Party over Country

[disalitervisum]

1. Yes, we get the same neoliberal policies

that devastated Chile, Argentina, and most of Latin America in the 1970s. Under the direction of Milton Friedman, the "Chicago Boys" (so-called because of their ties to the University of Chicago School of Economics), used South America as the petri dish to launch their first experiment with unregulated free-market capitalism. The resulting tax cuts, privatization of government services, and virtual elimination of the social safety net and public education resulted in massive inflation, rampant poverty, capital flight, despotic government, and the disappearance of thousands, all in robust economies that were led by socialists. The Pinochet coup and Salvador Allende's murder on September 11, 1973 (date ring a bell?) is the most outstanding example of what unrestricted free-market neoliberalism can do. Prominent republicans who have long promoted neoliberal economics under the guise of "free-market capitalism" include Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, Douglas Feith, and Richard Perle. Their activities during the Iraq War furnish some insight into what is happening today. Republican congressional support of these policies are a primary cause of economic devastation in this country.