in election politics, these become something of a necessary evil. When people ask me to describe my politics, I’ve recently become fond of saying that I am a Progressive Libertarian.

“And what,” you may ask “does that mean?”

Well, it means that on most issues, I agree with the Libertarian point of view, but when it comes to economics I think Milton Friedman is basically full of crap! 

Okay, I’m kidding a little bit here, but in all seriousness, I think the trend of conservative, classical, supply side economics has run it’s course in this country. The stimulus package proposed by the president a perfect example of this.

Tax cuts and rebates may offer a quick shot in the arm, but in the long run the real issues that are choking the American economy are low wages, a crumbling infrastructure, and above all debt. Working class Americans know this, because we’ve seen our real income drop over the last thirty years. And now, even those investors who prospered during the same time are starting to see the long term ineffectiveness of this type of quick-fix thinking on the market and the economy.

My question is when will our representatives in Washington realize this?