The Arizona Republic(an) fails Arizona

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

I told you months ago that it did not matter whom the Republicans selected as their nominee. The nominee could be caught with a dead hooker or a live boy and The Arizona Republic(an) would still endorse the GOP nominee, just as it has always has.

The Arizona Republic(an) is, after all, the media arm of the Arizona Republican Party. This greatly diminishes the value of its endorsements. Its endorsements are not based upon thoughtful, reasoned consideration of the policy positions of the candidates nor which candidate posesses the best temperament, character and judgment to lead.

True to form, The Arizona Republic(an) endorsed Willard "Mittens" Romney on Sunday. You're shocked, I'm sure (not!) Romney can lead economy forward. The editors' reasoning is pure Robert Robb Goldwater Institute and Chamber of Commerce Ayn Rand "invisible hand of the free market place" utopian nonsense:

Not counting long-term unfunded liabilities tied to Social Security
and to many of those Johnson-era programs, the nation is more than $16
trillion in real-time debt, one of the greatest financial-debt burdens
in modern history.

Our belief that Republican Mitt Romney should be elected the 45th
president of the United States is anchored in that tough reality.

We believe the nation's best opportunity to escape the compounding
woes of spiraling debt and economic stagnation lies with a president who
believes in the free market's capacity to heal its own wounds.

That leader is Romney. The nation's economy now is in desperate need
of the kind of jobs-creating animal spirits that President Romney would
encourage.

The economy indisputably will benefit, perhaps significantly, from a
flatter, fairer system of taxation along the lines proposed by Romney
and his running mate, Paul Ryan.

It will benefit, too, from a regulatory environment that does not
smother small businesses with punitive, anti-competitive, hoop-jumping
requirements that favor their bigger competitors. We expect a Romney
administration to foster that kind of growth-oriented, business-friendly
environment.

But, more to the point, we expect better job growth in a Romney
economy mostly because Mitt Romney does not fear or dislike a
free-wheeling, growing, free-market economy.

In short, The Arizona Republic(an) believes in the "confidence fairy," the derisive term coined by Paul Krugman. Mitt Romney Says, "I Am The Confidence Fairy!" – NYTimes.com:

[R]eading Matt O’Brien on Romney’s Boca Moment, I suddenly realized that it has a domestic application too.

As O’Brien notes, here’s how Romney described his economic strategy:

If it looks like I’m going to win, the markets will be
happy. If it looks like the president’s going to win, the markets should
not be terribly happy. It depends of course which markets you’re
talking about, which types of commodities and so forth, but my own view
is that if we win on November 6th, there will be a great deal of
optimism about the future of this country. We’ll see capital come back
and we’ll see — without actually doing anything — we’ll actually get a boost in the economy.

[Emphasis added]

In effect, Romney was saying, “I am the confidence fairy!”

Oy! The Arizona Republic(an) continues with its Ayn Rand utopian fantasy:

In our judgment, the economy will not fully revive under Obama.
Certainly not to the degree it would thrive if Washington, D.C., would
only get past its current "Dodd-Frank" frame of mind, its
free-market-fearing sense that the terrible times will come crashing
back if Washington lets those scalawags of the private sector loose
again.

Got that? The editors want to unshackle, or as Joe Biden said, "unchain" the banksters of Wall Street to run wild again with their casino capitalism that blew up the world's financial system and nearly destroyed the world's economy. The editors haven't learned any lessons from the Bush Great Recession. Their reckless and irresponsible indifference to the suffering of Americans ought to be criminal. They continue to have blind faith in faith based supply-side "trickle down" GOP economics that has been entirely disproved and discredited over the past 12 years.

This Randian religious faith is entirely divorced from the facts and the reality-based world. Jon Perr at Perrspectives blog has frequently posted a chock-full-o-charts post over the years similar to this post from September (read the full original post). Which Party is Best for the Economy? It's Not Even Close:

If for nothing else, you have to give Republican leaders and their conservative echo chamber credit for staying on message. . .

As it turns out, there is one problem with this Republican
chest-thumping. Because when it comes to which political party is best
for the American economy, it's not the GOP. It's not even close.

As the historical record shows, from economic growth and job creation to
stock market performance and just about every other indicator of the
health of American capitalism, the modern U.S. economy has almost always
done better under Democratic presidents. Despite GOP mythology to the
contrary, America generally gained more jobs and grew faster when taxes
were higher (even much higher) and income inequality lower. While the
U.S. recovery from the crippling Bush recession has been painfully slow,
most economists – including the nonpartisan CBO and some of John
McCain's own 2008 advisers – believe President Obama saved the American
free-enterprise system from the abyss. And many economists are
increasingly worried that businessman-turned-President Romney would lead
the United States back into recession.

Here's why the economic debate between Democrats and Republicans is no contest at all. (Click a link below for the details on each.)

• Job Creation and Economic Growth
• The Stock Market
• Income Inequality
• National Debt
• The Bush Disaster and the Obama Recovery
• Looking Ahead to the Romney-Ryan Recession

The editors conclude their endorsement with this "Holy shit! Did they really say that?" bit of craziness:

Democrats from Bill Clinton to Cory Booker defended Romney's work at
the much-maligned Bain Capital for a reason: because it has been
financial engines like Bain that have helped power the American economy.

America needs a return to that kind of economic power, that kind of jobs-creating energy.

First, the editors misrepresent what Clinton and Booker actually said in comments they clarified. But "vulture capitalist" private equity and hedge fund banksters are the financial engine that has powered the American economy? Seriously? Vulture capitalism is about maximizing wealth for investors, not creating brick and mortar business investments. Nor is it concerned with creating jobs.

As the Bain Capital record makes clear, Romney made his fortune buying distressed companies, saddling them with debt, paying off investors on their short-term investments from those borrowed funds, then forcing the company into bankruptcy liquidation to sell off the assets and fire the workers. For other companies, Bain Capital became a pioneer in outsourcing them to China and other countries, shutting down American businesses and moving the operations overseas. This is what the editors of The Arizona Republic(an) want more of in our future?

And "America needs to return" to what exactly? I know the editors are not talking about the Clinton years. So they must mean the George W. Bush years. Seriously? The Bush Years Were a Lost Decade.

This is what is wrong with politics in Arizona. The state's largest media conglomerate is the media arm of the Arizona Republican Party. It has an outsized influence on all media reporting in Arizona. The Arizona Republic(an) constantly promotes blind faith in faith based supply-side "trickle down" GOP economics that
has been entirely disproved and discredited over the past 12 years. Until this Randian religious faith in a failed economic theory is forever cast upon the ash heap of history, there is little hope for any rational, sane economic policy in Arizona.