Reply #3: A note about Clinton, economics and governing a state from the left

[AP]

In The Hunting of the President, Conason and Lyons lay some foundation for why Republicans hated and feared Clinton. They feared him because he was electable, but they hated him because he understood the way right wingers use economics to further their agenda (which is, basically, rip of the poor and middle class to make themselves richer, and use wedge issues -- like race in AR -- to get the people they hurt to vote for them).

Conason and Lyons describe how Clinton didn't like how Stephens, Inc. (for whom Wesley Clark worked before his current job) had a monopoly on issuing bonds for public works projects. Because they had a monopoly, the state was getting ripped off, with the money going into the pockests of privateers meaning that less was going into the projects taxpayers were funding (ie, it was a big transfer of public money to private hands). Clinton started a government bond issuing department with which Stephens, Inc. had to compete. Ultimately, it ended up saving taxpayers millions (and maybe billions) and all the money saved went into building government infrastructure which greased the skids of commerce for (and made wealthier and happier) millions of people other than Stephens, Inc. bond brokers.

Now, conservatives pretend they don't like big government because it's bad for the people. They don't like the government doing good things for the people because it's bad for the private profits of a very few people with connections to people in power. So, Clinton made it on to the Republican hit list.

To me, that Republicans are really all about making money for the cronies (and care about the wedge issues only to the extent that it can help them make the money for their friends) makes me wonder why the hell some Democrats just focus on the wedge issues. Like Clinton knew, there's one thing at the top of the Republican pyramid, and you have to aim for that. I don't understand how anyone can get excited about candidates who, not only don't aim for that, but actually participate in the rip off inherent in cronyism and policy which shift public wealth to the private hands of a small group of insiders.