Debt Crisis? What Debt Crisis?

Jamelle Bouie  is a “writing fellow” at the monthly magazine The American Prospect, which describes itself as covering politics, culture, and policy from a liberal perspective. In this recent article, Mr. Bouie lets the liberal drivel spew out of control.

The subject of Mr. Bouie’s diatribe was a recent meeting at the National Press Club of a group that calls itself the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Here is his opening volley:

Yesterday afternoon at the National Press Club (the standard Washington venue for events that need a little class), the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget—a bipartisan debt-reduction group—rolled out its “Fix the Debt” campaign, an attempt to push deficit reduction to the top of the congressional priority list. It’s hard to overstate the extent to which this was an almost stereotypical gathering of Beltway deficit scolds…

Mr. Bouie is not impressed by our national debt or our year-over-year deficits. This was the tag line to his article:

To many in official Washington, hypothetical debt crises are more important than mass immiseration.

That’s right. He sees it as a “hypothetical” debt crisis. Bouie laments that there wasn’t much in the way of policy recommendations:

Instead, the bulk of the conversation was devoted to hyperventilating over the threat of the federal debt, and indulging the centrist conceit that both parties are responsible for the impasse in Congress…

In response to one of the meeting participants saying: “We can’t grow the economy without fixing the debt.”, Bouie had this to say:

Of course, this isn’t true: As we saw to a limited extent with the stimulus, you can improve the economy by taking on debt, as long as that debt is used to finance consumer spending. A second, $1 trillion spending program would increase the debt, but would do more for jumpstarting the economy than any agreement on long-term budgets.

Now, I know that Mr. Bouie is not Greek; but he sure sounds like one. He apparently believes that the 2009 stimulus package wasn’t nearly enough. I’m guessing he reads Paul Krugmna’s column. Being a “writing fellow” for a liberal magazine, I can excuse Mr. Bouie for not knowing that by the end of Obama’s four years as President, that stimulus spending will be over $3 trillion. This is because the 2009 stimulus package never went away but became part of the baseline budget with every Continuing Resolution since then. Paul Krugman does know better but he is too dishonest to say so.

As you would expect with a liberal magazine, most of the comments were supportive of mr. Bouie’s point of view. Here is part of a comment attributed to a Mark Matson. This will blow your socks off:

I agree completely.  Or, I did up until a day or two ago.  Now, all of a suden, the big worry is the “Fiscal Cliff”.  Ironically, the Fiscal Cliff is a Keynesian problem.  If we go over the Fiscal Cliff, all of our deficit problems will go away.  But Washington insiders now consider this a bad thing.

Imagine that! Washington insiders “now” consider going over the fiscal cliff a bad thing.

Surprisingly, at least one conservative got their comment published. This is what Tom Genin said:

Current Federal Tax Revenue: $2.36 Trillion. Current Federal Tax Spending: $3.630 Trillion. Current Income/Spending Difference: $1.27 Trillion.

Federal Tax increase required on All Americans to make up the difference to cover Federal Spending: 57%.

Current Annual State & Local Spending $3.07 Trillion Current State & Local Revenue: $2.58 Trillion Current Income/Spending Difference: $490 Billion

State Tax increase required on All Americans to make up the difference to cover State & Local Spending: 20%

And that doesn’t even pay $1 to lower the debt, or account for the future projected skyrocketing liabilities of entitlement programs.

Spending is the problem that taxes won’t solve.

Well done, Tom.

The way the liberal mind works is beyond comprehension. I would guess that Mr. Bouie and sadly, Paul Krugman would agree with what people like  Steny Hoyer and Nancy Pelosi who believe that the best way to “stimulate” the economy is through more unemployment benefits and more food stamps.

Is it any wonder why our country is in such a mess? Liberals can not see reality and if they could, they wouldn’t believe it.

Well, that’s what I’m thinking. What are your thoughts?