How Much Would It Hurt To Be Specific?

Just a quicky post linking to something from Yglesias' blog (link).  Here's the key quote:

To which I ask, if “the whole idea is to cut spending,” then why not propose spending cuts? It’s a lot easier to pass a budget than to pass a constitutional amendment. Surely, if a majority Americans are clamoring for “robust spending cuts” as DeMint claims, then the GOP would benefit in the midterms by proposing such cuts. Instead, the GOP either cannot or will not propose anything specific; rather, they continue to push for extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy without any spending offsets. That really should end any serious consideration of what this balanced budget amendment is all about.

But the larger point here is that the Republican Party is refusing to detail an actual agenda in advance of the November elections. There are plenty of things a Speaker Boehner really might do if the GOP were to regain the House majority in the fall. But instead of talking about which of those things they’ll attempt, Republican leaders continue to play to their base with notions of ACA repeal and radical changes to the constitution that require 2/3 majorities and approval of 38 states. The answer of the pundit class seems to be to sort of laugh off this talk of amending the constitution since it “won’t happen” — to which the follow-up should be, what will happen if the GOP takes over Congress? Voters should probably hear the answer before going to the polls.

This fits in very nicely with my complete disdain for the Tea Party/GOP.  When pressed, the answer seems to be, "We'll figure out the spending cuts, so can I have my tax cut now, please?"  The weighty manner in which the government deficit is discussed is a front.  We'd see serious answers otherwise.  Why be specific and risk ideas being discussed, when my political position is improved by transparent pandering and fear-mongering.

As a side point;  I'm with Krugman, Klein, and Silver on how Ryan's blueprint is bogus, with the effect of spending cuts taken credit for but not showing the deficit worsening impact of his tax cuts.  But at least, Ryan is showing the government programs he wants to gut (Primarily Medicare).  A constitutional balanced budget amendment requiring a super-majority to pass a tax is not only fantasy land (And bad economics), it's also completely disingenuous.  But then again, what was I expecting?.

Call Me Fanboy. Fanboy Wiebe.

I seriously have a man-crush on Paul Krugman.  His piece today on Paul Ryan is a complete tear-down of the man's ideas.  He uses plenty of facts to back up his argument.  And then he rips the news media for treating him seriously.  Here's Krugman's close (link):

So why have so many in Washington, especially in the news media, been taken in by this flimflam? It’s not just inability to do the math, although that’s part of it. There’s also the unwillingness of self-styled centrists to face up to the realities of the modern Republican Party; they want to pretend, in the teeth of overwhelming evidence, that there are still people in the G.O.P. making sense. And last but not least, there’s deference to power — the G.O.P. is a resurgent political force, so one mustn’t point out that its intellectual heroes have no clothes.

But they don’t.  The Ryan plan is a fraud that makes no useful contribution to the debate over America’s fiscal future.

And you think he's done, right?  But wait... Look at the piece below in italics.

David Brooks is off today.

I can't say that it was Paul's decision to put that at the end.  Maybe it was the NYT just letting us know that Mr. Brooks is off today.  But it is at least INTERESTING that Brooks is exactly the person who would praise Ryan.

Ohh, Mr. Krugman.  You had me at "One depressing aspect of American politics is the susceptibility of the political and media establishment to charlatans."

Dissecting Lies

The GOP/Tea Party line is that: Obama (A socialist) has, much like a dictator, taken a hold of the federal government and massively increased spending.  I don't think I'm embellishing.  I've heard this repeated by respected members of the GOP, in newspapers, on Fox News, and on right-wing blogs.

Paul Krugman has a fantastic post taking this lie apart (here).

Rather than just cut-and paste the entire blog post, here are a few key charts that really take apart what's going on with government spending.

So, what's going-on here?  Simple.  We have RECORD unemployment.  This isn't a 'government take-over' of the economy.  This isn't a massive spending designed to implement an agenda of socialism.  I know that I'm supposed to balance my thinking with the idea that my side spreads an equal number of falsehoods.  But seriously, the nonsense from the 'ring-wing noise machine' is tedious, loud, and wrong.  Here's to Krugman finding another way to point that out.  Cheers!

"His column is going to be scathing tomorrow morning"

That's what I said to my wife right after I read this headline last night:

World Leaders Agree on Timetable for Cutting Deficits

Sure enough, here's the title of Krugman's column as of this morning:

The Third Depression

Consumer Prices Fall, "Unexpectedly"

I'm expecting Krugman to comment on this as soon as he has finished his grading.  He's been talking about the risk of deflation being far more likely than the risk of inflation in the mid/short run.  Plus, he's also been railing against the 'fear inflation' crowd.  So, I have to believe that this news will make his blog.

May 19 (Bloomberg) -- The cost of living in the U.S. unexpectedly dropped in April for the first time in more than a year, reinforcing forecasts that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates near zero for much of 2010.

The 0.1 percent fall in the consumer price index was the first decrease since March 2009, figures from the Labor Department showed today in Washington. Excluding food and fuel, the so-called core rate was unchanged, capping the smallest 12- month gain in four decades.

As a side note, I don't think this he will see this as good news either.  It points to high joblessness acting as a dampening pressure on the overall economy.

UPDATE: Just to toot my own horn, I posted this (above) around 1:00 PM ET.  Krugman posted this at 1:51 PM ET.  Nailed it.