Ben Stein Slams Tax Cuts, Tea Partiers, Bush, and Obama as ‘Careless,’ But Praises Clinton

NewsBusters.org ^ | August 1, 2011 | Brad Wilmouth

[sinanju]

"STEIN: This comes to mind because of the budget, taxes, debt ceiling crisis the nation is going through. What we are seeing is a stupendous pile-up of immensely careless people who have been heading for trouble for more than a decade now. There's no doubt that Bill Clinton for all of his issues left the federal budget on a sound financial footing. It was undone by the bursting of the Internet bubble, the two wars following 9/11, but mostly because of the folly of supply side economics, which falsely assured Americans that they could have their cake and it a eat it, too. That large tax cuts would yield higher government revenue. There never was any convincing data to back it up, and there’s also supply side tax cuts were immense government deficits under Bush 43.

There was also another problem, an inflexible belief by some on the GOP side that low taxes were an American birthright. They're not. We're not immune to arithmetic. If we spend a lot, we have to tax a lot. Then came Mr. Obama's carelessness. His wild raise in the federal expenditure so that what had seemed like huge deficits under Bush 43 suddenly seemed modest. And then came the Tea Partiers who insisted on the basically impossible, an immediate cut in federal spending, large enough to balance the budget without tax increases. In this age of Medicare and Medicaid, two wars, massive federal debt, interest payments, staggering Social Security obligations, that was simply impossible..."

[sinanju]

Ben's undergraduate degree was in Economics, but he went on to study law. He's never actually done any serious research as an economist. Either that, or his Dad, who was an economist, must have programmed FDR's engrams into his young mind.

I dunno, maybe he should stick to writing about his glamorous life and travels.

You can't call him a conservative when it's plain he never accepted the fundamental tenets of conservatism.

[ClearCase_guy]

Bolshevik Ben strikes again.

[Berlin_Freeper]

You know times are tough when you see a picture of Monopoly money on Drudge, and want it!

Thanks Obama!

[gusopol3]

If Clinton’s “sound economic footing “ was based on the internet bubble, how sound was it? Bush’s taxcuts sure did a better job of propelling economic recovery than Obama’s government spending stimulus.

[miss marmelstein]

But even his glamorous travels and life are filled with complaints, arguments, fights with people on airplanes followed by continually being “sick.” How someone who is always so sick can even walk into his backyard much less travel as much as he does and comment on our “dire” situation is beyond me.

[sinanju]

I’m guessing it’s his Dad.

My late maternal grandmother was of the Depression Generation. She worshipped FDR.

My mom is of the (early) sixties generation. She worshipped JFK but her mom clearly influenced her.

She firmly believes that anyone who’s made a lot of money in this life had to somehow take it from those less well off and that enlightened government can solve all the problems of the world.

Dunno what they taught Economics students at Columbia U. when Ben was going there, but it must have been Keynes all the way.

[Justa]

He commits a rather serious error. He credits the presidents with spending when it’s Congress who writes and passes the budget. Those Clinton surplusses were actually Congressional Republican surplusses.

Our current mess is because Bush43 enabled the RINOs and the Dems to jack up spending in order to support the WOT. They threatened the WOT and he caved and passed huge deficits. Now this is the status quo in Washington and it’s up to the TEA party supporters to restore fiscal responsibility in Washington.

Crediting Clinton for the Republican surplusses is like crediting Obama for the TEA party.

[sinanju]

It’s going to get worse from here on.

Now that Ben is into his early sixties it looks like every other article will be about his infirmities or someone he knows kicking the bucket.

[facedown]

Ben has gone the way of Arianna Huffington.

[sinanju]

Well, if ‘ol Ben wants to become a conservative apostate, I’m sure Arianna and the Gang will welcome him with open arms.

I’m sure his TV gigs and his movie career will turbocharge.

[trickyricky]

I believe Ben is free to donate his substantial wealth to help pay down the socialist debt.
What's that, Ben? I can't hear you?

I thought so.
Socialists ALWAYS want to use YOUR MONEY.

[USS Alaska]

Now that Ben is into his early sixties it looks like every other article will be about his infirmities or someone he knows kicking the bucket.

Hopefully soon it will be Ben.

[Ann Archy]

I’ll bet that Ben’s wife or kid is a raving liftist.....he has changed .

[Psalm 144]

He lost the plot several years ago. About the same time as National Review and to a lesser extent American Spectator.

[J40000]

Hey Ben,

During the Clinton ‘surplus’ years, Congress was controlled by REPUBLICANS.

oh.. forgot about that, huh?

[throwback]

My question to the wise adults in the room like Mr. Stein is when will it stop? I worked at a company 3 years ago where I saw people that I had worked with for 25 years cleaning out their desks in round after round of layoffs. Yet I read in the paper everyday stories of the government continuing to give 18-37% pay increases to the local police chief, subsidies for farmers, subsidies to small airports to pay 3/4 of local useless airport fair costs. No, it's the people that want the spending stopped now that are careful. If only we could take the money from the fools like Mr. Stein without taking it from the non-fools that create wealth, I'd be all for it. Call it the stupid tax.

[stratboy]

He’s hardly a conservative. He backed Al Frankenstein and Ralph Nader in 2008. He thinks that the tax code benefits the “rich”.

[Past Your Eyes]

My parents came of age in the depression. They both hated FDR as did their parents.

[sinanju]

“Twice married to entertainment lawyer Alexandra Denman”

Hmmm, yeah, it could be the wifey.

[miss marmelstein]

It’s hard to believe he’s in his early 60s. He looks and sounds like someone much older. A friend of mine who had dinner with him during a cruise (years ago!), remembers Ben unloading a slew of medications, including Mylax, and lining them up on the table. My friend - a big lib but a nice guy with an eye towards detail and a dislike of people wearing their hypochondria on their sleeve - was horrified.