Sinking

I just did Kudlow’s show again. He and Steve Moore both wanted to argue that (1) Tom DeLay was a great American and (2) the phone and cable companies should be able to levy different charges on different content providers, thus ending net neutrality. The reality is (1) Tom DeLay was an irresponsible political hack who ran an extortion racket on K Street, and (2) the phone and cable companies are already getting their fees from subscribers and should not have to start charging content providers; and if they did, they’d end the Internet as the last bastion of equal access.

Meanwhile, the stock market is sinking. Why? Because Wall Street is worried sick about Ben Barnenke and the Fed raising short-term interest rates, which will slow the economy and also move money out of stocks and into bonds. High oil prices, and instability in Iraq (let’s face it – it’s a civil war, and utter chaos, and Bush’s invasion and occupation have done extraordinary harm to Iraqi’s and to us) and jitters about Iran have also contributed. Adjusted for inflation, the market is well below where it was in 2000. The entire Bush era will go down in history as one of the worst for the very people who are Bush’s core constituency – the big investor class. Sadly, it will also go down as one of the worst for Bush’s non-constituency – the poor and the middle class, who have taken it on the ear. Again, please remember this important fact: Over the last five years, productivity has soared 24 percent, while median wages have remained flat (adjusted for inflation). (Those of you who want to know the source of this have only to look at the govt stats in Census and at BLS.)