CNN’s PR flacks are sending out this quote from journalist turned Obama shill turned self-described Obama advisor Fareed Zakaria and his appearance today on the show hosted by former governor turned talk show host* Eliot Spitzer:
On “In the Arena,” CNN host and TIME editor-at-large/columnist Fareed Zakaria says the U.S. must retrain long-term unemployed Americans or risk creating a “lost generation.” Zakaria talks about his TIME article on jobs, which is part of CNN’s In-Depth cross-platform series “America’s Job Hunt,” in partnership with CNN Money and TIME.
Zakaria says, “You’re talking about a whole generation of workers in their 40s and 50s who need to be retrained. I think this is a place where you need the government. You need academia, the educational institutions and industry, private sector to work together….You need something on the order of the G.I. bill…where you really change people’s lives.”
He continues, “If you look at the American economy right now, we are back to pre-crisis level of GDP which is about $13.5 trillion….We’re producing the same number of goods and services as we did in 2007 with seven million fewer workers….We are achieving productivity where you can get GDP growth without hiring more people, in fact, by firing people….Technology is replacing people.”
But how does that jibe with Zakaria’s remarks on Spitzer’s show (back when it had a nominal co-host in RINO Kathleen Parker) back in December?
Parker asked Zakaria if he had faith the American people could handle the fiscal discipline he advocated. Zakaria used the platform as an opportunity to attack Americans and refute the notion “the American people are wonderful.” His solution: Less consumption by the American people.
“No, I think the people are the big problem,” Zakaria said. “I mean, Americans — everybody wants to say the American people are so wonderful. You know, I think that when they come to recognize that they have to make sacrifices too that it’s not just wasteful — they need to have — they need to recognize that some of what’s going to happen here is fewer. They have to consume fewer things. They have to accept slightly higher taxes. And in the long run, you will have a much better economy.”
But if you want more unemployment, have people consume less. Or to flip it over, if you want less consumption, have more unemployed people. But then, as with the built-in Catch-22 of radical environmentalism, it’s hard out there for a Malthusian.
* Say, how did that happen? Don’t bother asking CNN.
Related: At Newsbusters, “CNN’s Zakaria Praises Obama’s Middle East Speech on CNN; No Mention of His Face-to-Face Meetings With President.”
I’m pretty sure that Newsbusters will have the second half of that headline on a macro going forward.
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