I am so tired of hearing politicians talk about the “DEFICIT” like it was the biggest threat to America since communism or some other previous excuse not to deal with real problems…
This is an entirely manufactured “crisis” and the “Conservatives” are trying to use it to kill programs they have always hated anyway- like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and VA Benefits. They are also using it as an excuse to cut federal jobs.
For example, I called the Veteran’s Administration 12 times today trying to check direct depositing my Mother’s benefits from my Father’s service. I wasn’t allowed to do it on the web because it is a Custodial situation. Each time I got a message telling me they could not take my call because of high call volumes and to call back later. It took 2 years to get the benefit application approved due to “staffing” issues- and then only with Congressional help…..Hire some people, goddammit!
This is madness….
Anyway….
I’ve had my say on this many times. We do not have any deficit problem that can’t be solved by higher employment, growth and investment in much-needed infrastructure projects. The GOP and their Democratic enablers are only making the situation worse by not addressing these core issues responsibly and intelligently.
Someone needs to break the DC bubble and it sounds like maybe, just maybe, there may be some sensibility leaking into the Capitol.
But they still have a long ways to go and need to start by not listening to the Tea Party fools and their Billionaire sponsors or the Corporate chieftains. Of course ending corporate welfare, such as subsidies to the oil companies, and making the wealthy pay their fair share by closing tax loopholes would also help…
I’ll keep hoping they will hear Paul Krugman’s voice calling from the wilderness. Meaning outside of DC and it’s suburbs…
From Yahoo Finance:
With even top Republicans such as Eric Cantor beginning to question the political wisdom of waging perpetual warfare over the deficit, it’s possible that Washington may slowly turn its attention to other, more pressing matters.What could be more urgent than deficit reduction? you may ask.My answer: Almost everything.If deficit reduction was ever urgent, it no longer is. We’ve already accomplished most of the deficit-reduction required in this decade, nearly enough to stabilize our debt, but at a great cost to current economic growth. We’ve sacrificed with high unemployment, tepid growth and underinvestment in public goods.Not to mention our inability to get anything else done while we bicker about deficits.The $16 trillion debt sounds like a terrible thing, but no one has been able to show how this high level of debt has had any negative impact on the economy or on the people so far. Has anyone come around looking for your share of it?Interest rates are very low, so the public debt isn’t crowding out private investment. The burden from interest payments is extremely low, less than half what it was when Ronald Reagan was exploding the federal budget back in the 1980s. We survived.
MORE: Five problems bigger than the national debt – Yahoo! Finance.
Lost in the 21st Century 