Krugman Calls BS

He does it all the time.  His latest BS call is on all the analogies being made between the US and Greece. (Here's a link to Krugman's column).  Once he explains the reasons why the analogy is false, he goes on to show why they are being made:

And bear in mind, also, that taxes have lagged behind spending partly thanks to a deliberate political strategy, that of “starve the beast”: conservatives have deliberately deprived the government of revenue in an attempt to force the spending cuts they now insist are necessary.
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So here’s the reality: America’s fiscal outlook over the next few years isn’t bad. We do have a serious long-run budget problem, which will have to be resolved with a combination of health care reform and other measures, probably including a moderate rise in taxes. But we should ignore those who pretend to be concerned with fiscal responsibility, but whose real goal is to dismantle the welfare state — and are trying to use crises elsewhere to frighten us into giving them what they want.

Here's a little more on that "starve the beast" thing from Bruce Bartlet.

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