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Kristol on AIG's Bonus Babies

10:45 AM, Mar 16, 2009 • By MATTHEW CONTINETTI
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Be sure to check out Bill Kristol's post on the AIG bonuses over at "Post Partisan":

Can capitalism survive the behavior of some capitalists? It's always been an open question. But if capitalism is to survive, shouldn't the Republican party, the party that defends democratic capitalism, be particularly vehement in denouncing its excesses? Isn't this a pretty spectacular one? And isn't this a moment for the GOP to separate itself from the Bush administration as well as the Obama administration, who together have been responsible for an incompetent and improvident bailout? Figuring out the right policy going forward with respect to toxic assets and the rest is, of course, a major intellectual task. But being on the side of a healthy populist reaction to the AIG situation is at least a good political start.

During the Bush era, the Democrats embraced economic populism (wages, tariffs, progressive taxation) while the Republicans took hold of cultural populism (social conservatism, standing up for the common man against cultural elites). We may be about to see Republicans embrace a newfound economic populism. Not the sort that calls for higher taxes on upper income earners. But the sort that criticizes public dollars spent for private profits.

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