Obama Joins Tense Debt Talks - WSJ.com

LAFFER AND FRIEDMAN, THE EVIDENCE IS IN: Obama Joins Tense Debt Talks - WSJ.com

There are clearly two opposing views of how to restart / maintain a strong and vigorous economy.

Sadly, Obama is in the camp of the Roosevelt Democrats of the 1930's; and, now the evidence seems to be piling up that what Milton Friedman thought was the reason for the ongoing Depression of the '30's may have been less correct than Art Laffers (i.e. tax policy).

We now have Bernanke clearly fighting the tight money issue. Loose money isn't working in the face of bad fiscal policy.

And, bad fiscal policy (both Roosevelt and Obama are Keynesians) trumps loose money.

The logic is there. Keynesians believe the producing and investing sectors of the economy are not influenced by tax and regulatory policy (thus, if the US has higher tax rates than other jurisdictions, more regulatory hurtles, more pro-union (anti-employer) policies, the Keynesians ignore this in favor of just trying to boost consumption.

Keynesians ignore the logic of a company or investor putting their money where they create a better rate of return, make a more competitive product, operate with greater business freedom, etc.

Clearly, the evidence is there that Obama's policies have failed; but, he hopes that more of the same will produce a different result.

As Mark Twain used to say in a famous quote, "It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so."