Finally....the President's chief economic advisor has been heard from. I have been wondering where Summers was hiding when all of the bizarre economic proposals were put forth by the Obama Administration. So, it was with some interest that I read today of Summer's speech before the Brookings Institution. Would Summers defend the "mortgage cram down" proposal that trashed the mortgage market last month and vitiates centuries of standing contract law? How would Summers defend "cap and trade" and all of the other huge taxes in the new proposed budget?
Interestingly, Summers did not refer to the "mortgage cram down." I think he was smart to pretend that he wasn't aware of that foolish proposal, recently passed by the Pelosi House of Representatives. Perhaps, Summers forgot about it or maybe he just doesn't know about it.
On "cap and trade," Summers describes this as "realistic" (as opposed to what, he did not say) and would "reduce our energy vulnerability." Summers seemed to have a bit of a memory (or was it an intellectual) lapse when discussing the cap and trade proposal (which he (jokingly?) referred to as "market based"). Summers apparently decided to ignore the implications of cap and trade for the electricity bills that ordinary Americans will face when this nightmare becomes a reality. Some areas of the country will face electricity bills two to three times higher than their current bills. Wonder why Summers forgot to mention that. Nearly a year ago, Obama himself referred to the "astronomical increases in electricity bills" that his cap and trade proposal would require. Perhaps Obama forgot to mention the electricity bill problem to Summers? Or perhaps, Summers is unaware of the issue? Maybe he doesn't know what the "cap and trade" proposal is?
Summers presentation was surreal. His talk could have been given by John Kerry or Teddy Kennedy or Tom Daschle. But, it is not a talk that could have been given by an economist. Forget about counting on Larry Summers to restrain the foolish economics of the current White House. Summers is enjoying the limelight. Like Obama, he's just having a good time.
