The Man of Steele

Most of the coverage of Michael Steele has focused on the prospect of increasing diversity in the republican party. what apparently has been lost in the shuffle is that he is not a good political strategist. his take on the stimulus bill is classic for how short sighted it is.

"[T]he goose egg that you laid on the president's desk was just beautiful. Absolutely beautiful."

Steele apparently lives in the same bubble that all house gop members live in where hoover is king. Steele lives in a world where factual evidence is completely and totally ignored. For example,

Steele couldn't praise [House Republicans] enough, and at times, he was at a loss for words. "You and I know that in the history of mankind and womankind, government -- federal, state or local -- has never created one job," he said. "It's destroyed a lot of them."

Putting aside the fact that Steele was at one point the Lt. Gov of Maryland, someone actually employed by the government, to claim government does not create jobs is insane. The basic essence of a job is being paid to do something. The government pays millions of people to do things. When we buy military supplies or pencils we need someone to make those and the government is enabling their employment with those contracts. The entire military is employed by the government. Marine, Sailor, Fighter Pilot, all are government jobs.

I would like to give Steele the benefit of the doubt and assume he meant something that makes sense but really i dont know what it is. the traditional conservative argument is that the private sector is the most efficient and best creator of jobs not that government is incapable. apparently steele's leadership is taking them to the next level.