In my town, we have a powerful Planning Board. If you want to put an extension on your house or add an extra bathtub in a bathroom, you have to go before them with plans, an architect, a lawyer, and lots of ass kissing. This really rubs my town of libertarian teachers, cops, and contractors the wrong way. They feel that if they want to put an extra bathtub in their bathroom, it is nobody's fucking business.
A year ago, a former mayor who sits on the Planning Board ran into some financial problems. The talk of the town was that he was forced to use the church food pantry. He decided that he would raise money, by selling his tiny backyard to a developer. The Planning Board that freaks out about two tubs in a bathroom, let the former mayor turn his property into a shanty town.
My libertarian teachers, cops, and contractors grumbled about this a lot. They called the deal, dirty. But they sucked it up. That's the way it is, they thought.
David Brooks' column generated a lot of heat in the blogosphere yesterday. People either loved it or hated it. I dunno. I thought it was kind of funny and didn't take away any ideological subtext.
Clearly, there's a backlash going on against years of double standards. It's not a partisan thing. We all know that both sides are guilty of this stuff.
People are also sick of making $40,000 a year, while others are making $4m a year. It's annoying. So, there's two long standing grievances -- political double standards and rich people.
The tax problem didn't sink Daschle. It sounded as if it was a genuine mistake and a lot of people have made those types of errors. The problem was the amount of the error -- $100,000. That's more than most people in the country make all year.
He made a few million working as a lobbyist, after he left government. Again, this is nothing new. Hugh Heclo and the Iron Triangle. This is what politicians do after they leave office. They advise businesses about how to get the legislation passed. They give speeches. And they make a whole lot more money than they did when they were in office. They ALL do that. Bill has made a ton of money giving speeches in Dubai.
So, I do think that Brooks was clever, but wrong yesterday. This class backlash going on right now, isn't coming from DC. It's coming from America. They are sick of double standards and their average paychecks. The DC types might be slightly irritated that their college roommates were making a fortune on Wall Street, but they aren't that upset. They know they can always cash in later. No, DC is just responding to the new message of their constituencies.
We're moving into an Era of the New Modesty. No more Viking stoves and houses in Hamptons. No more corporate jets and trust fund brats. And there's some muscle behind the New Modesty. The bail-out money is being closely watched. Senate confirmations are putting the rich on trial. And this is a good thing. The teachers and cops and contractors are having their say.