Matthew Rothschild: Why I Hate David Brooks—Today

[marmar]

from The Progressive:



Why I Hate David Brooks—Today
By Matthew Rothschild, June 5, 2012


He’s never been my favorite columnist. A poor man’s sociologist, he’s made a handsome living making vapid generalizations about the way we conduct our lives. He doesn’t know jack about economics. And he traffics on appearing to be the most reasonable Republican in the country. But at bottom, he’s a hack.

Take today’s column in the Times, “The Debt Indulgence,” where he pretends to know something about what’s going on in Wisconsin on this crucial day of the recall.

He begins by making sweeping claims about how people’s tolerance for debt led to the “mortgage-finance bubble” and the “fiscal bubble.” Those bubbles, in his view, are largely the people’s fault, not the fault of Wall Street manipulators.

He says voters for years have wanted government debt to mount and mount, though he doesn’t substantiate that claim with any evidence or poll data. ..................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.progressive.org/why_hate_david_brooks.html

[Sekhmets Daughter]

1. David Brooks

is even less than a hack and more than a mere liar. The credit bubble which fed the housing bubble was the direct result of Alan Greenspan lowering interest rates after the shock of the dot.com bust. Like every other republican hack, Brooks counts on the fact that most Americans are clueless about everything financial and political.

[rgbecker]

2. Right. Voters have wanted government debt to mount and mount.

That's why we are overjoyed that 14 million are out of work, not paying income tax and enjoying unemployment benefits...if we can get them. Brooks makes it all so clear.