They say you
“can’t judge a book by the cover” but you may be able to take a stab at it
based on the blurbs. It is a time-honored tradition for publisher to seek “independent”
opinions about the author’s work from high profile, recognizable folks. The
fact that Thom Hartmann’s latest is blurbed by a disgraced former member of the
Obama inner circle and self-avowed communist (Van Jones), a thug union
president (Richard Trumpka, AFL-CIO), a Sixties radical and domestic terrorist
organization member (Tom Hayden), the only Socialist member of the U.S. Senate
(Bernie Sanders), and an actor/environmentalist wing nut (Leonardo DiCaprio)
should at the very least speak volumes.
There is an
almost childlike quality to the liberal thought process; and Hartmann is a
classic purveyor of the boogieman under the bed approach to trying to scare
people with an imagined right wing cabal out to get the American people and to
destroy the country. In The Crash of
2016: The Plot to Destroy America – And What We Can do to Stop It, Hartmann
certainly doesn’t break any new ground; instead choosing to trod on familiar
liberal territory, laughably trying to blame the likes of Ronald Reagan, the
mythological Koch Brothers and “Economic Royalists” for engaging in this secret
plot.
In a
simpleminded fashion, Hartmann would have you believe that this cabal of
wealthy right-wingers secretly control power. Certainly money plays a huge role
in the pursuit of power, but Hartmann seems to forget the staggering wealth
that is controlled by liberals! Hartmann’s prescriptions for fixing the problem
revolve around classic liberal thought; increase the power, size and scope of
government in all of our lives.
You don’t
have to look far to see how far off the mark that idea is! Aside from the
obvious failings of the economic policies of the Obama administration and the
genius of Democrats in Washington who believe that food stamps and extended
unemployment benefits are an economic stimulator; simply look at the state of
big cities in this country. The top ten cities that are in dire economic states,
if not outright bankrupt, all have one thing in common; decades of Democrat
control. And these are the folks and the policies that Mr. Hartmann would have
you believe are the answer for fixing our economic woes…I have to wonder what
it is that Hartmann is drinking? Perhaps some grape Kool-Aid?
I think my
favorite simpleminded section of the book is Hartmann’s plan to eliminate
billionaires in the No Billionaires chapter. Apparently Hartmann has answered
the age old question, “how much do you need?” The answer is $1 Billion and no
more! Little Thommie would have you believe that because a billionaire’s wealth
is soooo many multiples more than the average persons and that they can’t buy
and equal number of multiples worth of stuff then billionaires are not job creators.
Like I said, childlike. On just the consumer side, Hartmann would have you
believe that billionaires can’t buy enough to create jobs. While Warren Buffet is
certainly the exception to the rule, living in his Omaha ranch house, Hartmann
believes that the average billionaire doesn’t own multiple homes, cars, and
just mounds of high end stuff.
The point he
completely misses is that most billionaires create stuff; not just ordinary
stuff, but stuff that people want and that they buy, which is why they are
billionaires! It’s not like those billionaires make the stuff they sell all by
themselves; they hire people to make the stuff and those people take their
paychecks and go buy more stuff from other people who make stuff! This isn’t
brain surgery, its trickledown economics as envisioned by the evil, vile Reagan
administration. By artificially limiting the amounts of money someone can make
you stifle the desire to innovate and create. Apparently Hartmann is deluded
enough to think that innovation will happen out of the clear blue sky.
Hartmann believes that by limiting freedoms and stifling
innovation, the cornerstone things that make this country great, we can somehow
magically fix our economic problems and live happily ever after. That’s the way
fairytales end and that is the way liberals think.
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