It’s hard to remain hopeful about the future of America after the utter capitulation of the White House on the debt ceiling. The Republican hostage-takers got everything they wanted except eviscerating medicare and social security, while the Democrats got . . . um, nothing. Oh, they got the debt ceiling raised, but everyone needed that, not just the Democrats.
Now we go back to government spending levels not seen since the Eisenhower Administration when the US population was around 160 million, about half of what it is now. We continue to cut back on infrastructure, education, science, social safety nets, and everything else that made America great while continuing to place the tax burden on the poor and middle class rather than the under-taxed rich who are doing better than they’ve ever done in American history.
Make no mistake, what happens here will in no way help America recover from the recession or restore us to a position of economic strength. We are bleeding ourselves dry and exacerbating the already huge imbalance between the haves and the have-nots in American society. We’re destroying the Middle Class and with it the American dream. We’re shooting ourselves in the foot over the ridiculous goal of fiscal austerity in the midst of a recession. We’ve allowed the most extreme voices among us, those who apparently know nothing of how things actually work, to dictate our most important policies. And we will all pay the price.
Here’s Paul Krugman’s take:
Make no mistake about it, what we’re witnessing here is a catastrophe on multiple levels.
It is, of course, a political catastrophe for Democrats, who just a few weeks ago seemed to have Republicans on the run over their plan to dismantle Medicare; now Mr. Obama has thrown all that away. And the damage isn’t over: there will be more choke points where Republicans can threaten to create a crisis unless the president surrenders, and they can now act with the confident expectation that he will.
In the long run, however, Democrats won’t be the only losers. What Republicans have just gotten away with calls our whole system of government into question. After all, how can American democracy work if whichever party is most prepared to be ruthless, to threaten the nation’s economic security, gets to dictate policy? And the answer is, maybe it can’t.
Now we go back to government spending levels not seen since the Eisenhower Administration when the US population was around 160 million, about half of what it is now. We continue to cut back on infrastructure, education, science, social safety nets, and everything else that made America great while continuing to place the tax burden on the poor and middle class rather than the under-taxed rich who are doing better than they’ve ever done in American history.
Make no mistake, what happens here will in no way help America recover from the recession or restore us to a position of economic strength. We are bleeding ourselves dry and exacerbating the already huge imbalance between the haves and the have-nots in American society. We’re destroying the Middle Class and with it the American dream. We’re shooting ourselves in the foot over the ridiculous goal of fiscal austerity in the midst of a recession. We’ve allowed the most extreme voices among us, those who apparently know nothing of how things actually work, to dictate our most important policies. And we will all pay the price.
Here’s Paul Krugman’s take:
A deal to raise the federal debt ceiling is in the works. If it goes through, many commentators will declare that disaster was avoided. But they will be wrong.
For the deal itself, given the available information, is a disaster, and not just for President Obama and his party. It will damage an already depressed economy; it will probably make America’s long-run deficit problem worse, not better; and most important, by demonstrating that raw extortion works and carries no political cost, it will take America a long way down the road to banana-republic status.
Start with the economics. We currently have a deeply depressed economy. We will almost certainly continue to have a depressed economy all through next year. And we will probably have a depressed economy through 2013 as well, if not beyond.
The worst thing you can do in these circumstances is slash government spending, since that will depress the economy even further. Pay no attention to those who invoke the confidence fairy, claiming that tough action on the budget will reassure businesses and consumers, leading them to spend more. It doesn’t work that way, a fact confirmed by many studies of the historical record.
…
For the deal itself, given the available information, is a disaster, and not just for President Obama and his party. It will damage an already depressed economy; it will probably make America’s long-run deficit problem worse, not better; and most important, by demonstrating that raw extortion works and carries no political cost, it will take America a long way down the road to banana-republic status.
Start with the economics. We currently have a deeply depressed economy. We will almost certainly continue to have a depressed economy all through next year. And we will probably have a depressed economy through 2013 as well, if not beyond.
The worst thing you can do in these circumstances is slash government spending, since that will depress the economy even further. Pay no attention to those who invoke the confidence fairy, claiming that tough action on the budget will reassure businesses and consumers, leading them to spend more. It doesn’t work that way, a fact confirmed by many studies of the historical record.
…
And then there are the reported terms of the deal, which amount to an abject surrender on the part of the president. First, there will be big spending cuts, with no increase in revenue. Then a panel will make recommendations for further deficit reduction — and if these recommendations aren’t accepted, there will be more spending cuts.
Republicans will supposedly have an incentive to make concessions the next time around, because defense spending will be among the areas cut. But the G.O.P. has just demonstrated its willingness to risk financial collapse unless it gets everything its most extreme members want. Why expect it to be more reasonable in the next round?
Republicans will supposedly have an incentive to make concessions the next time around, because defense spending will be among the areas cut. But the G.O.P. has just demonstrated its willingness to risk financial collapse unless it gets everything its most extreme members want. Why expect it to be more reasonable in the next round?
…
Make no mistake about it, what we’re witnessing here is a catastrophe on multiple levels.
It is, of course, a political catastrophe for Democrats, who just a few weeks ago seemed to have Republicans on the run over their plan to dismantle Medicare; now Mr. Obama has thrown all that away. And the damage isn’t over: there will be more choke points where Republicans can threaten to create a crisis unless the president surrenders, and they can now act with the confident expectation that he will.
In the long run, however, Democrats won’t be the only losers. What Republicans have just gotten away with calls our whole system of government into question. After all, how can American democracy work if whichever party is most prepared to be ruthless, to threaten the nation’s economic security, gets to dictate policy? And the answer is, maybe it can’t.
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