"Another good question is how much does government spending contribute to the Gross Domestic Product. In our current mode with the fiscal cliff all the rage in the media and in Washington, we are told by just about everyone that drastic measures designed to reduce the debt would wreck the economy, with presumably a negative impact on the GDP.I replied back...
It seems we are all Keynesians now." Hiram
"That's kind of funny, I have heard almost nothing about avoiding the spending cuts. "Everyone" seems to be focusing on the tax cuts. The President, Congress, etc.So what do you think, has Obama given up his Keynesian ways? He sure is focused on trying to make the GOP the bad guys on taxes, and make himself look like the tax cut advocate. Thoughts?
Maybe the Keynsians are losing popularity." G2A
CNN Obama Push Over Cliff?
FOX News Going Nowhere
CFR Fiscal Cliff Details & History
Wiki Fiscal Cliff
US Budget Alert Summary
11 comments:
Spending cuts don't have a constituency. Democrats have proposed tax increases, the politically unpopular policy we favor and are now asking Republicans what specific cuts they would make. Republicans haven't responded. This is typical for them, and we saw in the campaign recently concluded, when Republicans objected to actual cuts the president was willing to make in Medicare.
--Hiram
That's what the MPP folks said, yet this looks like a 99 pg proposal... Path to Prosperity
Whether one agreeas with it or not...
Or this... FactCheck Republican Cuts
Obama is not a Keynesian any more than he is a functional President. He is a narcissist and fabulist of the first rank, believing that every fantasy he proclaims will become reality. Reality will never agree.
J. Ewing
Now do you feel better?
Hey look another Republican proposal. I thought the President said there weren't any... Could he be fibbing?
CRFB Corker Plan
WP Corker Plan
I watched Geithner this morning and almost got ill... Just kept hammering the GOP for working to save the 2% from a tax cut... Saying it is all their fault... Blah, blah, blah.
Never acknowledging or taking responsibility for doubling the tax increase request or other junk the Pres is trying to put into the deal. (ie Debt ceiling stuff, few cuts, etc) I guess it is easier throwing bricks instead of acting responsibly.
FOX News Geither
Those seem to be the things that Republicans are talking about now, basically cuts in Social Security and Medicare. How do the numbers look?
--Hiram
My point is that it shows a lack of character to accuse the person you are negotiating with of something that is not true, Whether you agree with their position or not. And it certainly won't help the negotiation move forward.
Actually, within the last week or so, Republican senators, who are largely irrelevant to the process, have floated three proposals:
2. Charging higher premiums on affluent Medicare recipients.
3.Changing the price indexing of Social Security.
Estimates are that these measures, would save about 300 billion dollars over the next ten years, about a fifth of what the president is proposing in revenue increases. And they do not come from the house side, where the negotiations are actually taking place.
So who is more serious in addressing America's debt issue?
--Hiram
Problem is that neither side wants to 'fess up to the fact that there isn't enough money in the country, let alone amongst the richest 1%, to cover the massive spending past and present Democrats have committed us to. 4 trillion in taxes and cuts over ten years? Even if it's real, it's only about 30% of the problem! I want to see $10 Trillion in spending cuts over 10 years, and I don't care where they come from. No tax increases.
What is really bothersome is that this could be done easily, and most of us would actually be better off in the long run, but that would require Democrats to relinquish some of their hard-fought history of centralizing political and economic power in Washington.
J. Ewing
Problem is that neither side wants to 'fess up to the fact that there isn't enough money in the country, let alone amongst the richest 1%, to cover the massive spending past and present Democrats have committed us to.
Republicans are still advocating lower taxes, and the malls are full. America is getting older. The question is whether that's something we can afford. What happens if we decide we can't?
--Hiram
So what if the malls are full? People still have to live and try to enjoy life, generally despite all of the obstacles leftists governments throw at them.
And is there some absolute good that comes out of raising taxes, that we should raise them just because it feels so good?
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