Krugman underlines the outbreak of Hooverism in state budgets. States can't tax, because corporations and the wealthy can move their point of presence for the cost of a tax break and a post office box. Part of Reagan's plan was what cartoonist Feiffer presciently called "The New Feudalism." Smaller, weaker, government entities are easier to blackmail, bully, or bribe. One of the most pressing projects of a new progressive America is to Federalize. And the outbreak of Hooverism offers a golden moment.
Libertarian looters are salivating over getting hard assets. Republican governors like Pawlenty are eager to enrich their friends by selling assets at fire sale prices. Strangely this same logic was rejected in the case of private assets, where the government was forced to buy up non-voting junk bonds in drag rather than getting any say in how the companies were actually run. What's sauce for the government, is gravy for the goperment, I suppose.
rest at http://firedoglake.com/2008/12/30/were-the-feds-how-to-keep-hooverism-from-hocking-the-country/
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