Note to the New Treasury Secretary: It's Time to Raise Taxes (Ben Stein)

[swag]

An article that induces nausea at points, as do most of Ben Stein's (former Nixon-Ford speechwriter) articles (and many of his activities). Nevertheless, interesting to hear from this Republican stalwart:

Ben Stein's letter to the incoming Treasury Secretary

Dear Mr. Paulson:

You almost certainly don't remember little me, but I met you many years ago when you worked on what I think was the Domestic Council under the redoubtable John D. Ehrlichman. Even then, you were an intense and clearly brilliant young man. Since then, time has proven you to be a brilliant and intense middle-aged man. To become chairman of an empire like Goldman Sachs is a spectacular achievement by any measure.

But now you have your work cut out for you as Treasury secretary. You are facing what is, in many ways, the most dangerous economic future since the Depression. Danger is coming on many fronts, only dimly seen by the powers that be in Washington, and your insights and eloquence will be urgently necessary.

Just to give you an idea what you are up against, Standard & Poor's issued a warning not long ago. The caution was that if the United States government did not seriously alter fiscal policy, Treasury bonds would be downgraded to BBB, slightly above junk status, by 2020. This is a stunning piece of news for the world's most highly rated security denominated in its primary reserve currency. The S.& P. report said further that if the nation did not make serious changes after that, by 2025 Treasuries would be junk bonds, like the bonds of less successful emerging-markets nations.

These downgrades would occur because the federal budget deficit and the cumulative national debt would be so high relative to the gross domestic product. This debt would presumably come largely from Social Security and Medicare obligations, considered sacred contracts by American taxpayers. (The statement said similar downgrades would also happen to other major countries in the developed world that have large aging populations.)
. . .
The fiscal house is in severe disorder. I love President Bush, and I believe that he wants to do the right thing. I know for sure that Karl Rove is a genius and wants to do the right thing as he sees it (which may well be totally different from how I see it). Mr. Bernanke knows what's right and wrong. You will have allies. But someone needs to take a stand, and that person might as well be you.

[fasttense]

1. Oh my God, Ben Stein advocating such an un-republican

thing as fixing the mess the republicans have made of this country. What an idiot. He expect the same people who have created, as he describes it, the most dangerous economic future since the Depression, to actually repair the damage. If they thought it was a dangerous economic future, they wouldn't have done it. They think this is great. Why would they fix it? Ben your cult-like worship of the All Mighty b* is showing.

[tanyev]

2. Good luck with that, Ben.

[swag]

3. A kick before dying.

Mainly because of that nugget about S&P's warning on the US's credit rating.