Quote of the Day: Funny, but "Deeply Scary"

Krugman accepting Nobel

Nobody writes better about just how crazy our friends on the Republican fringe are than Paul Krugman, a 2008 Nobel laureate in economics. The Nobel alone is enough to drive Repubs nuts, but there's more.

Krugman's commentary is liberal, full of reasoned fired and is, without exception, fearless. The right hates him, I suspect because it's almost impossible to argue his conclusions, armed as they are with enough facts to drown opposition in a sea of research and reason.

Today, he's explaining the wild-eyed--and totally incorrect--assertions that President Obama has made sure gas prices are going to climb out of the building, that his health care bill just doubled in price and that he wants all this to happen. It's a plot to alter conservative lifestyles. If that were the case, I'd be president, but Obama is nothing if not practical, pragmatic and logical in his approach. He knows gas prices are volatile and that they make spoiled-rotten Americans angry.

Here's a quote from the column: 

" ...  it’s a lie wrapped in an absurdity, because the president of the United States doesn’t control gasoline prices, or even have much influence over those prices. Oil prices are set in a world market, and America, which accounts for only about a tenth of world production, can’t move those prices much. Indeed, the recent rise in gas prices has taken place despite rising U.S. oil production and falling imports. O.K., this is all kind of funny. But it’s also deeply scary.

" ... O.K., this is all kind of funny. But it’s also deeply scary." 

(Note: The Republican fight with the Nobel is legendary. Consider that the winners include Jimmy Carter, Al Gore, Barack Obama and others they hate and that Peter Diamond, who was nominated to the Federal Reserve board was blocked by Alabama's Richard Shelby ... shortly before winning the prize in 2010. Republican winners? Teddy Roosevelt won, but he was a Republican in name only and was kicked out of the party. Henry Kissinger won, but I don't think he ever had a party declaration. 'Course, the right says the Nobel is yet another plot by the left ...)