Drezner: GOP Abandons Italy
Dan Drezner:
While Rick Perry's major league gaffe will command all the headlines, I thought the most reealing answers were given to the first question of the night -- what to do about Italy? Here are the responses of the co-frontrunners:
HERMAN CAIN: "There's not a lot that the United States can directly do for Italy right now, because they have -- they're really way beyond the point of return that we -- we as the United States can save them."
MITT ROMNEY: "Well, Europe is able to take care of their own problems. We don't want to step in and try and bail out their banks and bail out their governments. They have the capacity to deal with that themselves."
The responses by Ron Paul, Rick Perry and Jon Huntsman were similar in tone and content.
Now, philosophically, there's a logic to these answers, avoiding moral hazard and all. But recall how earlier this week conservatives were castigating Barack Obama for giving Western Europe the cold shoulder? I believe Michael Goldfarb phrased it as a problem of Obama "abandoning allies."
Ah, it's the silly season in US politics again. I agree with Romney. Besides, the US is helping via the IMF.
Could someone please ask Nancy Pelosi, if she would bail out Italy. After all, she declared in 2009: "The United States has no greater ally in NATO than Italy" A friend in need is a friend indeed. Hm, maybe not.
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