Tom Friedman Gets to Precisely the Wrong Conclusion

Tom Friedman thinks the "political paralysis" in Washington is hurting our standing:

As a political barometer, the Davos World Economic Forum usually offers up some revealing indicators of the global mood, and this year is no exception. I heard of a phrase being bandied about here by non-Americans — about the United States — that I can honestly say I’ve never heard before: “political instability.”

“Political instability” was a phrase normally reserved for countries like Russia or Iran or Honduras. But now, an American businessman here remarked to me, “people ask me about ‘political instability’ in the U.S. We’ve become unpredictable to the world.”

Mind you, people at international conferences love to criticize America, poke fun at America and complain about America. It is the only global sport more popular than soccer. But in the past, it was always done knowing that America was this global bedrock that could always be counted upon to lead. But this year is different. This year, Asians and Europeans, in particular, pull you aside and ask you some version of: “Tell me, what’s going on in your country?”

We’re making people nervous.

Banks, multinationals and hedge funds often hire foreign policy experts to do “political risk analysis” before they invest in places like, say, Kazakhstan or Argentina. They may soon have to add the United States to their watch lists.

So let me get this straight, because Obama can't push through some of his tax increases and massive regulatory changes, funds are having to hire policy experts? That doesn't seem to make sense to me, unless of course those people he was talking to were short the US market and expected Obama to socialize the entire country. Stopping Obama's policies actually makes America a better place to do business not worse and the only reason to hire those experts is to figure out what Obama will want to mess with next. And there seems to be no limit to this. From regulating carbon dioxide to college football, there isn't a pie in the country Obama doesn't want his hand in. That is what creates the uncertainty, not filibusters stopping legislation before they can do any damage. This is the most Rube Goldbergesque argument for why we should support Obama's policies that I have ever seen.