a bloated republican pinata

it's time for Democrats to challenge the myth that "free" markets are the perfect mechanism for our economy ... they aren't ...

free markets do a great job, when they're truly free, regulating the price level ... simply put, prices are determined by the interplay of supply and demand ... but good policy requires far more than just the determination of what commodity prices should be ... the problem with free markets is that they do absolutely nothing to address national priorities ...

without elaborating here, consider the issues of global warming (and pollution), dependence on foreign oil and more than 40,000 highway deaths every year in the US ... nothing in "free" market dogma addresses these problems ... these are societal costs that remain unaddressed because corporate greed dominates our economy and our government ...

where is the free market on global warming? what in the free market mechanism would push for a reduction in CO2 emissions? as glaciers continue to melt, do car prices rise???

where is the free market on US dependence on oil imports? some might argue that this dependence will cause prices to rise and consumers will eventually demand alternative fuels or other modes of transportation ... perhaps that's so but this is a "lag" effect, i.e., it will happen way too late in the cycle ... we knew we were heavily dependent on OPEC oil way back in the early 1970's ... how did the "free" market react? it started advertising SUV's because the US auto industry couldn't compete with smaller, Japanese, fuel efficient cars ... SUV's !!!! that's how the "free" market responded to an oil crisis - they advertised gas guzzlers ... and the public responded ... Americans fell in love with SUVs and small trucks ... it was all very democratic - it was also insane energy policy or actually a total lack thereof ...

and how does the "free" market respond to 40,000 highway deaths a year? more mass transit? nope ... the free market just keeps stimulating the demand for more cars and making sure there is no push for mass transit ...

the Democratic Party has badly lost the war of ideas about markets because it fears being labeled as anti-capitalist or Socialist ... while republicans continue to enjoy political benefits by aligning themselves with the "perfect" system, the "free" market, Democrats lay low and have nothing to say on the issue ...

the future of the Democratic Party is not going to be dependent on this candidate or that candidate, bush's poll numbers, a 50 state strategy or any of the other "tactics" if we don't directly engage the national debate on critical issues ... the sanctity of the free market is just one such issue ... it's time to punch some holes in this bloated republican pinata ...

between capitalism and socialism, and this admin has their big grubby finger on the scale. Not too many people care.