What do you think?
Rate this book
The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule
From the author of the landmark bestseller What's the Matter with Kansas?, a jaw-dropping investigation of the decades of deliberate―and lucrative―conservative misrule
In his previous book, Thomas Frank explained why working America votes for politicians who reserve their favors for the rich. Now, in The Wrecking Crew, Frank examines the blundering and corrupt Washington those politicians have given us.
Casting his eyes from the Bush administration's final months of plunder to the earliest days of the Republican revolution, Frank describes the rise of a ruling coalition dedicated to dismantling government. But rather than cutting down the big government they claim to hate, conservatives have simply sold it off, deregulating some industries, defunding others, but always turning public policy into a private-sector bidding war. Washington itself has been remade into a golden landscape of super-wealthy suburbs and gleaming lobbyist headquarters―the wages of government-by-entrepreneurship practiced so outrageously by figures such as Jack Abramoff.
It is no coincidence, Frank argues, that the same politicians who guffaw at the idea of effective government have installed a regime in which incompetence is the rule. Nor will the country easily shake off the consequences of deliberate misgovernment through the usual election remedies. Obsessed with achieving a lasting victory, conservatives have taken pains to enshrine the free market as the permanent creed of state.
Stamped with Thomas Frank's audacity, analytic brilliance, and wit, The Wrecking Crew is his most revelatory work yet―and his most important.
In his previous book, Thomas Frank explained why working America votes for politicians who reserve their favors for the rich. Now, in The Wrecking Crew, Frank examines the blundering and corrupt Washington those politicians have given us.
Casting his eyes from the Bush administration's final months of plunder to the earliest days of the Republican revolution, Frank describes the rise of a ruling coalition dedicated to dismantling government. But rather than cutting down the big government they claim to hate, conservatives have simply sold it off, deregulating some industries, defunding others, but always turning public policy into a private-sector bidding war. Washington itself has been remade into a golden landscape of super-wealthy suburbs and gleaming lobbyist headquarters―the wages of government-by-entrepreneurship practiced so outrageously by figures such as Jack Abramoff.
It is no coincidence, Frank argues, that the same politicians who guffaw at the idea of effective government have installed a regime in which incompetence is the rule. Nor will the country easily shake off the consequences of deliberate misgovernment through the usual election remedies. Obsessed with achieving a lasting victory, conservatives have taken pains to enshrine the free market as the permanent creed of state.
Stamped with Thomas Frank's audacity, analytic brilliance, and wit, The Wrecking Crew is his most revelatory work yet―and his most important.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published August 5, 2008
93 people are currently reading
2720 people want to read
About the author
Thomas Frank
43 books715 followersThomas Frank is the author of Pity the Billionaire, The Wrecking Crew, and What's the Matter with Kansas? A former columnist for The Wall Street Journal and Harper's, Frank is the founding editor of The Baffler and writes regularly for Salon. He lives outside Washington, D.C.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 183 reviews
June 18, 2019
In this worthy follow-up to his What's the Matter with Kansas Thomas Frank show how modern conservatives demonstrate their contempt for government per se by systematically eviscerating and/or privatizing it when they are in power and sabotaging is operation when they are not.
And what is the result of such conduct? Government becomes even more inept and corrupt, giving the conservatives even clearer reasons to despise it.
September 3, 2008
Thomas Frank's "What's the Matter With Kansas?" I consider to be the preeminent book about what has happened politically in the U.S. the past 35 years. "The Wrecking Crew" is a worthy successor. Full of statements by Far Right conservatives themselves, the book points out the Far Right's efforts to dismantle the federal government by cronyism, massive debt, and purposeful ineptitude. Which is to say, the FEMA response to Hurricane Katrina and other federal agencies' failures the past eight years have not been accidents but are a deliberate attempt to wreck the federal government and sow cynicism among Americans that their federal government can ever be effective.
June 19, 2017
I have such a complicated relationship with Thomas Frank (the work, not the man, who I've met a few times and who was remarkably nice when I yelled at him about giving up his job at the Wall Street Journal). I like much of his writing and define myself deeply against much of it as well.
I had not read this at the time it was written (I also read What's The Matter With Kansas late, though because I take the unfashionable position that abortion and gay rights ARE economic issues I probably would have disagreed with that whenever) but I have been referencing its title since Trump took office so figured it was time I did.
The thing about Frank is he's the last of the New Deal true believers. I'm not. (For reasons related to why I disliked Kansas and devoted a chunk of my book to shredding its central argument.) In a lot of ways this book is Make America Great Again for liberals. We just need good government liberalism again!
But what this book does well is detail why Republicans destroy government and put people like Betsy DeVos and that dude from Exxon in charge. And even though Frank is a liberal and proud, he's a fairly good critic of capitalism (see my favorite of his books, One Market Under God).
Anyway. I want to put this in conversation with Corey Robin's The Reactionary Mind but right now I need to stop scabbing on myself by writing on Goodreads, so if you're an editor who wants to hire me to write a long essay on Thomas Frank, hit a girl up. I have thoughts.
I had not read this at the time it was written (I also read What's The Matter With Kansas late, though because I take the unfashionable position that abortion and gay rights ARE economic issues I probably would have disagreed with that whenever) but I have been referencing its title since Trump took office so figured it was time I did.
The thing about Frank is he's the last of the New Deal true believers. I'm not. (For reasons related to why I disliked Kansas and devoted a chunk of my book to shredding its central argument.) In a lot of ways this book is Make America Great Again for liberals. We just need good government liberalism again!
But what this book does well is detail why Republicans destroy government and put people like Betsy DeVos and that dude from Exxon in charge. And even though Frank is a liberal and proud, he's a fairly good critic of capitalism (see my favorite of his books, One Market Under God).
Anyway. I want to put this in conversation with Corey Robin's The Reactionary Mind but right now I need to stop scabbing on myself by writing on Goodreads, so if you're an editor who wants to hire me to write a long essay on Thomas Frank, hit a girl up. I have thoughts.
March 17, 2013
Dynamic eye-opener. Conservatives rule by transforming government from problem-solver to self-perpetuating profit center for a nexus of lobbyist/politicians that has no central principle beyond profit-seeking. But you already knew that. It's the way Frank tells the story of the transformation of the College Republicans under Jack Abramoff and their profitable support of apartheid South Africa; the transformation of the D.C. environs into an ultra-rich enclave of political entrepreneurs; the holy grail of unbridled laissez-faire capitalism in Saipan and its new 19th-century style industrial poor; and on and on that keeps the pages turning.
Put this together with "What's the Matter With Kansas?" and you have a remarkable picture of the Republican base on the one hand and the Republican ruling class on the other. To read this during election season is to truly learn that the most fundamental aspects of our government, the way it's run and will be run, are actually never addressed by candidates or the mainstream journalists and pundits who cover them.
Since Abramoff appears seemingly everywhere in the recent history of conservative rule, one nice byproduct of reading this book is a shred of faith that all is not lost. After all, he is in prison.
Put this together with "What's the Matter With Kansas?" and you have a remarkable picture of the Republican base on the one hand and the Republican ruling class on the other. To read this during election season is to truly learn that the most fundamental aspects of our government, the way it's run and will be run, are actually never addressed by candidates or the mainstream journalists and pundits who cover them.
Since Abramoff appears seemingly everywhere in the recent history of conservative rule, one nice byproduct of reading this book is a shred of faith that all is not lost. After all, he is in prison.
January 1, 2009
This is the most disturbing book I read in 2008. It chronicles how the conservative Republicans set out to destroy the government. This sounds too crazy to believe, but this is a story I've read of elsewhere (ie. see The Right Nation by the man who writes Lexington for the Economist, for instance). Mr. Frank actually quotes from Grover Norquist's speeches and writings where he, along with many others, sets out the plan. The idea was to privatize where possible (Blackwater and FEMA) to cripple the bureaucracy by under funding it and shrinking the work force (EPA and FDA) and by running up such dept that the liberals would not be able to fund social programs (a trillion+ dollars now). All this would allow business to prosper and the rich to get richer (look at CEO pay). This is a well documented history, not a made up rant.
The problem with the book is the author's absolute loathing of everything these people did. If his tone had been less intense - if he had just let the facts speak for his case, it would have been a better book. As it is, it's a book we should all read. I feel sad for my country.
The problem with the book is the author's absolute loathing of everything these people did. If his tone had been less intense - if he had just let the facts speak for his case, it would have been a better book. As it is, it's a book we should all read. I feel sad for my country.
December 11, 2008
Being a social liberal, I figured it was high time that I read some unabashedly liberal nonfiction. Thomas Frank's intelligent and well-researched excoriation of neoconservatives presumes to be a sweeping indictment of the greedy, cynical school of thought that has allowed unprecedented gaps between rich and poor, and it is largely successful. Frank's one failure, if you can call it that, is not keeping the tone relatively neutral and allowing the outrageous deeds of the book's antiheroes to speak for themselves. I'd expect such snideness and sniping from someone like Ann Coulter, and was slightly disappointed that Frank chose to use the same crude rhetorical tools that he derides the Rush Limbaughs of the world for using. But that niggle is only a tiny part of of this eye-opening, enormously effective argument against cynicism in politics, and the book has proved to be quite prescient. Let's hope the days of Jacks Abramoff and Karls Rove of the world are on their way out, if not for good, then for at least another seventy years.
May 13, 2017
The corporate media would have the US citizenry believe Donald Trump and his regime of destruction are an anomaly in the history of our government. Thomas Frank knows otherwise—Trump is merely the perhaps inevitable culmination of decades of conservative politics. That he is also a perfect stalking horse to keep the public distracted while the neoliberals in both parties gut the republic is serendipity at its finest.
"Believing effective government to be somewhere between impossible and undesirable, conservatism takes steps to ensure its impotence," Franks writes on page 130. In other words, conservatives want government jobs held by people whose politics are right rather than by people who are competent and committed to doing those jobs well. By that standard, Donald Trump's lack of experience in government is a feature for his GOP colleagues, not a bug. Nor should anyone be surprised that the first three months of the current administration has resulted in the elimination of many, many experienced people from all levels of government.
"Putting federal operations under the direction of people who are hostile to those operations' existence is the second main tactic of conservative governance…Since the parts of government that conservatism most despises are often supported by the public, this strategy avoids the tactlessness of repealing or abolishing agencies while achieving the same result." (p.156)
Of course, when Frank wrote that, there were still checks and balances in effect; those vanished with the wholesale takeover of all three branches of government by one party. And make no mistake, they and their real constituency—the plutocrats and corporations—have done just that.
If you didn't know better, you would think (or like to think might be more to the point) that Frank's analysis of how conservatism and neoliberalism are turning the US federal republic into a neo-feudal plutocratic oligarchy is dystopian fiction. That you do know better, reading it is the stuff of nightmares, especially given it seems they have achieved their goal. If you want to see what our new overlords have in mind for us, be sure to read chapter 9 carefully.
The first step in understanding libertarian conservatism, as with most things, is to learn the vocabulary.
"In 1990 [libertarian pundit Doug Bandow] published an entire book on the subject [of corruption], The Politics of Plunder, in which he attacked 'legalized larceny' (farm programs), 'mass transit robbery' (public transportation), and 'consumer fraud' (the FTC and FDA)."
One of my personal favorite favorites is when fossil fuel corporations demand the right to poison us on the grounds they are "creating jobs and contributing to the American economy." That's conservative-speak for "there are millions of dollars'-worth of X in the ground, and we don't care who we kill to get it."
There is plenty of blame to go around for the looming apocalypse we as a nation are facing, not least that we have turned blind eyes and deaf ears to decades of corruption because (a) it didn't really affect us and (b) we were busy with other, more important stuff. We also became brainwashed by media who kept telling us to trust them while they covered up the fact we were being sold down the river by those who were supposed to be working on our behalf. Those wishing to change that direction can definitely benefit from reading this book, because in addition to tracking the history we were all ignoring it makes clear just how badly we have been bamboozled.
I commented on a friend's Facebook Timeline recently, based on this book and many of the others I've been reading and reviewing, that the goal of those currently running the US government is to replace the US Constitution with an updated version of the old Articles of Confederation. When you add what Frank has presented to a thorough grasp of the goals of neoliberal economics, that becomes clear. What makes this particular book more useful to beginners on the road to reawakening is Frank's ironic voice and style, which will offend those who think "small government" is utopia and appeal to those who understand the alternative is the destruction of government by, of and for all the people.
"Believing effective government to be somewhere between impossible and undesirable, conservatism takes steps to ensure its impotence," Franks writes on page 130. In other words, conservatives want government jobs held by people whose politics are right rather than by people who are competent and committed to doing those jobs well. By that standard, Donald Trump's lack of experience in government is a feature for his GOP colleagues, not a bug. Nor should anyone be surprised that the first three months of the current administration has resulted in the elimination of many, many experienced people from all levels of government.
"Putting federal operations under the direction of people who are hostile to those operations' existence is the second main tactic of conservative governance…Since the parts of government that conservatism most despises are often supported by the public, this strategy avoids the tactlessness of repealing or abolishing agencies while achieving the same result." (p.156)
Of course, when Frank wrote that, there were still checks and balances in effect; those vanished with the wholesale takeover of all three branches of government by one party. And make no mistake, they and their real constituency—the plutocrats and corporations—have done just that.
If you didn't know better, you would think (or like to think might be more to the point) that Frank's analysis of how conservatism and neoliberalism are turning the US federal republic into a neo-feudal plutocratic oligarchy is dystopian fiction. That you do know better, reading it is the stuff of nightmares, especially given it seems they have achieved their goal. If you want to see what our new overlords have in mind for us, be sure to read chapter 9 carefully.
The first step in understanding libertarian conservatism, as with most things, is to learn the vocabulary.
"In 1990 [libertarian pundit Doug Bandow] published an entire book on the subject [of corruption], The Politics of Plunder, in which he attacked 'legalized larceny' (farm programs), 'mass transit robbery' (public transportation), and 'consumer fraud' (the FTC and FDA)."
One of my personal favorite favorites is when fossil fuel corporations demand the right to poison us on the grounds they are "creating jobs and contributing to the American economy." That's conservative-speak for "there are millions of dollars'-worth of X in the ground, and we don't care who we kill to get it."
There is plenty of blame to go around for the looming apocalypse we as a nation are facing, not least that we have turned blind eyes and deaf ears to decades of corruption because (a) it didn't really affect us and (b) we were busy with other, more important stuff. We also became brainwashed by media who kept telling us to trust them while they covered up the fact we were being sold down the river by those who were supposed to be working on our behalf. Those wishing to change that direction can definitely benefit from reading this book, because in addition to tracking the history we were all ignoring it makes clear just how badly we have been bamboozled.
I commented on a friend's Facebook Timeline recently, based on this book and many of the others I've been reading and reviewing, that the goal of those currently running the US government is to replace the US Constitution with an updated version of the old Articles of Confederation. When you add what Frank has presented to a thorough grasp of the goals of neoliberal economics, that becomes clear. What makes this particular book more useful to beginners on the road to reawakening is Frank's ironic voice and style, which will offend those who think "small government" is utopia and appeal to those who understand the alternative is the destruction of government by, of and for all the people.
December 6, 2016
Thomas Frank--you are the fustigator we need right now. I'm still on board with Stiglitz, but Frank is endowed with a much more gimlet eye and sharper tongue. And it's delightful to find someone whose playfulness of diction matches his playfulness with the subject matter (some great vocabulary here, though perhaps an over-reliance on the word "boodler" and really no need to use the word enragée more than once).
The main thesis of this book, as I take it, is to point out how well made the GOP has it in modern Washington. This is a party whose ethos is "government does not work." Thus they have cover for their efforts to dismantle whatever is good and that people almost universally like about government (taxes on the very wealthy, corporate and environmental responsibility, gun restrictions, enabling voting, taking care of our veterans) because, after all--it's still "government." Yet when they can be shown variously to be obstructionist, to have not accomplished anything, or to have bungled something good, it's always that liberals got in the way, or that government was never competent to handle it in the first place. Frank does an excellent job of showing, too, that conservatives benefit from having the corrupt and incompetent pollute our last stalwart beliefs in civic virtue, and that conservatives can even get on board with government when they are the ones who control it, either through domination or deep capture (the Northern Mariana Islands/Saipan anecdotes are especially poignant in this regard).
Truly a cynical but believable tale of why people vote against their best interests, and why a party of incompetent, sociopathic, and kleptocratic morons currently stands to inherit all branches of our government in a few months. Good reading, if you can stomach it.
The main thesis of this book, as I take it, is to point out how well made the GOP has it in modern Washington. This is a party whose ethos is "government does not work." Thus they have cover for their efforts to dismantle whatever is good and that people almost universally like about government (taxes on the very wealthy, corporate and environmental responsibility, gun restrictions, enabling voting, taking care of our veterans) because, after all--it's still "government." Yet when they can be shown variously to be obstructionist, to have not accomplished anything, or to have bungled something good, it's always that liberals got in the way, or that government was never competent to handle it in the first place. Frank does an excellent job of showing, too, that conservatives benefit from having the corrupt and incompetent pollute our last stalwart beliefs in civic virtue, and that conservatives can even get on board with government when they are the ones who control it, either through domination or deep capture (the Northern Mariana Islands/Saipan anecdotes are especially poignant in this regard).
Truly a cynical but believable tale of why people vote against their best interests, and why a party of incompetent, sociopathic, and kleptocratic morons currently stands to inherit all branches of our government in a few months. Good reading, if you can stomach it.
October 24, 2012
I love to read a good horror story in October, and this one made my hair stand on end more than any of the zombie/vampire novels I've read this month.
**Shudder.**
**Shudder.**
October 21, 2012
This is one of the scariest books I've ever read. That is particularly because it is non-fiction, well researched, and based on interviews with the purveyors of this diabolical plot to take over the country.
The guilty are identified, with no particular surprise, as key members of the Republican Party. The guilty individuals themselves readily confess to their manipulations. And what is that? Nothing less than control of the government for their own means. We have been brought up to believe that the GOP wants less government, meaning smaller. However, what they really want is control of government so that they can create a mockery of it. And they have been wildly successful since the Reagan administration (who fired all the air traffic controllers and broke their union in one fell swoop).
The physical evidence is readily visible by simply noting the size and proliferation of large corporate buildings surrounding our nation's capitol, all housing lobbyists by the thousands, and all spewing money and gifts on those lawmakers willing to do their bidding.
I know. You've always known that our system of lobbying corrupts. But in your wildest nightmares, you did not imagine the extreme growth, the completely transparent buying of votes, and the manipulation of elections. Why, for example, are lawmakers even allowed to become lobbyists or industry advisers when they are no longer serving in Congress (43% of all senators and representatives since 1998)? When a lawmaker does the bidding of the corporations, they are guaranteed a high paying position, whether lobbying or heading up think tanks. And those lobbyists and other conservative leaders who have not yet served in Congress are fairly much guaranteed an election to an office where they will serve these masters. At least the money is committed in advance.
Understand that GOP leaders, once in office, will do everything to place their own in key positions in every government office possible with the understanding that those appointees will then (1) weaken all regulations that might negatively affect their corporate masters, (2) find ways to rid government of existing employees who will not toe the line, and (3) expand government to serve even more diabolical schemes. George W. Bush gave the word and it was done in spades. They then reward their cronies with government grants (want to guess how much Bain Capital has gotten?) and contracts galore.
Ever wonder why government has grown under GOP administrations? Or why Bush took advantage of 9/11 to create an entire new Department of Homeland Security and give it powers so vast that it is difficult to even monitor its activities? The main function of Homeland Security, as with all departments now, is not to create effective regulation and enforce it, but in fact to outsource jobs to those corporate bosses who put those people into office - most via no-bid contracts. There have always been more private contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan during these wars than military personnel, and they have been paid multiple times, some hundreds of times, more than enlistees, for doing the same work. In fact, Paul Bremer declared "Iraq is now open for business."
The goal of the GOP is laissez faire government, resulting in minimal regulation of business so that corporations can pursue whatever greedy goals they desire. If you want answers to why banking has been allowed to get so big, and why banks were allowed to invest as they have in any convoluted scheme they wanted to create even more profit, it is as simple as this. The Glass Steagall Act was eliminated, interestingly under Bill Clinton's administration, which then allowed traditional banks to merge with, or become independently, investment banks as well. Then they were allowed to take all the deposits made by people like you and I and invest them in credit default swaps and other perverse "assets". The result has been negatively felt, not only by all Americans who are not in the 1%, but by all of the world, as we watched an economic earthquake of tsunamic proportions over the past four years.
If you are suffering, if you have lost most or all of your wealth, if you've lost your home, if you and your children are hungry, you have only the GOP to blame.
That is why it is so frustrating to find people who are still so uninformed in this country, who will still vote for those very people who will take away more of their liberties, more of their wealth, for deposit in their own accounts.
Thomas Frank is trying to wake us up, to ring a warning bell loud and clear, before this country is totally wasted, leaving nothing for us in the middle class to cling to. This book is must reading for everyone who finds a need to survive and who wants to improve their lives. It's past time to clear the foggy vision, figure out who can actually help, and elect them to office. And get a clue - it is NOT the GOP or the tea party!
If you think this is a joke, or pure hoopla, then consider this quote by Grover Norquist (who has made members of Congress sign pledges never to increase taxes): "First, we want to remove liberal personnel from the political process. Then we want to capture those positions of power and influence for conservatives." And expertise is not a requirement of any job appointment - that is far behind political loyalty. Just take a look at the post-Katrina fiasco.
The man in charge of OSHA came to the job from a union-busting law firm. The man who oversees the Employment Standards Administration was the author of a 1995 report titled, "How to Close Down the Department of Labor." Frank calls Washington the "City of Bought Men".
The Democratic Party is always accused of over-spending and wanting to tax more. Yet, it has historically been the Republican Party that is responsible. Frank calls it now part of their brand - "vote Republican and watch the deficit grow."
The book is, unfortunately, depressing, but it is a must read. Following the narrative are 75 pages of notes and references to source material. It's a wake up call for all of us. Please consider buying it, borrowing it, stealing it, whatever, but read it!
The guilty are identified, with no particular surprise, as key members of the Republican Party. The guilty individuals themselves readily confess to their manipulations. And what is that? Nothing less than control of the government for their own means. We have been brought up to believe that the GOP wants less government, meaning smaller. However, what they really want is control of government so that they can create a mockery of it. And they have been wildly successful since the Reagan administration (who fired all the air traffic controllers and broke their union in one fell swoop).
The physical evidence is readily visible by simply noting the size and proliferation of large corporate buildings surrounding our nation's capitol, all housing lobbyists by the thousands, and all spewing money and gifts on those lawmakers willing to do their bidding.
I know. You've always known that our system of lobbying corrupts. But in your wildest nightmares, you did not imagine the extreme growth, the completely transparent buying of votes, and the manipulation of elections. Why, for example, are lawmakers even allowed to become lobbyists or industry advisers when they are no longer serving in Congress (43% of all senators and representatives since 1998)? When a lawmaker does the bidding of the corporations, they are guaranteed a high paying position, whether lobbying or heading up think tanks. And those lobbyists and other conservative leaders who have not yet served in Congress are fairly much guaranteed an election to an office where they will serve these masters. At least the money is committed in advance.
Understand that GOP leaders, once in office, will do everything to place their own in key positions in every government office possible with the understanding that those appointees will then (1) weaken all regulations that might negatively affect their corporate masters, (2) find ways to rid government of existing employees who will not toe the line, and (3) expand government to serve even more diabolical schemes. George W. Bush gave the word and it was done in spades. They then reward their cronies with government grants (want to guess how much Bain Capital has gotten?) and contracts galore.
Ever wonder why government has grown under GOP administrations? Or why Bush took advantage of 9/11 to create an entire new Department of Homeland Security and give it powers so vast that it is difficult to even monitor its activities? The main function of Homeland Security, as with all departments now, is not to create effective regulation and enforce it, but in fact to outsource jobs to those corporate bosses who put those people into office - most via no-bid contracts. There have always been more private contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan during these wars than military personnel, and they have been paid multiple times, some hundreds of times, more than enlistees, for doing the same work. In fact, Paul Bremer declared "Iraq is now open for business."
The goal of the GOP is laissez faire government, resulting in minimal regulation of business so that corporations can pursue whatever greedy goals they desire. If you want answers to why banking has been allowed to get so big, and why banks were allowed to invest as they have in any convoluted scheme they wanted to create even more profit, it is as simple as this. The Glass Steagall Act was eliminated, interestingly under Bill Clinton's administration, which then allowed traditional banks to merge with, or become independently, investment banks as well. Then they were allowed to take all the deposits made by people like you and I and invest them in credit default swaps and other perverse "assets". The result has been negatively felt, not only by all Americans who are not in the 1%, but by all of the world, as we watched an economic earthquake of tsunamic proportions over the past four years.
If you are suffering, if you have lost most or all of your wealth, if you've lost your home, if you and your children are hungry, you have only the GOP to blame.
That is why it is so frustrating to find people who are still so uninformed in this country, who will still vote for those very people who will take away more of their liberties, more of their wealth, for deposit in their own accounts.
Thomas Frank is trying to wake us up, to ring a warning bell loud and clear, before this country is totally wasted, leaving nothing for us in the middle class to cling to. This book is must reading for everyone who finds a need to survive and who wants to improve their lives. It's past time to clear the foggy vision, figure out who can actually help, and elect them to office. And get a clue - it is NOT the GOP or the tea party!
If you think this is a joke, or pure hoopla, then consider this quote by Grover Norquist (who has made members of Congress sign pledges never to increase taxes): "First, we want to remove liberal personnel from the political process. Then we want to capture those positions of power and influence for conservatives." And expertise is not a requirement of any job appointment - that is far behind political loyalty. Just take a look at the post-Katrina fiasco.
The man in charge of OSHA came to the job from a union-busting law firm. The man who oversees the Employment Standards Administration was the author of a 1995 report titled, "How to Close Down the Department of Labor." Frank calls Washington the "City of Bought Men".
The Democratic Party is always accused of over-spending and wanting to tax more. Yet, it has historically been the Republican Party that is responsible. Frank calls it now part of their brand - "vote Republican and watch the deficit grow."
The book is, unfortunately, depressing, but it is a must read. Following the narrative are 75 pages of notes and references to source material. It's a wake up call for all of us. Please consider buying it, borrowing it, stealing it, whatever, but read it!
July 25, 2017
Good overview and history of the greed and paranoid anti-government ideology of conservatives deliberately wrecking government from within dating from Reagan to Bush Jnr's trillion-dollar Iraq War II.
In the middle the use of Dubya for George W Bush, was a bit annoying and detracted from the more serious and proper tone in the rest of the book.
Focuses on Grover Norquist and Jack Abramoff from the 1980s as College Republicans to lobbying for big business. A revealing insight into how these rope sellers will do anything for a buck. Whether it's apartheid Africa or rebel/'freedom fighter' Jonas Savimbi in Angola and strangely Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). The bizarre experiment of a libertarian's wet dream of no regulations and no minimum wage that was or still is CNMI was shocking and fascinating but very telling of these greedy charlatans. I wouldn't piss on them if they were on fire. They are scum, psychopathic scum that do not deserve the money and power they have. They are propagandists for hire, pure and simple. If you've got money there is no cause they won't shill for to advance their bullshit 'trickle-down' ideology.
If you've ever wondered why talking heads on Fox are such hypocrites then read this. These ropesellers are not worth listening to, they are dangerous to civil society.
A note on physical print sources:
Lots of footnotes and references to peruse further. There is a serious need for a digital list of these, clickable to buy/see the books and the links to online articles etc. Some sites have really long URLs with random alphanumeric rubbish. So many links would be dead by the time the book is published. Especially due to government websites being notorious when it comes to archives. Authors and publishers seriously need to up their game and innovate (or just apply forward thinking and common sense) by digitising and copying these sources that so easily go missing, like transcript of speeches put on government websites. Every admin removes or loses these links and especially White House pages are dead at each new admin. Having to go through archive.org Wayback Machine is tedious and annoying.
I have seen some magazines, journals and even books (by they're usually by tech people and about tech) provide an online list of references, so it's not like they haven't seen this before.
Maybe there will or already is a crowdsourced site like wikipedia of bookfans that compile these valuable data.
In the middle the use of Dubya for George W Bush, was a bit annoying and detracted from the more serious and proper tone in the rest of the book.
Focuses on Grover Norquist and Jack Abramoff from the 1980s as College Republicans to lobbying for big business. A revealing insight into how these rope sellers will do anything for a buck. Whether it's apartheid Africa or rebel/'freedom fighter' Jonas Savimbi in Angola and strangely Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). The bizarre experiment of a libertarian's wet dream of no regulations and no minimum wage that was or still is CNMI was shocking and fascinating but very telling of these greedy charlatans. I wouldn't piss on them if they were on fire. They are scum, psychopathic scum that do not deserve the money and power they have. They are propagandists for hire, pure and simple. If you've got money there is no cause they won't shill for to advance their bullshit 'trickle-down' ideology.
If you've ever wondered why talking heads on Fox are such hypocrites then read this. These ropesellers are not worth listening to, they are dangerous to civil society.
A note on physical print sources:
Lots of footnotes and references to peruse further. There is a serious need for a digital list of these, clickable to buy/see the books and the links to online articles etc. Some sites have really long URLs with random alphanumeric rubbish. So many links would be dead by the time the book is published. Especially due to government websites being notorious when it comes to archives. Authors and publishers seriously need to up their game and innovate (or just apply forward thinking and common sense) by digitising and copying these sources that so easily go missing, like transcript of speeches put on government websites. Every admin removes or loses these links and especially White House pages are dead at each new admin. Having to go through archive.org Wayback Machine is tedious and annoying.
I have seen some magazines, journals and even books (by they're usually by tech people and about tech) provide an online list of references, so it's not like they haven't seen this before.
Maybe there will or already is a crowdsourced site like wikipedia of bookfans that compile these valuable data.
January 14, 2009
"What makes a place a free-market paradise is not the absence of government; it is the capture of government by business interests."
This line by Thomas Frank effectively summarizes his latest missive, The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule, a scathing indictment of conservative ideology and the modern conservative movement. It is one of the most illuminating political books I've ever read.
Frank's research is exhaustive – from conservatism's birth in the cradle of industry to its modern makeover – and his conclusion is clear: at its root conservatism is not about social, religious, immigration or gun issues; it is about business doing away with taxes, regulation and government. All else is secondary.
As Frank sees it, conservatism's sole objective is sabotage of the government – that is, "win-win sabotage, a charming addition to win-win incompetence and win-win corruption."
The Wrecking Crew is a must read for any liberal self-doubters, and a must purchase for the on-the-fence friend or the undecided voter down the street. After reading this book it becomes clear that unless you make millions in the market or own a multinational corporation, you have no reason to claim yourself a conservative.
This line by Thomas Frank effectively summarizes his latest missive, The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule, a scathing indictment of conservative ideology and the modern conservative movement. It is one of the most illuminating political books I've ever read.
Frank's research is exhaustive – from conservatism's birth in the cradle of industry to its modern makeover – and his conclusion is clear: at its root conservatism is not about social, religious, immigration or gun issues; it is about business doing away with taxes, regulation and government. All else is secondary.
As Frank sees it, conservatism's sole objective is sabotage of the government – that is, "win-win sabotage, a charming addition to win-win incompetence and win-win corruption."
The Wrecking Crew is a must read for any liberal self-doubters, and a must purchase for the on-the-fence friend or the undecided voter down the street. After reading this book it becomes clear that unless you make millions in the market or own a multinational corporation, you have no reason to claim yourself a conservative.
December 4, 2008
I had high hopes for this book but it failed to deliver. It's largely a polemic anti-conservative rant more than a scholarly deconstruction of conservatism. It's unquestionably one of the worst books I've ever read, lacking in both structure and style. I have no clue how crappy books like this get published other than by catering to the political leanings of the publisher and editor. Truly a waste of good paper.
January 30, 2013
I am not saying the information is not true, but if you want a completely one-sided view on why Conservatism is bad, this is the book for you. The author looks at conservatives as always being greedy and selfish and liberals as always being right and pure. If he had critiqued both sides with the same level of scrutiny, I would have a different rating. But the way it was written is nauseating...
March 29, 2020
Thomas Frank is probably well known in certain reading circles. Among other publications he writes for The Wall Street Journal, and this and his other books, probably the most known: What's the Matter with Kansas, puts him squarely on the moderate side of conservative or perhaps the right-wing side of liberal. This is precisely what the Wrecking crew tries to point out: that these sides are no longer valid. What Americans must realize is that the Republicans since the mid-sixties have realized that their ultimate goal is to sabotage government in order to de-fund what they consider to be a liberal democracy in order to privatize (read: make money for the leading corporations) government responsibilities.
This is not conservatives against liberals. This is business against liberal democracy.
This may sound conspiratorial, but Frank uses history itself, as told by the actors themselves, in notes and memorandums to each other and inter-governmental communications. This is documented history. The Wrecking Crew is not a nice book to read, but it is unfortunately a necessary reading for anyone who wants to understand what the f#&% is going on in American today (2019).
Laid out clearly and concisely with ample research notes and sources, Frank makes his argument following the timeline from Howard Phillip's realization of potential profit, to YAF's (Young Americans for Freedom) relationships with the South African government during Apartheid to the involvement in setting up Saipan as a true laissez faire society, relying upon what would amount to slave labor for its foundation until it was shut down.
Some of the players are well-known and others are not. According to Frank, what was a compromise between democracy and business interests have simply disintegrated into a war to the death, and business (under the guise of, and with the help of Conservatism) is winning.
This book is a must read anyone who is looking for information, understanding, and insight into not liberalism vs. conservatism, but into the methodical demolition of a once great nation.
This is not conservatives against liberals. This is business against liberal democracy.
This may sound conspiratorial, but Frank uses history itself, as told by the actors themselves, in notes and memorandums to each other and inter-governmental communications. This is documented history. The Wrecking Crew is not a nice book to read, but it is unfortunately a necessary reading for anyone who wants to understand what the f#&% is going on in American today (2019).
Laid out clearly and concisely with ample research notes and sources, Frank makes his argument following the timeline from Howard Phillip's realization of potential profit, to YAF's (Young Americans for Freedom) relationships with the South African government during Apartheid to the involvement in setting up Saipan as a true laissez faire society, relying upon what would amount to slave labor for its foundation until it was shut down.
Some of the players are well-known and others are not. According to Frank, what was a compromise between democracy and business interests have simply disintegrated into a war to the death, and business (under the guise of, and with the help of Conservatism) is winning.
This book is a must read anyone who is looking for information, understanding, and insight into not liberalism vs. conservatism, but into the methodical demolition of a once great nation.
February 5, 2014
THE ENEMY WITHIN
This book is a historically informed, fantastically well written look at the U.S. political system with particular emphasis on the Conservative Republicans who have dominated it for so long.
Franks, who has obviously put a lot of effort into researching this book, digs deep into the activities and thinking of right wing conservatism which has given the U.S. such nefarious characters as Ollie North, Ronald Regan, Tom De Lay and the recently departed (well just the Oval office, but hey I liked the sound of it) George W. Bush.
A convincing case is made, and with plenty of evidence not least from their own mouths, that the conservatives interest in making Government work for the ordinary people of the U.S. is pretty much non-existant. The picture of the so-called conservatives that he paints is not exactly pretty for anyone with a commitment to democracy: the rampant cronyism in appointments to the civil service (loyalty to the "conservative" cause above integrity and ability), mercenary lobbying for the rich and corporations at the expense of their constituents, a total contempt for professional civil servants, their crude totalitarian mentality as well as breath taking mendacity.
The case that the conservatives are intent on damaging government as a force for the common good of Americans is comprehensively made. The immense deficits they run up, the running down of regulatory bodies, the Labor department, the incompetent but politically correct right wingers they appoint to government bodies . . . the list could be endless. The chapter on the Mariana Islands (taken by U.S. at end of WW2) is a revelation. The islands are exempt from many U.S. laws - it's a neo-liberal utopia: low taxes, little or no protection for labor who are all contracted from neighbouring poor countries (ie. indentured servants) who endure low wages, long hours and live under an abusive regime where they can be deported at their employers whim. This IS the conservatives/neo-liberal ideal in reality. All this is supported by conservative lobbyists such as the recently jailed Bush buddy Jack Abramoff who puffed it up as the "laboratory of liberty" (for whom?) and characterised attempts to apply labor and other regulatory laws and rights for the workers as having the same effect on the islanders (the business owners that is) as the Nuremburg laws had on the Jews.
Fluently written and thoughtful with a biting sense of humour this is criticism at its best, and the target thoroughly deserves it. It is an interesting insight into the American system of "Democracy" and not withstanding the recent election of Obama it is still a book with much relevance.
If you havent read Franks already its worth getting a hold of his earlier two books "One Market Under God: Extreme Capitalism, Market Populism and the End of Economic Democracy" and "What's the Matter with America?: The Resistible Rise of the American Right".
This book is a historically informed, fantastically well written look at the U.S. political system with particular emphasis on the Conservative Republicans who have dominated it for so long.
Franks, who has obviously put a lot of effort into researching this book, digs deep into the activities and thinking of right wing conservatism which has given the U.S. such nefarious characters as Ollie North, Ronald Regan, Tom De Lay and the recently departed (well just the Oval office, but hey I liked the sound of it) George W. Bush.
A convincing case is made, and with plenty of evidence not least from their own mouths, that the conservatives interest in making Government work for the ordinary people of the U.S. is pretty much non-existant. The picture of the so-called conservatives that he paints is not exactly pretty for anyone with a commitment to democracy: the rampant cronyism in appointments to the civil service (loyalty to the "conservative" cause above integrity and ability), mercenary lobbying for the rich and corporations at the expense of their constituents, a total contempt for professional civil servants, their crude totalitarian mentality as well as breath taking mendacity.
The case that the conservatives are intent on damaging government as a force for the common good of Americans is comprehensively made. The immense deficits they run up, the running down of regulatory bodies, the Labor department, the incompetent but politically correct right wingers they appoint to government bodies . . . the list could be endless. The chapter on the Mariana Islands (taken by U.S. at end of WW2) is a revelation. The islands are exempt from many U.S. laws - it's a neo-liberal utopia: low taxes, little or no protection for labor who are all contracted from neighbouring poor countries (ie. indentured servants) who endure low wages, long hours and live under an abusive regime where they can be deported at their employers whim. This IS the conservatives/neo-liberal ideal in reality. All this is supported by conservative lobbyists such as the recently jailed Bush buddy Jack Abramoff who puffed it up as the "laboratory of liberty" (for whom?) and characterised attempts to apply labor and other regulatory laws and rights for the workers as having the same effect on the islanders (the business owners that is) as the Nuremburg laws had on the Jews.
Fluently written and thoughtful with a biting sense of humour this is criticism at its best, and the target thoroughly deserves it. It is an interesting insight into the American system of "Democracy" and not withstanding the recent election of Obama it is still a book with much relevance.
If you havent read Franks already its worth getting a hold of his earlier two books "One Market Under God: Extreme Capitalism, Market Populism and the End of Economic Democracy" and "What's the Matter with America?: The Resistible Rise of the American Right".
November 7, 2008
An entertaining history of how the right has been crippling our government in order to gain power and enrich itself and its corporate clients from the time of Richard Nixon, through their most productive years under Reagan and a pair of Bushes and no slack for Clinton. We are now reaping some more of the some the "benefits" of over thirty years of turning capable people out of government service and putting in appointed hacks who see business not the people as their client to enable the grand rip-offs of "privatization" and "deregulation". ($700B and counting in the financial sector.)
Civil service was implemented to create a stable base of government function insulated from patronage and control by monied interests. The "privatization" extolled by the right and vigorously implemented since 1980 is little more than the reimplementation of the spoils system that civil service replaced.
The key features are:
1. Preaching a religion that states that all good things come from a unrestrained free-market and that government is an evil obstacle in the road to utopia. (Not withstanding that the institutions in question were created in response to the massive and egregious abuses to fair commerce and labor of that market in the past and castastrophe of the great depression, the last time the financiers could make the rules as they wished.)
2. Making a career in public service as undesirable as possible by ever lowering pay, and disempowering those whose responsiblities might inconvenience businesses or interfere in the distribution of government contracts to those who contribute to the right. There is a term for this last feature, the term is "kick-back".
3. Placing appointees in charge of agencies who are known opponents of that agency's purpose (e.g. Bolton at the U.N. Gorsuch at EPA, Watt at Interior) who disable the enforcement functions, reduce staff, and implement policies reflecting that business not the public good is the client for the agency's services. [In that case, let us tear down the FTC, FDA etc, fire everyone, keep the money, and put up a plaque in their places reflecting the true policy, for the FTC, FDA: "Caveat Emptor", and for the Dept of Labor: "I upped my income, up yours!")
In short, wrecking the government, insuring poor government, perverting what government there is to the service of business, placing the supervision of business in the hands of business itself. Then claiming that this poor result proves the need for more privatization.
Forget values, just follow the money.
Civil service was implemented to create a stable base of government function insulated from patronage and control by monied interests. The "privatization" extolled by the right and vigorously implemented since 1980 is little more than the reimplementation of the spoils system that civil service replaced.
The key features are:
1. Preaching a religion that states that all good things come from a unrestrained free-market and that government is an evil obstacle in the road to utopia. (Not withstanding that the institutions in question were created in response to the massive and egregious abuses to fair commerce and labor of that market in the past and castastrophe of the great depression, the last time the financiers could make the rules as they wished.)
2. Making a career in public service as undesirable as possible by ever lowering pay, and disempowering those whose responsiblities might inconvenience businesses or interfere in the distribution of government contracts to those who contribute to the right. There is a term for this last feature, the term is "kick-back".
3. Placing appointees in charge of agencies who are known opponents of that agency's purpose (e.g. Bolton at the U.N. Gorsuch at EPA, Watt at Interior) who disable the enforcement functions, reduce staff, and implement policies reflecting that business not the public good is the client for the agency's services. [In that case, let us tear down the FTC, FDA etc, fire everyone, keep the money, and put up a plaque in their places reflecting the true policy, for the FTC, FDA: "Caveat Emptor", and for the Dept of Labor: "I upped my income, up yours!")
In short, wrecking the government, insuring poor government, perverting what government there is to the service of business, placing the supervision of business in the hands of business itself. Then claiming that this poor result proves the need for more privatization.
Forget values, just follow the money.
October 20, 2011
Received this book as a gift (thanks Terry!) and kind of sat on it for a while, I think I was in willful denial actually, trying to not look into this abyss that is modern American government under siege.
Of course, this is somehow fitting given that the thrust of the book is an examination of how the conservative movement works both for and with (see "revolving door") industry and lobbyists to make government fail so badly no one minds/notices when it's gone; thereby letting the "free market" anthropomorphically rise up in government's wake to "save" us middle/low-earner Americans, like it did for the conspiring business forebears...or not save us, screw us they got theirs.
This book describes all of the machinations and psychology that explains the general disconnect I've always been so dumbfounded about others not seeing.
* The framing of business (free market capitalism) issues as persecuted by liberal-era policies (e.g. regulations, workplace safety, social safety nets, etc.) claiming victimhood for the entitled, and extorting the poor by saying the regulations lead to less opportunities trickling down.
* The explicit targeting of funding sources for liberal organizations, labor and liberal constituencies to "starve the left"
and just the deft bait-and-switch maneuvers re-framing the outright graft in the conservative movement, as "lone wolfs" to be discarded (aka given a job in private industry or appointed in government as appropriate) and the action reframed as some form of persecution when covered in the media.
It's magical evil genius! Downside is that it only leads to one very frightening unregulated race to the bottom economy of failed states.
This book is really very accessible, and also should be taught in school (good luck getting that through conservative curriculum boards!) It is depressing as all hell, and makes me pretty sure things are still going to get waaaaaaay worse in the States before they get better.
But you never know, 99% is still much larger than 1% last time I checked...might be time to get the kids back in the streets.
Of course, this is somehow fitting given that the thrust of the book is an examination of how the conservative movement works both for and with (see "revolving door") industry and lobbyists to make government fail so badly no one minds/notices when it's gone; thereby letting the "free market" anthropomorphically rise up in government's wake to "save" us middle/low-earner Americans, like it did for the conspiring business forebears...or not save us, screw us they got theirs.
This book describes all of the machinations and psychology that explains the general disconnect I've always been so dumbfounded about others not seeing.
* The framing of business (free market capitalism) issues as persecuted by liberal-era policies (e.g. regulations, workplace safety, social safety nets, etc.) claiming victimhood for the entitled, and extorting the poor by saying the regulations lead to less opportunities trickling down.
* The explicit targeting of funding sources for liberal organizations, labor and liberal constituencies to "starve the left"
and just the deft bait-and-switch maneuvers re-framing the outright graft in the conservative movement, as "lone wolfs" to be discarded (aka given a job in private industry or appointed in government as appropriate) and the action reframed as some form of persecution when covered in the media.
It's magical evil genius! Downside is that it only leads to one very frightening unregulated race to the bottom economy of failed states.
This book is really very accessible, and also should be taught in school (good luck getting that through conservative curriculum boards!) It is depressing as all hell, and makes me pretty sure things are still going to get waaaaaaay worse in the States before they get better.
But you never know, 99% is still much larger than 1% last time I checked...might be time to get the kids back in the streets.
September 27, 2011
Well, this book was a real bummer to read. Not because much of it came as a surprise (if you read this book, you're likely to know bits of most things it touches on) but because it portrays a problem so entrenched and so destructive that there seems little hope but surrender. It is well documented and annotated, and boils the strategy down nicely:
1 - Get into a position of power by demonizing everyone else, including the government,
2 - Once in power, stuff the government with your cronies to facilitate raiding the treasury and running up huge debt (said debt will hamstring any opponent who manages to succeed you)
3 - Pick the least competant cronies you can find, so that government will function poorly at worst or exacerbate problems at best, allowing you to claim that government is the problem and the solution is to give power to "the market," which just happens to be run by your cronies
4 - Disavow any responsibility for outcomes by claiming you are the outside here, not part of the unelected establishment (never mind that you placed the bureaucrats who compose that unelected establishment)
5 - THroughout this time work to defund any opponents by attacking their political base; unions, academics, anyone who attempts to organize on a campus. Feel free to litigate the daylights out of them as well, since you can then point to litigation as a problem that needs to be fixed.
6 - Lie, lie, lie - and focus on ensuring that any opposition fails rather than risk given them any success, no matter the impact on the country.
Normally, I would not give five stars to a book so depressing, but Thomas Frank has done the homework for the rest of us. The situation is indeed bleak, and he pulls no punches in describing it, neither does he sugar-coat any solutions. It took half a century of steady work to create this state of affairs, it will take just as much time and effort to set things right. I only hope we have 50 years of life left...
1 - Get into a position of power by demonizing everyone else, including the government,
2 - Once in power, stuff the government with your cronies to facilitate raiding the treasury and running up huge debt (said debt will hamstring any opponent who manages to succeed you)
3 - Pick the least competant cronies you can find, so that government will function poorly at worst or exacerbate problems at best, allowing you to claim that government is the problem and the solution is to give power to "the market," which just happens to be run by your cronies
4 - Disavow any responsibility for outcomes by claiming you are the outside here, not part of the unelected establishment (never mind that you placed the bureaucrats who compose that unelected establishment)
5 - THroughout this time work to defund any opponents by attacking their political base; unions, academics, anyone who attempts to organize on a campus. Feel free to litigate the daylights out of them as well, since you can then point to litigation as a problem that needs to be fixed.
6 - Lie, lie, lie - and focus on ensuring that any opposition fails rather than risk given them any success, no matter the impact on the country.
Normally, I would not give five stars to a book so depressing, but Thomas Frank has done the homework for the rest of us. The situation is indeed bleak, and he pulls no punches in describing it, neither does he sugar-coat any solutions. It took half a century of steady work to create this state of affairs, it will take just as much time and effort to set things right. I only hope we have 50 years of life left...
October 25, 2009
The audio CD of “The Wrecking Crew” is handled by Oliver Wyman, who after a few hours begins to sound eerily similar to Casey Kasem. I’ve read a couple of books labored over by Thomas Frank (“Commodify Your Dissent” and “One Market Under God”), and find that he is erudite, crisply efficient, and relentlessly adversarial with respect to the fetishization of markets as moral instruments. For those who are familiar with the machinations of self-styled “free market capitalists,” there isn’t a great deal in this book that will surprise; however, it does an excellent job of categorizing and delineating the nature and scope of modern Conservatism. It is a one-sided argument, which by no means lessens its merit – it is incumbent upon the opposition, after all, to mount a defense. While I agree with the central point of the book (i.e., that doctrinaire Conservatism seeks to dismantle government bureaucracy in league with the business lobby), Mr. Frank does a regrettably inadequate job of addressing inevitable counter-arguments. For example, non-Libertarian Conservatives are known for their support of some government bureaucracies (i.e., military, police, utilities, commerce, and infrastructure); a more robust explanation of why this “Constitutionalist” worldview is intellectually bankrupt seemed wanting.
On the whole, however, I found that the central premises of the book would be perfectly acceptable to many Conservatives… which is perhaps the most frightening aspect of the whole story. To the hardcore ‘Winger,’ Jack Abramoff was man who’s criminality was entirely separate from the good work he did as a foot soldier for the Republican Party. This isn’t a book about hating Conservative governance; it’s a book about understanding it.
On the whole, however, I found that the central premises of the book would be perfectly acceptable to many Conservatives… which is perhaps the most frightening aspect of the whole story. To the hardcore ‘Winger,’ Jack Abramoff was man who’s criminality was entirely separate from the good work he did as a foot soldier for the Republican Party. This isn’t a book about hating Conservative governance; it’s a book about understanding it.
Want to read
October 19, 2008"...theorizes that conservatives have been systematically dismantling government for years and spreading the myth that bureaucracy doesn't work. Frank is also the founding editor of The Baffler and a contributing editor at Harper's."
And from The Nation 10/8/08 (Thanks Rachel!):
Frank argues that the public failures of the Bush administration are the very essence of conservative government--the predictable outcome of the anti-Washington, free-market ideology that has triumphed within the Republican Party and in national politics over the past three decades. Conservatives won elections by arguing that government is an oversized and unaccountable drag on the economy; they proceeded to starve agencies of funds and replace public-sector employees with private, for-profit contractors. The result is a demoralized, hollowed-out state that does not work very well, except to redistribute wealth from taxpayers to corporate lobbyists and interest groups. "Fantastic misgovernment of the kind we have seen is not an accident, nor is it the work of a few bad individuals," Frank writes. "It is the consequence of triumph by a particular philosophy of government, by a movement that understands the liberal state as a perversion and considers the market the ideal nexus of human society."
And from The Nation 10/8/08 (Thanks Rachel!):
Frank argues that the public failures of the Bush administration are the very essence of conservative government--the predictable outcome of the anti-Washington, free-market ideology that has triumphed within the Republican Party and in national politics over the past three decades. Conservatives won elections by arguing that government is an oversized and unaccountable drag on the economy; they proceeded to starve agencies of funds and replace public-sector employees with private, for-profit contractors. The result is a demoralized, hollowed-out state that does not work very well, except to redistribute wealth from taxpayers to corporate lobbyists and interest groups. "Fantastic misgovernment of the kind we have seen is not an accident, nor is it the work of a few bad individuals," Frank writes. "It is the consequence of triumph by a particular philosophy of government, by a movement that understands the liberal state as a perversion and considers the market the ideal nexus of human society."
June 5, 2013
So, if I have got this right, the Republicans, conservatives, neo-cons, right-wingers, whatever you want to call them get into elected office make government corrupt by helping all their cronies and destroying fedral programs by purposely appointing the wrong people to run them. They also cut taxes for their wealthy buddies and then spend government funds like crazy, racking up debt up to wazoo, then they turn around and make government the enemy saying that it should be eliminated and that everything should be run by a free-market.
The scariest part of the book was the ultimate right-wing plan that came to fruition on the American controlled island of Saipan. All of these companies put factories on this island and then they imported cheap labor from other countries and given gave them no rights, basically making them indentured servants. Meanwhile the naitive people could collecte Amercian welfare and employ maids because the price of labor had become so low for these workers without rights.
Eventually, thankfully, they put this to an end. But the conditions in Saipan are exactly what the right want for all of us. Plutocracy in action! We are all doomed if this is not stopped immediately.
The scariest part of the book was the ultimate right-wing plan that came to fruition on the American controlled island of Saipan. All of these companies put factories on this island and then they imported cheap labor from other countries and given gave them no rights, basically making them indentured servants. Meanwhile the naitive people could collecte Amercian welfare and employ maids because the price of labor had become so low for these workers without rights.
Eventually, thankfully, they put this to an end. But the conditions in Saipan are exactly what the right want for all of us. Plutocracy in action! We are all doomed if this is not stopped immediately.
December 16, 2008
Miserable book I couldn't finish reading, and I actually agree with the author politically for the most part. Just a lot of lazy potshots at conservatives (aka "wingers" in the author's argot). I'd heard good things about What's the Matter with Kansas, so I had high hopes for this, but 25 zingers per page concerning his contempt for the right wing wore me out.
One among hundreds and hundreds of examples: on p. 72 "Working out of the suburbs of northern Virginia.....the New Right leaders" is accompanied by this footnote: "Conservatives have always favored the Virginia suburbs over those located in Maryland, I believe, because of their residual southernness and their reassuring proximity to the Pentagon."
Well, ok, that's clever, and I get that you look down on southerners, and maybe some % of like-minded readers will find the Pentagon thing funny, but one after another after another of these [who's in charge here? Is there an editor in the house?] is excessive if your goal is to inform readers and argue against conservative politics.
One among hundreds and hundreds of examples: on p. 72 "Working out of the suburbs of northern Virginia.....the New Right leaders" is accompanied by this footnote: "Conservatives have always favored the Virginia suburbs over those located in Maryland, I believe, because of their residual southernness and their reassuring proximity to the Pentagon."
Well, ok, that's clever, and I get that you look down on southerners, and maybe some % of like-minded readers will find the Pentagon thing funny, but one after another after another of these [who's in charge here? Is there an editor in the house?] is excessive if your goal is to inform readers and argue against conservative politics.
August 10, 2008
This book is not about the neo-cons and recent history so much as the roots of the conservative movement in the shenannigans of people like Jack Abramoff and Grover Norquist among others. Frank's thesis, or rather what his subjects say themselves, is that conservatives unbeknownst to people who vote for them are engaged on a project of destruction of American government and entitlement programs like medicare and social security, the installment of corporate hacks and cronies in government agencies (see: Katrina) and a master plan to drive up deficits and run the system into the ground. Readers of Paul Krugman's column in the NYT know this already. I quibble with Frank on just one point. George W Bush was NOT a failure as president but rather the most successful president in history in delivering to his business and conservative constituents.
April 15, 2009
This is a difficult book to read. It is about the dismantling of the many agencies that "Shrub" GW Bush wanted to eviscerate because he didn't agree with their philosophy. I took it out of the library a couple of weeks ago and have to put it down once in a while because it is so disturbing. What I have learned so far is a reinforcement of my belief that GWB was a pretty evil person. If it interfered with business, get rid of it, defund it, fill any open positions with people who were totally at odds with the purpose of the agency. It is one thing to know that on a "gut feeling" level, but to read how truly nasty that man was, makes it a very difficult read. I never thought the could beanyone worse than Richard M. Nixon and Ronald Reagan in the White House. Who knew?
April 23, 2014
The Wrecking Crew provides further evidence that the oligarchs are winning in America and our middle class and democracy –as we know it—are completely doomed. This book was published on the eve of the financial meltdown in America which perfectly illustrates the author’s point of how conservatives dismantled the regulatory measures that may have prevented such wanton theft. One huge problem is that most of the people who should be reading this book, mainly the middle and lower-middle classes just can’t be bothered to read and get all of their “news” from CNN, or worse, Fox. Frank is one of the few people doing actual reporting in America whereas most TV infotainment outlets simply offer opinions or they narrate banalities over footage of the disaster du jour.
August 12, 2018
3.5 stars
such great information. this really should be required reading.
it's really disheartening to see people voting against their own personal interest election after election. seriously how long until these people wake up because these senators being elected from states with a small fraction of California's citizens are making laws that negatively impact everyone (ok maybe everyone except the Kochs, Mercers, etc).
also it's kind of weird reading a book that has Republicans praising Roy Moore but even after all the allegations about him almost 50% of Alabama voted for him so maybe not that weird.
i want to read listen liberal and what's the matter with Kansas but i think i'll need to read some lighter books in between.
such great information. this really should be required reading.
it's really disheartening to see people voting against their own personal interest election after election. seriously how long until these people wake up because these senators being elected from states with a small fraction of California's citizens are making laws that negatively impact everyone (ok maybe everyone except the Kochs, Mercers, etc).
also it's kind of weird reading a book that has Republicans praising Roy Moore but even after all the allegations about him almost 50% of Alabama voted for him so maybe not that weird.
i want to read listen liberal and what's the matter with Kansas but i think i'll need to read some lighter books in between.
October 20, 2009
To me, this is the perfect guide book for understanding how the Republican administration operates when it gets into power. Frank shows how the Wingers actually work to undermine government, while liberalism is inevitably challenged and often defeated by its own ideology. A lot of what you read in this book will not be new, but Frank’s biting analysis reinforces just how important that we take the Republican party and its advocates of privatization very seriously as they constantly attempt to reduce workers’ rights and undermine public institutions.
February 27, 2009
The sheer tonage of Reagan-era efforts to dismantle, defund, disparage, and generally wreck the U. S. social contract established with the new deal will bring a sick feeling of recognition to liberals who felt all along in their bones : I KNEW the son-a-bitches were out to bring this country to its knees before the Leviathon of big business! I was right in the '60s and ever since----I"VE BEEN RIGHT ALL ALONG ! ....and I'm not alone.
.
.
December 12, 2012
I never dreamed, before reading this book, that there could exist people who so abhor government that they would purposely sabotage it under their own rule! But I have experienced this in my professional career, in hindsight, and only did recognize it after reading this book. Excellent read and should be required reading by any who would defy Madisonians, Libertarians, Conservatives, and the Tea Party movement.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 183 reviews