Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Would you accept an honor from Stalin?

Rizzo on Becker's Presidential Medal of Freedom;
However, let me offer my gratuitous and perhaps meddlesome opinion that he should not accept the award. Why? That is simple. It is the Presidential Medal and George W. Bush is no friend of freedom. Here I can only list without proof several claims. First, it is clear, I believe, to all objective analysts that he lied us into a war. He intentionally exaggerated or cherry-picked the evidence to show that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. Second, Bush has violated the UN Charter (to which the US is a signatory) by invading Iraq without any immanent or even medium-term threat to the US. Third, he has violated the Geneva Treaties and allowed, negligently or intentionally, torture of prisoners at Guantanamo. Fourth, his Administration has engaged in completely extralegal rendition of prisoners to other countries where he knew or should have known that they would be tortured. Fifth, and perhaps least important, he has allowed the explosion of government spending not seen since Richard Nixon and Lyndon Johnson.


I wonder what Mankiw has to say on this.

Related;
IMF worried about the US Fiscal Policy
Mankiw, author of most popular economics principles textbook, in his resignation letter from the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors praises the fiscal policy of the administration he served;

“Your leadership has preserved and strengthened the American dream by guiding the economy through difficult times and by laying the foundation for a growing and expanding prosperity. You appreciate the power of economic liberty and have worked to create an environment where all Americans can realize the potential with which their creator has endowed them. You understand that free enterprise system works best under a policy of low taxes, fiscal discipline, and open markets…”

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