Barney Frank schools Paul Ryan on the economy
I highly recommend this yesterday between Rep Barney Frank and Robert Reich on one side and Rep Paul Ryan and George Will on the other.聽 The topic was the role of government in our lives.
The thing that鈥檚 so notable here鈥搕ruly important, I鈥檇 say鈥攊s the way Barney Frank handled the debate.聽 He simply wouldn鈥檛 allow Ryan and Will to get away with lofty aphorisms about 鈥渂ig government鈥� and forced them to deal with cases.
What about the auto bailouts鈥攚ould we be better off if GM and Chrysler were liquidated?聽 How can we manage unstable financial markets without financial reform?聽 You want limited gov鈥檛, but you leave out defense.聽 And in fact, when it comes to gay marriage, you want gov鈥檛 in the bedroom.聽 You say you鈥檙e for economic mobility but your budget slashes away at Pell grants, training, child care for working parents.
Rep Ryan and Will had no idea how to deal with this kind of granular analysis.聽 Ryan fumbled around trying to poke holes in Barney鈥檚 attacks, but he simply hasn鈥檛 done the work Barney has to get under the hood of what鈥檚 actually going on in these policy debates.
EG, Ryan on why he voted for the auto bailout: 鈥溾�n order to prevent TARP from going to the auto companies, because we already put $25 billion aside in an energy bill, which I disapproved of, to go to auto companies.鈥�
(Huh??聽 TARP money was very clearly the source for the auto bailouts.)
It gets worse:
FRANK: Do you think the automobile intervention was successful or not?
RYAN: I think we should have done a bankruptcy鈥�
We did a bankruptcy!聽 GM and Chrysler went through bankruptcy鈥攕uch restructuring was integral to the deal.
Here鈥檚 Will, summing up their position:聽 鈥淚 think big government harms freedom, because it is an enormous tree in the shade of which the smaller institutions of civil society cannot prosper.鈥�
OK, but what should we do to help kids whose economic circumstances unquestionably block them from realizing their potential?聽 How should we address deficient public infrastructure?聽 What about regulating financial markets and consumer protections?聽 What about the ongoing recession in the job market?
The dude needs to either stop prattling about trees in the shade or step out of the way and let someone who鈥檚 put in the time on the critical issues of the day have their say.聽 I鈥檓 not suggesting that Rep Frank鈥檚 solutions to all these problems are the right ones.聽 I am saying you either have to offer a different solution or explain why the status quo is just fine (Reich did a nice job with these points in his wrap up).
I鈥檓 sure some listeners found Barney to be too unyielding in his relentless聽insistence聽that his opponents deal with cases instead of their rhetorical flourishes. 聽To me, and I suspect to most listeners of all political stripes who tuned in hoping to figure out what the heck is wrong with today鈥檚 politics, Frank not only carried the day but showed the way forward. 聽It鈥檚 a shame he鈥檚 retiring, but with his informed passion, I can鈥檛 imagine he鈥檚 going away any time soon. 聽Much to Paul Ryan鈥檚 chagrin, I鈥檓 sure.
