Video: Fred! on the economy
posted at 10:22 am on December 2, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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Fred Thompson gives us a dose of common sense about the economy and the government action to rescue it. It’s a masterpiece of sarcasm and wit, and almost impossible to excerpt. Like most Fred! videos, it’s an instant classic:
“Ask not what your country can spend for you … as what you can spend for your country.”
Of course, this does raise a question about Thompson’s intentions for the future. He’s talked about going back to his Hollywood career, but this video shows that Thompson still has some passion for politics. Is he looking to get drafted into something, or will he be content to provide ideological and philosophical lift for conservatives?
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Teh Fred will always be the chairman of my party.
Terrie on December 2, 2008 at 10:27 AM
At least Fred gets it.
Understanding the financial crisis (Video) (8min)
Poptech on December 2, 2008 at 10:28 AM
It would have been more funnier if Allahpundit had posted this >_>
BKennedy on December 2, 2008 at 10:29 AM
Teh Fred just loves spinning around in that chair to address us.
aquaviva on December 2, 2008 at 10:29 AM
Fred!
HebrewToYou on December 2, 2008 at 10:31 AM
According to Huckabee’s latest book Fred is a Faux-Con who just “doesn’t get it”, but what does the humble pastor from Hope know?
hanzblinx on December 2, 2008 at 10:33 AM
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…
starfleet_dude on December 2, 2008 at 10:33 AM
Truly, Fred is the man.
The sarcasm and irony that drips from this video is classic. I’ve always wondered about the whole “spend our way into prosperity” philosophy. So glad that Fred was able to explain it to me in common words that I could understand.
webproze on December 2, 2008 at 10:36 AM
Teh Fred! is back…
Hmmm…. interesting idea…. remember how at the end of every 60 minutes you had Andy Rooney do a couple minutes on whatever he wanted to talk about?
How about the same thing, on Fox, with Fred!
Romeo13 on December 2, 2008 at 10:36 AM
He did miss one of my taglines…
We’re trying to borrow our way out of debt…
Romeo13 on December 2, 2008 at 10:37 AM
Fred has morphed into Ron Paul!
lodge on December 2, 2008 at 10:39 AM
Hoovernomics didn’t work then and won’t work now, contrary to whatever Fred has to say on the subject. Keynes was right about one big thing, which is that it’s more important to get people working than to worry about debt.
starfleet_dude on December 2, 2008 at 10:42 AM
and Rod Serling grins.
abinitioadinfinitum on December 2, 2008 at 10:43 AM
blasphemy, Fred is yet to repeat far-left lies, smears and half-truths on top of idiotic conspiracy theories like Paul does.
jp on December 2, 2008 at 10:43 AM
Paul talked about printing money in the ABC Debate and Fred sniggered at him.
lodge on December 2, 2008 at 10:45 AM
Every word… GOLD!
edgehead on December 2, 2008 at 10:46 AM
there is logic to the inflation-madness that many miss(thinking inflation = bad no matter what).
Deflation is worse, for 99% of Americans(those of us with debt). Currently we are in a Deflationary recession, it would absolutely kill most americans(everyone with a mortgage, student loans, cc debt, Business loans, etc.) Thats part of why the Fed chooses the lesser evil in playing for future inflation by increasing money supply.
the Fed doesn’t bother me, its the idiots in congress and all the pork that should be reined in. The Dems really think Keynsian(big spending) economics is good for the economy.
jp on December 2, 2008 at 10:46 AM
A lesser evil? Have you looked at Zimbabwe recently?
lodge on December 2, 2008 at 10:48 AM
Fred on Laura Ingraham now.
zmdavid on December 2, 2008 at 10:49 AM
not the same thing as Zimbabwe, our money is actually backed by something. That is where Paul is an idiot(jackass) also, the rhetoric he uses dumbs down the debate, also why he and Rockwell are considered fringe lunatics and laughed at and/or ignored.
Zimbabwe isn’t selling treasury bonds to anyone while printing the money, they are just printing numbers on paper.
Think for a minute what happens if we allow Deflation to set in for most americans, in the real world.
jp on December 2, 2008 at 10:53 AM
Fred! After watching that I need a cigarette.
Limerick on December 2, 2008 at 10:57 AM
I think i got a term for this kind of economics : Reach around economics .
the_nile on December 2, 2008 at 10:58 AM
Fred,
Watch those fat guy jokes.
flyoverland on December 2, 2008 at 11:00 AM
It’s more important to get people producing than just working. Work for work sake is fruitless and thereby useless.
thomasaur on December 2, 2008 at 11:03 AM
go home fred
tomas on December 2, 2008 at 11:04 AM
In the early days of the Presidential race, I looked at Thompson as a good candidate. He was a fiscal conservative and a moral conservative. The problem started when he began to speak. He seems too laid back and a little lazy on the campaign trail.
Fast forward to the RNC convention (his speech was great) and just about everything since then. He has been smart, funny and has had a much clearer message. Not only that, his wife was shown to be a no-nonsense intelligent woman who gave Alan Colmes a run for his money in defense of Sarah Palin.
Who knows what his political future will be. Certainly not another Presidential race. For now, these common sense fireside chats work.
jcheney on December 2, 2008 at 11:05 AM
Wrong. Both are fiat currencies.
We’re selling to The Fed.
Obviously, The Fed monetizing our debt has horrible consequences for the dollar. If we can sell our debt to China, that is preferable. I wonder how long they’ll continue to buy t-bills though. We’re gonna need around $10 trillion more.
lodge on December 2, 2008 at 11:08 AM
Brilliant!
LimeyGeek on December 2, 2008 at 11:08 AM
Okay, for a terrorist enabler, he reads a good script.
tommylotto on December 2, 2008 at 11:11 AM
I want a president who chomps cigars, not granola bars.
kurtzz3 on December 2, 2008 at 11:11 AM
SECOND LOOK AT FRED!
flipflop on December 2, 2008 at 11:12 AM
Right message, wrong messenger. Fred is a quitter with a knack for public speaking. Big deal.
grdred944 on December 2, 2008 at 11:13 AM
Instead, you got one that smokes cigarettes.
Attila (Pillage Idiot) on December 2, 2008 at 11:18 AM
That will be enough. If we can’t get a good conservative elected, we can at least have them lead us in guerrilla warfare.
Although, it’s dishonest of him to refer to “stimulus packages” as liberal when Bush put out such initiatives himself.
MadisonConservative on December 2, 2008 at 11:19 AM
He’s such an affable, elderly statesman.
crr6 on December 2, 2008 at 11:20 AM
I love how you never post in anything but Fred threads.
MadisonConservative on December 2, 2008 at 11:21 AM
You are right about Herbert Hoover but not how you think, Hoover was an interventionalist like Keynes suggested he did not let the market work:
Herbert Hoover Redux (Ivan Eland, M.B.A. Applied Economics, Ph.D. National Security Policy)
You might want to read up on Hoover:
America’s Great Depression (PDF) (368 pgs) (Murray Rothbard, Ph.D. Economics, 5th Edition, 2000)
Poptech on December 2, 2008 at 11:21 AM
I think he was aiming at the whole inside the Beltway crowd, including Bush on that one…. I notice Bush has not fired any of his economic advisors yet.
Romeo13 on December 2, 2008 at 11:22 AM
FRED! has always said he’ll be there to serve conservative causes and matters of importance to the future of this country.
The man is great. He just doesn’t like campaigning. That’s called NORMAL.
grdred944, you try working on a campaign and see how difficult it is before you criticize FRED for not enjoying it. How exactly, is he a “quitter”? What did he quit? He chose not to run for RNC chair. That doesn’t make him a quitter. It makes him wise.
tommylotto, you’re douchebaggery knows no bounds.
bigred on December 2, 2008 at 11:22 AM
Bush is a liberal, so it’s perfectly honest.
lodge on December 2, 2008 at 11:24 AM
Thanks Fred. We could have used a little fire from you about two years ago… you know… like you actually wanted to be President or something.
Sugar Land on December 2, 2008 at 11:25 AM
As a Baptist, Huckabee is famous for attacking Romney’s Mormonism. However, Fred! is a member of the Church of Christ denomination. While Mormons are a distant enemy, the various Churches of Christ have been nails in the various Baptist Churches’ tires for decades, especially in the Mid-West.
Huckabee is an egotist first, a Baptist second, and populist third. What he knows could almost fill a matchbook.
TMK on December 2, 2008 at 11:27 AM
Douchebaggery. Now that’s a great word!
wccawa on December 2, 2008 at 11:29 AM
Hilarious. Good to see FDT finally bought into the hope and change we all need. !!! Hilarious
mmoran0226 on December 2, 2008 at 11:31 AM
-TMK
agreed….
Drunk Report on December 2, 2008 at 11:38 AM
Eight good minutes. I like Fred and think he is doing us a great service by producing these videos. One point that sticks is that the debt we are running up will not come due on our watch and will be passed down to the next generation.
Abe Lincoln famously said, “You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.”
It is worthwhile to note that Keynes, the intellectual father of the new deal, had no children and himself famously said, mocking long term thinking that “In the long term, we are all dead.”
Angry Dumbo on December 2, 2008 at 11:39 AM
I hate to admit this, but after watching this, I’m reminded of that famous quote from Sen. Fritz Hollings: “There’s just too much consumin’ goin’ on out there!”
Fred oversimplifies the problem — however, any treatment of the bailout that comes in under 1200 pages is probably “oversimplification.” Clusterf—ing the world’s economy is obviously a complex matter. :)
Outlander on December 2, 2008 at 11:43 AM
It is worthwhile to note that Keynes, the intellectual father of the new deal, had no children and himself famously said, mocking long term thinking that “In the long term, we are all dead.”
Keynes famous quip was in response to the usual claim that given enough time the markets eventually rebound. Of course, when you’re standing in the soup line, that’s cold comfort and Keynes was speaking to that. Better to do something now for the living, rather than let unemployed parents and their kids suffer for the sake of failed economic nostrums.
starfleet_dude on December 2, 2008 at 11:44 AM
Instead of arguing about how the government can fix this crisis we should get the government out of the business cycle and let the business fix itself. Right now the difference between dems and reps is that they argue about the best way for the government to intervene to fix things – but, government will make things worse. Look at the Great Depressions and see what government policies did to prolong it.
dpierson on December 2, 2008 at 11:45 AM
I love this video!
Alana on December 2, 2008 at 11:45 AM
Poptech, when I hear anyone claim that we have to endure a depression “for the good of the economy”, that’s what I call Hoovernomics. Yes, Hoover himself well knew it didn’t work but he was unable to overcome the traditional economic mindset that Keynes was addressing.
starfleet_dude on December 2, 2008 at 11:48 AM
LOL! Fred!
batter on December 2, 2008 at 11:49 AM
I love teh Fred. But cynicism and sarcasm are easy. The video is spot-on in defining the problem. But he offers no solution.
I suppose that is because the solution is unspeakable. We will have to weather a servere recession, either now or later. His argument needs more evidence that we would be better served by battling through this now. It’s the hard way, and I believe the right way. But more needs to be said.
connertown on December 2, 2008 at 11:54 AM
Abe Lincoln famously said, “You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.”
Angry Dumbo on December 2, 2008 at 11:39 AM
That’s a good quote, not just because Abe advocated spending discipline, but also recognizing the value of what one already has. Overworking for wealth you cannot use is just as destructive as spending wealth you cannot afford.
TMK on December 2, 2008 at 11:54 AM
Maybe I’m overthinking this, but the glasses kind of look Ben Frankliny to me. You know, he was never President either, but did make great contributions by his intellect and ideas.
Maybe Fred! has a role in reshaping Conservatism now that it is the “loyal opposition” in all branches, not by running for office but by witfully skewering the stupidest Liberal ideas of both parties.
We shall see.
cs89 on December 2, 2008 at 11:58 AM
Fred is the man!
CP on December 2, 2008 at 11:59 AM
That is why I was a Fredhead. People who voted for a liberal republican like McCain and Mitt and Huck voted for the wrong guy.
BroncosRock on December 2, 2008 at 12:00 PM
What a great way to start the day. Numerous out right laughs. “Some folks will have bigger rakes than others.” That should send chills down the socialists’s spines.
My wonder is this: Having been in Washington, was Fred! part of the problem or part of the solution? He talks the talk better than anyone. I would hope that his record in the Senate matched that talk.
Mallard T. Drake on December 2, 2008 at 12:06 PM
This is why I worked by butt off for Fred in 2007. This is why I still think he would make the best president ever. I’m just glad he’s still weighing in on things. Love the guy!!
califcon on December 2, 2008 at 12:07 PM
Does he live in Tennessee? How about Governor? I think Bredesen’s term is up in 2010.
Y-not on December 2, 2008 at 12:14 PM
So, starfleet dude, the solution is to ignore debt, ignore cost; print enough money to cover things for now, and be sure not to spend too little?
Ok, lets print up 70 quadrillion dollars and ship it out to be spent this holiday season… that’s sure not to be too little, right?
Obviously we don’t have the money, but that’s why we call it borrowing. And this is sure to be enough. Yes we’ll have hyper-inflation; but I was told inflation is good, and deflation is bad… so hyper-inflation must be really really good.
And if I’m clever, I can go really far into debt before we do this.
Either I’ll keep my job, my pay will go up (due to inflation), my debt will stay level; and I’ll make out like a bandit (at the expense of the lenders, but they can go bankrupt again; who cares, we’ll bail them out again, no problem). Or I’ll lose my job and who cares about what I’ve borrowed and can’t pay back. You can’t get blood from a turnip.
Obviously in the days of hyper-inflation to come having savings is a stupid plan. If you’re on a fixed income, or living off your savings (seniors, we’re looking at you) then you’re completely and utterly boned. But maybe we’ll just borrow a bit more and boost Social Security payments to keep everyone rich.
I mean, borrowing is good, inflation is good, spending is good; saving is bad. Just like my dad taught me when I was young. Spend every dollar you make, as soon as you make it, and borrow more than you can ever pay back… it’s the fiscally responsible and Conservative way to live.
Anything else, saving for a rainy day, and and the grasshopper, etc. is just nonsense.
What did the grasshopper sing again? “Oh the World owes me a living, la da dee da da da dee da dah”
gekkobear on December 2, 2008 at 12:25 PM
Bailout is not working. Markets need to find bottoms. Bailouts delay markets finding bottoms and prolong the pain.
Angry Dumbo on December 2, 2008 at 12:25 PM
I’m a Fredhead, so take my perspective with a grain of salt, but I think he was remarkably consistent with his stated principles. He ended up on the short side of some 9-1 votes because of his view of federalism & the Constitution. He was there during the Clinton impeachment, and split his vote on the 2 questions rather than giving a party line vote like many others.
My take on what he’s doing right now is looking for some lucrative work (acting roles, etc.) to put away some more $ to weather the economic storm with his family, while remaining engaged in the political process. He’s never been a “career politician,” and I think that’s a good thing.
cs89 on December 2, 2008 at 12:26 PM
Oops, 99-1 votes.
cs89 on December 2, 2008 at 12:27 PM
“Like telling a fat guy to lose weight by eating more.”
This is a bad analogy.
Many fat people can loose weight by eating more.
Thune on December 2, 2008 at 12:27 PM
Government intervention created the credit expansion in the 20s which led to the boom, the recession was a consequence of this intervention. Hoover intervened like a progressive and made it worse. If he and FDR left it alone the market would have corrected itself and there would have just been a recession, instead they both caused the depression via government intervention in the market economy. Keynes ideas are flawed and can only make things worse like they are trying to do now.
Poptech on December 2, 2008 at 12:33 PM
Fred! is a modernday embodiment of our Founding Fathers. A wise statesman with insight and paternal understanding of what this country lacks and what this country needs. he has the ability to express it clearly and endearingly. He would have made one hell of a fantastic leader to right this sinking ship of a Republic. Too bad he isn’t American Idol’y’ enough for today’s voter.
A bitter clinger to teh Fred!
ihasurnominashun on December 2, 2008 at 12:36 PM
I love Fred. Fred is the man! I wish this country had a 1,000 Fred Thompsons.
beachgirlusa on December 2, 2008 at 12:44 PM
Government intervention created the credit expansion in the 20s which led to the boom
Excuse me, but that’s absolutely untrue. The administrations of Harding and Coolidge were not in any way free market interventionists with regard to the economy, nor was the Republican-controlled Congress of the 1920s. And if anything Hoover unwisely took the advice of Treasure Secretary Mellon in 1930 that led to the onset of the Great Depression. The expansion of credit was mostly due the increased reliance on ever shrinking margins in stock trades, not on anything the federal government did.
There were some great economic lessons learned because of the trial and tribulations of the 1930s, but it seems that Republican partisanship has blinded and continues to blind too many who really should know better by now.
FYI, more about Mellon here:
Andrew W. Mellon, Secretary of the Treasury, 1921-1932
starfleet_dude on December 2, 2008 at 12:45 PM
It depends what “more” is modifying. If it is “more times in a day” or “more items of food,” you have a point; but if it is “more calories,” his analogy is fine (calories = dollars). (One would have to invoke other factors like exercise or stomach stapling for the fat person to lose weight while eating more calories.)
Y-not on December 2, 2008 at 12:56 PM
Don’t blame me, I voted for Fred.
backwoods conservative on December 2, 2008 at 12:57 PM
I’d write a witty reply but I have to go out and work for my country at the local mall.
katablog.com on December 2, 2008 at 12:59 PM
Jimmah Carter and the beloved Paul Volker were both big Keynesians and innovators in the area of economics. Carter and Volker introduced us to the concepts of stagflation and the misery index.
Volker was not a tight money guy until his loose money policy gave us 21% interest rates and Reagan came to power. Hopefully he has learned from this experience, but looking at bailout plans on the table (not to mention that horrible Time cover with Obama as FDR pushing a New New Deal), I believe we are looking at Carter’s second term.
Angry Dumbo on December 2, 2008 at 12:59 PM
Fred! is a modernday embodiment of our Founding Fathers. A wise statesman with insight and paternal understanding of what this country lacks and what this country needs. he has the ability to express it clearly and endearingly. He would have made one hell of a fantastic leader to right this sinking ship of a Republic. Too bad he isn’t American Idol’y’ enough for today’s voter.
I agree 100%
beachgirlusa on December 2, 2008 at 1:01 PM
Angry Dumbo, it was Volker who hiked interest rates to get inflation under control, which certainly didn’t help Carter’s popularity at the time. From Wikipedia:
starfleet_dude on December 2, 2008 at 1:03 PM
Regardless of Fred’s voting past, what he said in the video is correct. Even if he had voted the complete opposite of what he said in the video does not negate the correctness of it. He’s right to say spending our way out of debt in a way that only incurs more debt later on is disastrous policy. When attempting to survive winter, one does not quickly use up all the supplies and stockpiles that would be used to get through the winter. This is especially true when a rough winter is expected. Yet, this is what our clueless gov’t officials are going to continue doing.
What is needed is a re-establishment of order. A lack of order is what got us into this mess in the first place. Restraint, spending discipline, and rationing are among the themes of what we need to do as a society to get back on track. This also means avoiding credit usage as much as possible.
Weebork on December 2, 2008 at 1:20 PM
starfleet_dude (tell me you’re not some guy in Captain Kirk underoos), I just received Forgotten Man, haven’t started it yet, it’s in the queue. Just curious, have you read it? Before you pound on Fred and tout Keynes, you might want to admit that the looming entitlement trainwreck is a game changer on many (if not all fronts). The last time the government spent us out of an economic hole, it also handed over a time bomb. Tick tick tick…
Except Fred is right – the ones who are going to really suffer are already alive.
rhodeymark on December 2, 2008 at 1:29 PM
rhodeymark, the looming entitlement trainwreck is greatly exaggerated and has been for decades. Those who were pushing for Social Security “privatization” were merely trying to weasel out of the obligation to honor the Social Security Trust Fund. Ronald Reagan would be appalled to see how some want to break the promise he made back in 1983 when it was created.
In the meantime, we have an economic crisis right here, right now. I’m not dead yet and neither are you, so we can both hope for something to be done about it.
starfleet_dude on December 2, 2008 at 1:40 PM
Dude – we’ll see. Nobel winning economists also said the GSEs weren’t a risk to the taxpayer. Right now, common sense and a healthy survival skillset says to listen to those who were right about the housing bubble even before it became obvious. Common sense will usually trump theory every time.
That’s one way to look at it. The other is – the money isn’t there, and never will be at this point without simply printing it. The Government can inflate their way out of a lot of obligation. It won’t be painless.
rhodeymark on December 2, 2008 at 1:48 PM
I’m a big fan of Sen. Thompson, but I can hardly think of a politician less-deserving of an exclamation point after his name. His stammering, stuttering, verbal pauses and general lack of enthusiasm during the primary debates made me cringe for him. Any chance the bloggers here at HotAir could lose that exclamation point? It’s never seemed so out-of-place.
dhawbake on December 2, 2008 at 2:10 PM
FRED!
(does that answer your question?)
Mallard T. Drake on December 2, 2008 at 2:18 PM
We provide the enthusiasm – he provides the folksy gravitas.
rhodeymark on December 2, 2008 at 2:36 PM
Aw shucks, I`m still a Fred Head!
ThePrez on December 2, 2008 at 4:05 PM
dhawbake, people like yourself, who care more about the style than the substance, are a big part of the current problems and the horrible choices being made by the slick Washington insiders to dig us deeper into the hole. Please refer to the very astute comment above regarding Fred’s lack of “American Idol-y” appeal and enjoy the crap out of the coming dark days.
Fred! is a wise man and a great American!!
califcon on December 2, 2008 at 4:11 PM
His quote was “Like telling a fat guy to lose weight by eating more DONUGHTS.”
Gotta problem with that?
Fred!
omnipotent on December 2, 2008 at 4:47 PM
Fred Thompson / Chuck Norris in 2012!!!
Why is Chuck the VP? Because we had to put the toughest guy up front in the ticket!
paulmorrison on December 2, 2008 at 6:00 PM
We do, it’s just that they fear putting their own face on an issue and taking a stand. Some fears are justified, but mostly they are cowards and are fine letting talk radio and a blogs do their talking for them.
Leftists are getting their message out and taking a stand using every tool available. The Thompson-style videos should be the norm, but unfortunately they are the exception.
Still waiting for Palin to get her message out, but perhaps she has nothing to say, or she prefers the proven-to-fail pathway of attempting to get the lib media on her side. We’ll see over time. Hopefully she will stop propping up McCain, denounce/expose/fight the lib media, and talk directly to the people.
nottakingsides on December 2, 2008 at 6:55 PM
You are wrong and need to read this book:
America’s Great Depression (PDF) (368 pgs) (Murray Rothbard, Ph.D. Economics, 5th Edition, 2000)
The government (federal reserve) created credit expansion is fully documented.
Poptech on December 2, 2008 at 7:08 PM
Maybe you should have some patience and wait through a pause for some greatness. Maybe you can’t handle a deep thinker and the few seconds it takes to put things together perfectly. Maybe explaining conservative philosophies in 30-second limits is difficult if not impossible.
I’d take a laid-back deep-thinking conservative, over a passionate liberal like McCain any day.
Socialistic/tyrannical governments seem to have their people wanting a fiesty, loud-mouthed dear-leader that rouses the masses with empty demagoguery. Sounds like Obama, Chavez, Hitler, etc… is more your speed.
nottakingsides on December 2, 2008 at 7:10 PM
Poptech, the problem with the Austrian school’s diagnosis is that it’s looking at an ultimate cause (credit supply) and missing the proximate cause of the stock market crash, which was huge increases in margin trading. It’s like saying that the Fed somehow caused the housing bubble by just lowering rates when the real cause was how mortgage brokers were casting all caution to the wind by lending money out of all proportion to the actual value of housing assets and then quickly reselling them after they’d collected their fees. Sure, if interest rates had been hiked up it would have cooled the housing market and perhaps lowered the peak of the bubble, but IMO it wouldn’t have prevented it.
starfleet_dude on December 3, 2008 at 9:39 AM
FRED!
beachgirlusa on December 3, 2008 at 11:07 PM
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