The Daily Plunge

Robinson is physical proof that winning a Pulitzer Prize doesn't require intelligence.

A couple of weeks ago Eugene Robinson was dreaming of the good old days of President Bush. Now he’s hard at work pushing a liberal meme as old as time itself. I’ve mentioned this before but anytime the GOP wins an election the press have to explain it as an angry emotional outburst by voters. Or in this case Robinson’s article is aptly titled “The spoiled-brat American electorate.”

This is not, I repeat not, a partisan argument. My own political leanings are well-known, but the refusal of Americans to look seriously at the nation’s situation — and its prospects — is an equal-opportunity scourge. Republicans got the back of the electorate’s hand in 2006 and 2008; Democrats will feel the sting this November. By 2012, it will probably be the GOP’s turn to get slapped around again.

The nation demands the impossible: quick, painless solutions to long-term, structural problems. While they’re running for office, politicians of both parties encourage this kind of magical thinking.

Where was Robinson when President Bush called for a long-term solution to the structural problems of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Social Security? Where was Robinson’s outrage about the quick and painless solutions in Iraq? Jackasses like Robinson can’t see their own hypocrisy. Have no fear, Robinson isn’t just going to call Americans spoiled brats, he’s going to offer policy advice.

The richest Americans need to pay higher taxes — not because they’re bad people who deserve to be punished but because they earn a much bigger share of the nation’s income and hold a bigger share of its overall wealth. If they don’t pay more, there won’t be enough revenue to maintain, much less improve, the kind of infrastructure that fosters economic growth. Think of what the interstate highway system has meant to this country. Now imagine trying to build it today.

Personally I hope the owners of the Washington Post are taxed first and they’re forced to layoff Eugene Robinson. Why are liberals incapable of reducing the size of the federal government? When has raising taxes during economic hardship ever helped the economy?

Liberal members of the press spent eight years during the Bush administration complaining about every problem with the federal government. Now we’re supposed to believe the federal government is the solution to every problem. Their hypocrisy has no bounds.