The Obama Fallacies Pile Up

Speaking to the House Democratic Caucus Issues Conference last night, President Obama challenged the opponents of his Economic Stagnation Bill: "don't come to the table with the same tired arguments and worn ideas that helped to create this crisis...We can't embrace the losing formula that says only tax cuts will work for every problem we face; that ignores critical challenges like our addiction to foreign oil, or the soaring cost of health care, or falling schools and crumbling bridges and roads and levees."

There are at least three fallacies here.

The first fallacy is the claim that the idea advocated by his opponents - free market capitalism - helped create the current economic crisis. As I've discussed before, this crisis was caused by government action that distorted markets - the creation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, interest rates kept too low for too long, the Community Reinvestment Act, and the Mark-to-Market accounting rule.

The second fallacy is the accusation that his opponents believe only tax cuts will work for every problem and that they ignore critical challenges. This is a strawman argument - it attributes to an opponent an argument that he has not in fact made for the sole purpose of knocking it down. No one on the Right claims that tax cuts are the solution to every problem. Conservatives and libertarians have proposed innovative solutions to addiction to foreign oil (Drill, baby, Drill!), the soaring cost of health care (end government programs and regulations that raise costs), failing schools (vouchers), and crumbling bridges and roads and levees (privatize).

The third fallacy is his characterization of his opponents' arguments as "tired" and "worn".

A number of years ago, a reader challenged Miss Manners, "Don't you think that nowadays, in modern life, the old-fashioned custom of the condolence call is out of date?" The etiquette columnist replied, "Why is that? Is it because people don't die anymore, or is it because the bereaved no longer need the comfort of their friends?"

The Gentle Reader's argument is a variation on the Fallacy of Novelty. This fallacy consists of assuming that just because something is new, it must be better. The variation consists of assuming that, just because something is old, it must be worse. Miss Manners attacked the fallacy by questioning whether the reasons the practice was established in the first place have changed.

President Obama is guilty of the same fallacy, and deserves the same kind of response. Capitalism is based on the notion that people respond to incentives like lower prices or higher wages. Why is it "tired" and "worn"? Is it because consumers now line up to get into stores that charge higher prices for the same merchandise. Or is it because workers now quit their jobs in order to do the same work at another company for a smaller salary?

The Logic Critic gives President Obama...

2 Blades - Wrong.