Eugene David<br>...The One-Minute Pundit

Posted 5:41 PM by Gene

Wee Little Stevie of the Wall Street Journals CONSERVATIVE EDITION has a dream, straight from the defunct brain of The Wizard of Oz' MENTOR:

One memorable moment in "Atlas" occurs near the very end, when the economy has been rendered comatose by all the great economic minds in Washington. Finally, and out of desperation, the politicians come to the heroic businessman John Galt (who has resisted their assault on capitalism) and beg him to help them get the economy back on track. The discussion sounds much like what would happen today:

Galt: "You want me to be Economic Dictator?"

Mr. Thompson: "Yes!"

"And you'll obey any order I give?"

"Implicitly!"

"Then start by abolishing all income taxes."

"Oh no!" screamed Mr. Thompson, leaping to his feet. "We couldn't do that . . . How would we pay government employees?"

"Fire your government employees."

"Oh, no!"

Abolishing the income tax. Now that really would be a genuine economic stimulus.

And so would firing government employees. Let's start with that brain storm. Because (in no small measure) of REPUBLICAN presidents we have far more government employees on every level than we used to. Firing government employees would make the unemployment rate explode. But abolishing the income tax would -- free up money to people who couldn't spend it because the shock of all these government workers out of business would -- get the idea?

And what of defense, Wee Little Stevie? And what of policemen and firefighters? Oh, that's GOOD spending. They're exempt. Once we think in those terms we can find excuses for any government employees, and we dizzily whirl in an exercise of circular thinking.

What Wee Little Stevie has typed is the height of lunacy -- which means he'll soon be a favorite at NRO.

(Via Seeking Alpha. Better to seek a little further up the alphabet)