NewsTrust - National Debt - Most Recent Stories: Opinion (Independent)

Explaining the upper crust’s preference for austerity economics

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

seattletimes.com - By Paul Krugman - Apr. 27 (Opinion) - At this point, the austerian position has imploded; not only have its predictions about the real world failed completely, but the academic research invoked to support that position has turned out to be riddled with errors, omissions and dubious statistics. Yet two big questions remain. First, how did austerity doctrine become so influential in the first place? Second, will policy change at all now that crucial austerian claims have become fodder for late-night comics?

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What the Fiscal Cliff Deal Was Really About

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0800

AlterNet - By Joshua Holland - Jan. 02 (Opinion) - I hate this deal. It's simply a hostage exchange. The Republicans gave up the fiscal cliff, and will now take the debt limit, the federal budget and automatic across-the-board cuts to discretionary spending (the sequester), and have another standoff in 2-3 months time. The deal wouldn't have gotten 85 GOP votes in the House without the leadership giving right-wingers ironclad guarantees that they'll have another hostage soon.

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6 Reasons the Fiscal Cliff is a Scam

Fri, 23 Nov 2012 00:00:00 -0800

AlterNet - By James K. Galbraith - Nov. 23 (Opinion) - In the nature of stampedes arguments become confused; panic flows from fear, when multiple forces – economic and political in this instance – all appear to push the same way. It is therefore useful to sort through those forces, breaking them down into separate questions, and to ask whether any of them justify the voices of doom.

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The Next Game of Economic Chicken: Taxing the Rich

Sun, 11 Nov 2012 00:00:00 -0800

readersupportednews.org - By Robert Reich - Nov. 11 (Opinion) - The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office on Thursday warned that the automatic tax increases and spending cuts scheduled to start in January amount to too much deficit reduction, too soon. They'd put the economy back into recession, and push unemployment to about 9 percent. But the CBO also warned of an economic crisis ahead if the United States doesn't stem the growth of the nation's exploding deficit.

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Fox News Has Tricked People Into Thinking Obama Is A Big Spender

Sat, 30 Jun 2012 00:00:00 -0700

businessinsider.com - Jun. 30 (Opinion) - Read it and weep conservitards.

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OpEdNews - Article: End [Their Federal Reserve System = An Exclusive Banking Cartel]

Fri, 08 Jun 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Op Ed News - Jun. 08 (Opinion) -

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Austerity Is So Wrong!

Sun, 06 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

The Daily Beast - By Paul Krugman - May. 06 (Opinion) - In a new book, End This Depression Now!, Nobel Prize–winning economist Paul Krugman says the current economic problems can be fixed both more easily and more quickly than anyone imagines. But politicians’ desire to slash spending is deeply destructive, and he details why austerity is so appealing even to Very Serious People—and why it’s such a bad idea.

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Punk Economics: Lesson 3

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700

YouTube - By David McWilliams - Apr. 01 (Opinion) - Irish Economist David McWilliams discusses the dangers of playing games with liquidity, in Lesson 3.

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The Social Contract

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

readersupportednews.org - By Paul Krugman - Sep. 23 (Opinion) - This week President Obama said the obvious: that wealthy Americans, many of whom pay remarkably little in taxes, should bear part of the cost of reducing the long-run budget deficit. And Republicans like Representative Paul Ryan responded with shrieks of “class warfare.” It was, of course, nothing of the sort. On the contrary, it’s people like Mr. Ryan, who want to exempt the very rich from bearing any of the burden of making our finances sustainable, who are waging class war.

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The Economy Is Doomed Says Charles R. Morris

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 09:01:10 -0700

The Daily Beast - By Charles R. Morris - Aug. 11 (Opinion) - Over the last few days, global markets have been surging and collapsing like a teeny-bopper’s hormones. The Monday swoon was precipitated by the downgrading of the U.S. credit rating by one of the major credit agencies, while the Tuesday resurrection was in reaction to Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke’s promise to keep interest rates near zero in perpetuity if necessary. Neither of those was a real event. Treasury risk premiums fell after the credit action, and American banks and corporations are already sitting on some $3 trillion in cash that they can’t spend. More free money won’t change anything. Gloom descended again on Wednesday, this time because of credit worries in Europe, which is at least a real problem. A deeper reason for the high market anxiety, however, is the sad state of financial governance in both Europe and the United States. The paralyzing standoff between the two major American parties was dramatized by the idiocies of the debt-ceiling debate. President Obama’s Monday speech only added to the nervousness by underscoring how far apart the parties were.

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Nullifying the Future -- Tyranny of the Minority

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Op Ed News - By Robert S. Becker - Aug. 09 (Opinion) - The Tea Party, like the Civil War, dramatize and test our core value -- does the majority rule when a strident obstructionist minority gets in its way? I say No when 20% trumps 80%.

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Slouching Toward a Double-Dip, for No Good Reason

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Robert Reich - Aug. 08 (Opinion) - Imagine your house is burning. You call the fire department but your call isn't answered because every fire fighter in town is debating whether there will be enough water to fight fires over the next ten years, even though water is plentiful right now. (Yes, there's a long-term problem.) One faction won't even allow the fire trucks out of the garage unless everyone agrees to cut water use. An agency that rates fire departments has just issued a downgrade, causing everyone to hoard water. While all this squabbling continues, your house burns to the ground and the fire has now spread to your neighbors' homes. But because everyone is preoccupied with the wrong question (the long-term water supply) and the wrong solution (saving water now), there's no response. In the end, the town comes up with a plan for the water supply over the next decade, but it's irrelevant because the whole town has been turned to ashes.

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Rep. Donna Edwards on Why She Voted Against Debt Deal: “A Bad Framework for the Future”

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Donna Edwards, Amy Goodman - Aug. 03 (Interview) - President Obama has signed legislation to increase the U.S. debt ceiling in time to avoid a national default. The $2.1 trillion deficit-reduction plan cleared its final hurdle in the Senate yesterday, passing with a 74-to-26 vote. Six Democrats and 19 Republicans opposed the measure. Members of the Progressive Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus rejected the deal because of its massive cuts to domestic spending and a lack of tax increases for the wealthy. Democratic Rep. Donna Edwards of Maryland was among those to vote no, summing up her disappointment on Twitter by writing: "Nada from million/billionaires; corp tax loopholes aplenty; only sacrifice from the poor/middle class? Shared sacrifice, balance? Really?" We speak with Rep. Edwards about why she voted against the plan. [includes rush transcript]

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Richard Wolff: Debt Showdown is "Political Theater" Burdening Society's Most Vulnerable

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Jul. 28 (Interview) - Republicans have agreed to a vote today on a budget plan they say will cut the deficit $917 billion over 10 years. The move sets the stage for showdown against unified Democratic opposition in the Senate and threats of a White House veto. To discuss the debt talks and economic austerity worldwide, we're joined by Richard Wolff, Emeritus Professor of Economics at University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and author of several books including, "Capitalism Hits the Fan: The Global Economic Meltdown and What to Do About It." "Politics in the U.S. have become as dysfunctional as our economic situation," Wolff says. "It seems almost like the Obama administration is seeking this [August 2] deadline to start moving in the more centrist direction economically that it has wanted ... but has been absent the type of crisis that would be able to convince the American public it needs to do [it]."

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Smash the Ceiling

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

readersupportednews.org - By James Surowiecki - Jul. 26 (Opinion) - 'The truth is that the United States doesn't need, and shouldn't have, a debt ceiling. Every other democratic country, with the exception of Denmark, does fine without one. There's no debt limit in the Constitution. And, if Congress really wants to hold down government debt, it already has a way to do so that doesn't risk economic chaos - namely, the annual budgeting process.' James Surowiecki, The New Yorker

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Newsvine - Ultra-Right Distorts Credit Warnings in Attack on Jobs, Recovery, Economy

Sat, 16 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

NewsVine - By John A.-400474 - Jul. 16 (Opinion) - GOP "slashonomics" will damage economic recovery

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Jon Stewart Rips Republicans Over Debt Ceiling Fight (VIDEO)

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Jon Stewart - Jul. 13 (Comedy News) - As you've probably heard, the government is headed for a crisis if raising the debt ceiling isn't raised by August 2. On Tuesday night's "Daily Show," Jon Stewart summed up our potential default and mocked House republicans for "playing politics with our credit rating."

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Can Obama shame Republicans on the debt ceiling?

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Salon - By Joan Walsh - Jul. 12 (Opinion) - Is President Obama proving his political genius by floating a plan for a $4 trillion deficit cut deal to lift the debt ceiling, offering entitlement cuts that will enrage parts of his base knowing he'll never face their wrath, because far-right Republicans will never take the deal? It could be.

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Budget Blowhards: Why the Budget Debate Is Destined to Become Ever More Painful

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Dean Baker - Jul. 12 (Opinion) - The Washington press corps is living some bizarre delusion about the balanced budgets at the end of the Clinton years. They didn't come about from politicians making tough choices. They came about from much stronger than expected economic growth.

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Section 4 Of The 14th Amendment Was Designed To Stop Boehner

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

New Republic - By Jonathan Chait - Jul. 01 (Opinion) - Balkin does not suggest, nor do I, that the legal merits are open and shut. It's certainly risky to take a flyer in the middle of a debt crisis. But if we do reach h-hour, we're probably better off if the Treasury simply announces it's going to continue to pay the bills and dares Republicans to take them to court than repudiating the debt, right?

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"Don't Believe the Hype About U.S. Debt"

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Sally Kohn, Amy Goodman, Juan Gonzalez - Jun. 13 (Interview) - this is the time when we should be worrying about other things than public spending. I mean, the fact of the matter is that corporations are sitting on record levels of capital. They’re not spending it. There’s new news out that, if anything, they’re not spending it on jobs; they’re spending it on new, you know, manufacturing equipment. So the problem is, in this situation, like it or not, government is the spender of last resort. And the irony with all this, when everybody says, "Well, government should be tightening its belt, so is everyone else," you know, we let corporations — we actually encourage corporations in this country to borrow and carry debt ratios sometimes three, sometimes four, 14, 50 times higher than government.

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It's Either A Ransom Or A Bargain, Not Both

Sat, 14 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

New Republic - By Jonathan Chait - May. 14 (Opinion) - The debt ceiling negotiations are very hard to figure out, because every side has an incentive to keep its bottom line hidden from public view. That said, I don't understand what President Obama is thinking here. First, he's allowed Republicans to turn the debt ceiling into an opportunity to wrench policy concessions, something that has never happened before. If he announced from the outset that debt ceiling votes have never been bargaining chips for policy changes, and that he would only sign a clean debt ceiling hike, and any failure to raise the debt ceiling is the GOP's responsibility, do you think Republicans could stand up to pressure from business? I don't. But we'll never know because Obama gave up that leverage immediately.

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Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Debt?

Thu, 05 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

populist.com - By Bob Burnett - May. 05 (Opinion) - Last week, I received an angry email accusing me of ignoring the number one political story, “...the USA is broke and has $14 TRILLION DOLLARS worth of debt!” It wasn’t unusual, as many Americans are overwrought about the US public debt. Sure, it’s a problem, but not number one, and here’s why.

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Is FactCheck.org What You've Been Led To Believe It Is?

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

thomhartmann.com - By Vitocaputo - Mar. 26 (Opinion) - During the Brunch With Bernie segment of the March 25 broadcast... Bernie said something like "Social Security does not contribute one cent to the deficit.." Most every member of the progressive media... both radio and Internet... have expressed the same belief. My understanding of the structure of Social Security is consistent with this progressive perspective on the relationship between Social Security and the deficit. Specifically... they are disjoint.

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