The article just re-runs all the usual statist assumptions that society is essentially unworkable, that government is a kind of Santa Claus benevolent institution, and that more inflation, taxes, debt, and political handouts are the solution to everything.

The author's confusion is palpable. He expects Obama to end the wars? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! In case you haven't noticed, Obama continued all the wars that Bush started, and then started new ones, bombing schoolchildren, goatherds and bridal parties in country after country.

Stop the "too big to fail" doctrine? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! In case you haven't noticed, Obama started it. Who do you think took *trillions* off the poorest members of society and the ordinary workers, and handed it out to big banks and corporations? Open your eyes man!

And now those caring and sharing Democrats have just passed a law that the executive has power to indefinitely detain any American citizen, on American soil, without charge or trial. This is after they decided that the executive has power to kill and torture anyone, anywhere, including American citizens. Wake up!

This is fascism and the author supports it. He wants government to control every aspect of society and the economy, and then decries large corporations getting handouts from government. Well? You're against freedom, remember?

In fact the author, consistent with his protestations, should support Ron Paul in:
- abolishing the Fed, and its channelling of zillions into the banks it cartelises for the purpose
- abolishing the handouts and bailouts of big corporations
- stopping the wars
- withdrawing America's troops within America's borders
- abolishing unconstitutional departments.

But he'd rather support fascism in his morally and economically illiterate idea that this promotes a better society.

Peter Hume:

As you "gingerly" edge your way from economics into politics, take care; could it be, you may realise the subservience of economics towards Politics?

Well it looks like it is not just Greece, but the Greeks, & definitely this one, who are economically illiterate.

Perhaps it's a plot to spread the failure of Greek money management techniques far & wide. After all if every one fails, nobody will notice the Greeks did.

Anyone who could not see what a fool Obama was from the start is a bit slow. Name me one orator who has been successful at anything other than oratory, except perhaps Churchill, who fortunately for us, was up against another, even worse, [or more successful] orator. One of them had to loose.

I believed at the time that most of the yanks were not voting for Obama. They were voting for a picture of themselves as "liberated" people voting for a black man.

I'll probably be attacked as racist for that, but it was so obvious, that even blind Freddy should have seen it.

Hopefully they have had enough of Obama's type of liberation, the type that is rapidly liberating them from their prosperity, & will regain their senses before this coming election.

Of course the Republicans have to give them a candidate who is at least reasonably electable, something they failed to do against Obama.

Speaking as a Black Duck who is always threatened by the activities of human beings and their gross insensitivity as to what they are really doing to each other and to the natural world (that is killing everything), I would suggest that the crop of GOP candidates are fully committed to the world-view that systematically eliminated the Passenger Pigeon, and that almost exterminated the Buffalo too.

You could be right Daffy, but I look at this stuff as a bloke who has feasted on duck at times in the past.

From that perspective I have to say that Obama & Clinton make an even worse pair than Gillard & Swan.

I'm not prepared to put all the necessary time & effort into getting a handle on the whole GOP bunch, until they have thinned down a bit, but as here, they would be hard pressed to put up anything near as bad as the incumbents.

I believe that the author has exposed the regressive and scary proposals of the right wing of the American body politic. When the Pew research people ask Americans what they actually want from government, they usually describe a social democrat system. What they get instead is millionaire politicians who do the bidding of the rich and powerful. Yes--their political system is broken and we could be heading the same way.