Kevin Hassett points out that while Chairman Zero protests that he is not anti-Business and his advisers deny that there is a jihad against capitalism, his actions tell a different story. What follows is the Reader’s Digest version of Hassett’s thesis:

Imagine that some hypothetical enemy state spent years preparing a “Manchurian Candidate” to destroy the U.S. economy. What policies might that leader pursue?

He might discourage private capital from entering the financial sector by instructing his Treasury secretary to repeatedly promise a brilliant rescue plan, but never actually have one. He would significantly increase taxes on business in a time of recession. If our Manchurian Candidate leader really wanted to knock the country down for good, he would provide insurance against any long-run recovery by initiating massive new entitlement programs.

Let’s see how Obama’s plan compares with our nightmare scenario.