...is that ideologues who are largely immune for the financial pain of their constituents held the national economy hostage so they could cut spending at precisely the time that we need to infuse the economy with cash and new jobs.
Basically, the argument goes: "If you want to avoid a monumental economic disaster, you must agree to compound our problems and more firmly commit to failed policies."
I do not think that he is in any way the worst actor here, but it is worth saying that Obama embraced the very ideas you're talking about prior to entering the debt ceiling negotiations. He-- on this issue-- isn't much better than the opposition. Other issues, yes. This one, no. I think the great mystery of the obama presidency is how a neo-keynsian went in for all this austerity garbage.
ReplyDeleteI know this is a sticking point for you and I've heard you say it a few times on the interwebs. My guess is that he probably both sees some logic in budget cuts (I don't but he may) and also that there is simply nothing he can accomplish with the makeup of Congress without finding a way to get votes from people whose only, only, only issue is strangle government.
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