Pyrrhic victory for the Tea Party

[CHIMO]

Now that the protracted, dysfunctional U.S. debt ceiling debate is concluded, there is a clear victory for the Tea Party contingent. By linking the debt ceiling to a commitment to reduce government spending and eliminate the federal deficit, a fundamentally flawed belief in the public mind has been confirmed — namely that government deficits, always and everywhere, are evil and must be eliminated for all time.

This is based in large part on the ludicrously simplistic analogy that Tea Partiers advance, namely that governments are no different than householders and that no more should be spent than is earned.

Politicians of principle and intelligence across the political spectrum, who obviously know better, have succumbed to this patently false principle, here in Canada and elsewhere, to avoid the risk of political defeat.

When I was posted to Tokyo in 1986, one of the most impressive young economists I encountered was Richard Koo of the Conservative Nomura Securities firm’s Research Institute. Following the bursting of the Japanese asset price bubble in 1990, Koo went on to become a key adviser to successive prime ministers on how to deal with Japan’s economic recovery.

http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/1034278--pyrrhic-victory-for-the-tea-party

[ingac70]

1. The positive to come from this....

the next time the blood thirsty little fucks make up a reason to go to war, people are going to ask how will we pay for it BEFORE we dive in.

[Ineeda]

2. Exactly. And when....

another bridge fails, or a tornado strikes, or they need a police officer, or their kid needs a scholarship, or their elderly mother needs care, or a food source is contaminated, or...or...or...any of a hundred things, they'll be outraged if the big ol' evil gubmint can't help. I'd say screw 'em, but we're screwed right along with them.

[jmowreader]

3. What no one points out about this fallacy

Unless you paid for your house, car and furniture with cash, and very few people did, you spent more than you make on many occasions. Everyone did.

The important thing is to be able to pay your bills, NOT to be able to pay for everything in cash. I think if you DID pay for everything in cash you'd get poorer service than someone using credit would, since credit is very profitable.