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“Mr. President, Speaker Boehner says that he will not agree to raise the debt ceiling unless there are trillions of dollars in spending cuts. How do you respond?” “Well, Jake, since the Speaker has refused to make the very wealthiest pay their fair share, and has taken Defense spending off the table, the only way [...]
Archive for the ‘Macroeconomic Policy’ Category
May 10th, 2011
May 9th, 2011
First, they came for Social Security. But lots of people like Social Security, so they couldn’t privatize Social Security. Then, they came for Medicare. But lots of people like Medicare, so they couldn’t privatize Medicare. So now, they are coming for Medicaid. And Steve Benen and Ezra Klein are worried. It’s hardly surprising that Paul [...]
April 19th, 2011
…which Matt will win because he will channel his Inner Tarantino and slice my head in half. But before then, let me express some skepticism that Matt’s rational actor utility-maximizer will come through for us. 1) Strictly speaking, it seems to me that the competitive market theory does not imply that firms will always maximize [...]
April 19th, 2011
Lots of talk across the blogosphere regarding Standard & Poor’s “downgrading” of US Treasury debt. But let’s recall the source. Standard & Poor’s, together with Moody’s, is one of the great dupes of the recent financial crisis (villains, if you are more cynical). It repeatedly issued AAA ratings to what we now know — and what any sharp-eyed [...]
April 15th, 2011
By now it is a theological dogma among Republicans that cutting marginal tax rates for the wealthy will incrase revenue. But if that’s the case, why does the Republican budget make any budget cuts at all? Why not just keep cutting marginal rates and using the extra revenue to pay for Medicare and Medicaid? If [...]
April 15th, 2011
Kentucky Democratic Congressmember John Yarmuth is ridiculing the GOP’s budget, which will end Medicare in order to provide tax cuts to the wealthiest: After the budget vote, Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) labeled it the “Harry Potter Budget Plan.” “Don’t worry about actual economic measurements,” he said. “Just wave a magic wand and it all adds [...]
April 12th, 2011
Turns out that although Paul Ryan budget plan cuts $4.3 trillion dollars in spending, mostly for the poor and middle class, it also cuts taxes- mostly for the very wealthy — by nearly $4.2 trillion dollars, leaving only $155 billion in deficit reduction over ten years. You could get that just by cutting farm subsidies in [...]
April 7th, 2011
Atrios argues that the Republicans really don’t care what happens if they shut down the government. That seems to me to be looking through rose-colored glasses. When the government shuts down, it means that public employees don’t get paid and will probably go through severe financial crises. That’s advantage number one. But more importantly, shutting down [...]
April 7th, 2011
As TPM notes, House Republicans are ready to shut down the government not over deficits, which they couldn’t care less about, but rather over Planned Parenthood and EPA. This is to be expected: they are far more interested in catering to their base than trying to help the country. But what do you do about [...]
April 5th, 2011
Category: 2011 Democratic Agenda, Affordable Care Act, Health Care, Macroeconomic Policy, Republican Party, Watching Conservatives
Via Sullivan, someone named James C. Capretta says that in light of the Republicans’ attempt to end Medicare: with a Republican plan on the table, the media will surely start to ask Democrats, “Hey, where’s your plan?” This will force them to either come clean with their tax-hike vision, or become the party that pushed the [...]
