Nobody likes the IMF. At some point, you right wing democrats should spend more time trying to figure why that is, and less time telling those of us who have actually been paying attention that the IMF is somehow a force for good or even financial stability.

How it performed in that asian crisis, for instance, proves that the last thing a sane country would do is go looking to the IMF for help.

I'd give anything to never have to see or hear this blithering bronzed hangover ever again. Anything.

"Yes, it's ridiculous to see the House Republican vote against funding the troops during two wars."

Ridiculous because of their hypocrisy?

Cuz if that is the only reason, what about left-wing pundits who also switched their stance with the changing of the presidents, now even seemingly using the same language the Republicans used?

Sorry, but Boehner is somewhat correct on this.

First, the IMF funds shouldn't be part of the defense bill. It's stupid.

Second, I sure as hell don't like the idea of sending billions of OUR money to a group that has proven itself incapable of using it wisely. It's just not the right route to take, IMHO. Targeted aid to specific nations for specific reasons would be better.

And thirdly, no way in hell any Dem should vote on the defense bill without a real timetable for withdrawal. Period.

Sorry, but the only thing wrong with Boehner's stance is his stunning hypocrisy. On the merits, the bill is crap as it stands right now and it should be re-written.

It's funny that Yglesias uses the "other shoe" line- I picked up some LaRouchePAC pamphlet on the way home the other day (for a laugh), and it used the same phrase regarding international economic collapse.

Of course, that was Lyndon, so I gather that /his/ "other shoe" was caused by Queen Elizabeth in a SAS suit with black facepaint, a rocket launcher, and a jet full of heroin flying to secret underground lair near guam to have sex with Kim Jong Il, and Al Gore is there making a sandwich.

No offense Steve, but I am pretty sure I could find a couple posts at the Carpetbagger discussing non-sense attached to a troop spending bills and why it should be held up or at least have the non-sense removed. Whether it is non-sense or not is debatable, but if someone thinks it is, they should say so. Boehner is a tool, but in this instance I don't see what wrong he's done.

Sorry. Kill the IMF. It was setup, and is operated, as a Friedmanesque means of divesting its victim countries of all its natural resources, handing them over to Western corporations and a tool to kill social safety nets in victim countries.

Please ponder that virtually every S. American country that was a victim of IMF "aid" has since eliminated the rightwing governments that sprang from, or were supported by, the IMF. Every one of them have ejected the IMF "formula" of no social safety nets, no universal healthcare, no unions, no public education, and sell sell sell ALL your land and resources to corporations.

The IMF is a disease that must be wiped out. NOBODY wants IMF help. The Asians saw what the IMF did during the Asian financial crisis of 1997 and they reacted strongly to avoid EVER seeking IMF aid. The IMF is NOT about helping or saving countries, it is only about stealing and raping countries for the sake of western corporations and governments.

You IMF-bashing buffoons, the only sensible policy prescriptions for the US today are coming from IMF guys like Simon Johnson. Nobody else is addressing our pervasive corruption. If the IMF was here in force we wouldn't be fellating parasitic bank vampires like we are. IMF gets blamed for a lot of stuff that was going to happen anyway. They also get blamed when sensible reforms get hijacked by the developing-country equivalent of Jamie Dimon and Vikram Pandit. This anti-IMF shit comes from people who never read a PRSP, who wouldn't know one if it bit them on the ass. You don't know what you're talking about.