Dionne in Dreamland

E. J. Dionne, the columnist for the Washington Post must not be reading his own employer's newspaper. Dionne devotes his column today to praising "other countries," who have, in his view, successfully overcome the challenges of health care, budget deficits, and unemployment. Dionne is careful not to list these countries or mention any specific country by name. Which countries is he referring to?

Europe? Japan? He must mean China and India where there are no entitlement programs and not much in the way of a tax system. If somehow Dionne thinks that Europe and Japan are doing well in regard to the various items he ticked off in his article, he must have been living in a cave the last few years. Europe and Japan cannot afford any of the things that Dionne is talking about and their economies are on life support. He complains about US unemployment. Most of Europe would trade for our unemployment rate (now, or in the past four decades). Europe is busy trying to dismantle all the things that Dionne talks about. Where has Dionne been?

Dionne is typical of folks who memorize a position and then repeat it ad nauseum no matter how untrue it happens to be. Enjoy his silly article in today's Washington Post. You have to admire how he doesn't let the real world intrude on his views.