Rest in peace, fellow Wolverine.
Category: Politics & government
The Republicans and the Democrats are the yin and yang. They balance each other in many ways. Yesterday, Paul Krugman suggests that the Democrats should stop playing a balancing role (reg. req.):
Now that the Democrats have regained some power, they have to decide what to do. One of the biggest questions is whether the party should return to Rubinomics – the doctrine, associated with former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, that placed a very high priority on reducing the budget deficit.
The answer, I believe, is no. … Rubinomics made sense in terms of pure economics, [but] it failed to take account of the ugly realities of contemporary American politics. …
In a saner political environment, the economic logic behind Rubinomics would have been compelling. … Since the 1990s were an era of peace, prosperity and favorable demographics…, it should have been a good time to put the federal budget in the black. And under Mr. Rubin, the huge deficits of the Reagan-Bush years were transformed into an impressive surplus.
But the realities of American politics ensured that it was all for naught. The second President Bush quickly squandered the surplus on tax cuts that heavily favored the wealthy, then plunged the budget deep into deficit by cutting taxes on dividends and capital gains even as he took the country into a disastrous war. And you can even argue that Mr. Rubin’s surplus was a bad thing, because it greased the rails for Mr. Bush’s irresponsibility.
The Economist’s View has a copy of the article.
Jugding from Stiglitz’s writings, Stiglitz would probably support Krugman. In the Roaring Nineties, I think, Stiglitz isn’t too supportive of Rubinomics and advocate instead more spending and investment on intangible and tangible public infrastructures. His rationale is that the returns from investment would be large enough to justify the cost.
Regardless, what Krugman says does make sense politically, but economically, I feared the worst if the Democrats choose to disturb, if I may say so, the balance in the “Force”.
What had happened in New Orleans during the aftermath of Katrina is happening in Johor. Looting has been reported:
SEGAMAT: The ugly side of human nature has started to emerge from the floods that have hit several states — there are reports of looting and people are claiming that certain parties, including uniformed personnel, have asked for money before rescuing victims.
This is a major disaster, make no mistake of that. But where is the Prime Minister?
Just like in New Orleans, this is becoming a failure in leadership.
Borrowing Bakri Musa’s phrase: Undurlah Pak Lah!
p/s – Ego amid disaster:
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 22 (Bernama) — Malaysia does not need foreign help to tackle the severe flood situation in the country, which so far has claimed six lives, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Razak.
Najib, who is also Defence Minister and chairman of the National Disaster Management and Relief Committee, said Malaysia was capable of handling the situation and that flood relief efforts were put in motion the moment floods struck in the states of Johor, Pahang, Kelantan, Negri Sembilan and Melaka.
“We will handle it ourselves. The situation has stabilised… no need (for foreign help),” he said at a press conference at the Defence Ministry here today when asked if Malaysia would accept foreign help in tackling the disaster.
If I were the top executive person in the government, I’d accept any sincere help from anybody.
pp/s – the PM is finally back in Malaysia, more than five days after tragedy struck:
During his visit Saturday, Abdullah took a helicopter ride for an aerial view of the extent of the floods in several districts of Johor, such as Muar, Batu Pahat and Kota Tinggi.
The prime minister also saw the extent of the floods in Melaka.
Despite all the bad decisions Bush had made, at least during the aftermath of Katrina, when New Orleans fell into anarchy, he as the President of the United States committed himself to the rescue effort mobilized throughout the affected areas. While Johor and several other states are suffering major flooding, one has to wonder, where’s our Prime Minister?
He’s not in Malaysia but instead, he’s still on holiday, vacationing, somewhere abroad. When I read a blogger expressing his disgust of that fact, I share the blogger’s sentiment. Moreover, with people, real Malaysians, are cut off from power, clean water and food as long as four days, the Prime Minister is more interested in defending himself against an allegation that he purchased a MYR 30 million yatch.
As far as the flood is concerned, I honestly believe that our Prime Minister has failed us, Malaysians. In absence of the top executive person in the country, the Deputy Prime Minister taken over the job of sorting this out. The Johor Chief Minister seems to be active in the rescue effort too. Kudos to them but the jury is out there. They will have to excel if both of them prefer history to be kind to them.
I’m so glad that a state-wide emergency has been declared:
Malaysia had declared a state of emergency yesterday and civil defense personnel, volunteers, and members of the armed forces took part in evacuation and rescue operations.
I can’t find any local media reporting an the declaration of the emergency. I’m not sure whether that’s due to my ignorance, the fact that the media has yet to report it or the foreign source is wrong. Assuming good faith, nevertheless, if this is an emergency as I understand it, the emergency allows state and federal machineries to direct full energy into the ongoing rescue effort. The declaration of emergency however makes the Prime Minister looks even worse — Prime Minister is nowhere in sight amid state-sanctioned emergency!
Today, the Prime Minister expresses sadness over the disaster:
Najib said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi expressed his sadness over the flood situation and asked the Federal and state agencies to help the people. Abdullah had conveyed the message to Najib over the phone.
Mr. Prime Minister, merely expressing sadness is not enough. You must act on it. Come back home and supervise the rescue effort in Johor and other states. According to a news report, residents in the affected areas have been without food and water as many as four days. How long since you last had your dinner, Mr. Prime Minister?
I’m attracted to a post by The Sensintrovert that highlights an episode on the current communist memorial controversy between Malaysian information minister Zainuddin Maidin and certain fraction within the Chinese Malaysian community. In the article by Bernama:
Zainuddin, who is also the Member of Parliament for Merbok, had alleged during a speech at a Merbok Puteri Umno function last week that such memorials had been found at private Chinese cemeteries in Sarawak and in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan.
According to him, memorials should only be erected for those who had fought for the country’s independence or against the communists, irrespective of which group or movement they belonged to.
Dear minister, what if the communists had fought for Malayan independence? When the communists were fighting for Malayan independence, where was UMNO?
The communists did fight for Malayan independence and by your own qualification, memorials for the communists could be erected.
Regardless, not that I support typical communist ideals, sir, it’s none of your business. Those memorials are on private properties.
“We should not pay tribute to one movement or group that involved only a particular race but individuals or larger organisations that had played instrumental roles for the benefit of all the races in the country,” he said.
Oh, really? What about UMNO which its membership involved only a particular race?