UPDATE — Small clarification: By “uncommon sense”, I didn’t mean to imply that Mr. Corcoran is usually senseless. I meant that such clear sensibility as his, which is common in his case, is not commonly found in the media. Mr. Corcoran has plenty of it.
God I like smart clear-thinking and plain-talking capitalists. They’re a breath of free, fresh air.
I loved this column today (More strikes against U.S. economy) by Financial Post (NatPo) editor and columnist Terence Corcoran. The first paragraph hits it out of the park, but I couldn’t help read even more into it.
Bank bashing has always been an easy sport for demagogues, ideological rogues and politicians. It gives the bashers a sense of achievement and superiority without having to even be aware of — let alone acknowledge — the collateral damage they are inflicting on the innocent and on the general economy. President Barack Obama stepped up to the plate yesterday, took three rhetorical swings at the banking industry, and marched briskly off the field, not realizing he had struck out.
I read it in my head like this: It gives the bashers a sense of achievement and superiority without having to even be aware of — let alone acknowledge the collateral damage they are inflicting on the innocent and on the general economy — or even remotely understanding what the Hell they are talking about as they are utterly clueless. And I couldn’t get the image of a typical liberal-lefty who argues with you right up until he realizes you’re a conservative and are therefore making sense, and so in lieu of honestly losing the debate, he puts forth that ubiquitous final argument of theirs: “YOU’RE STUPID!” — and then turns tail and trots off to one anti-capitalist or anti-war or anti-anything sensible protest or another —or as Mr. Corcoran puts it, they 
”[march] briskly off the field, not realizing he had struck out.”
So of course I couldn’t get the image of Jack Layton and Libby Davies and some of the other like-minded useful idiots and anti-corporate bumper-sticker-yappers in their you’ve got to be kidding party and the Liberal Party, out of my head.
Here’s a couple more fulfilling, honestly capitalist words:
In announcing his “intention to propose” a new tax on America’s banks that would raise $117-billion over 12 years, Mr. Obama portrayed the move as an attack on “massive profits and obscene bonuses” at banks that have received federal bailout money. “We want our money back, and we’re going to get it.” Called the Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee, the tax looks like a good clean populist swing at bankers. What it really is is a strike against U.S. economic recovery prospects.
[…]
By taking money from banks, Mr. Obama is simply sucking good money out of the banks and away from bank customers and turning it into bad money in the hands of government. A dollar left in the bank to help it recover and become a profit-making player in a growing economy is worth more than a dollar drained out of the bank to be chewed up in the great dysfunctional digestive systems of government. Most economists will tell you that $1 spent by government produces something less in economic growth.
Terence Corcoran is Editor of the Financial Post, which is the best part of the National Post.
Jack Layton is one of the authors of the giant unedited national left-wing obsession of time-wasting, which is the worst part of Canada. And loosely returning to the baseball reference, he loves strikes and strives for more of them, and of course he loves balls.
PTBC was founded by Mr. Johannesen in 2000.
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