Paul Krugman and Martin Feldstein discuss supercommittee failure on PBS

[alp227]

Run time: 10:09 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_ak-i0MRd8   Posted on YouTube: November 23, 2011 By YouTube Member: PBSNewsHour Views on YouTube: 321   Posted on DU: November 23, 2011 By DU Member: alp227 Views on DU: 2030

 
Transcript

[TatonkaJames]

1. Feldstein's argument is typical

A few hundred billion dollars, over the next 10 years ? What good is that when we need minimum $4 Trillion to dent the deficit ?

PAUL KRUGMAN: Yes.

I was going to say, there's a false symmetry here. Democrats on the committee and Democrats more generally have actually been willing to offer quite a lot in the way of entitlement cuts. Some people, including myself, were kind of alarmed at how much they were willing to offer.

Democrats have been -- there's actually substantial Medicare cuts in the health reform that was passed last year. There are -- there were substantial further cuts in Social Security and Medicare that are on the table from Democrats. The real stumbling block here is that, with tax rates for the wealthy pretty close to their 80-year low point, Republicans have been unwilling to accept the possibility of any significant increase in those taxes.

And so it really is one-sided. The Democrats were willing to go a long way, as I say, so much so that a lot of the progressive base was pretty upset at the prospect. Republicans were not willing to give an inch on taxes on the wealthy. And so no agreement was possible.

RAY SUAREZ: Martin Feldstein, go ahead.

MARTIN FELDSTEIN: Well, that wasn't really true.

What the Republicans were prepared to do was to put caps, put limits on the deductions, which is basically something that only affects the higher-income individuals, but put caps on that as a way of raising revenue, some of which would be given back in lower tax rates, so that they could say, well, this is a pro-growth tax reform, but it would be one that would have raised significant revenue, a few hundred billion dollars, over the next 10 years.

But that wasn't deemed by the Democrats to be enough. And so, as I said, we're back to extreme positions until after the election.

[AlbertCat]

2. Feldstein is a fossil

1st off.... he's trying to push the false equivalency crap that the Dems are just as much to blame as the Repugs. It is as plain as the beard on Krugman's face that the GOP is the one stalling, playing politics the most and simply being a brick wall with no flexibility. Then Feldstein goes on with the same ol' "trickle down" bull shit we've been getting from the GOP for the past 30 years.... that HASN'T WORKED for the past 30 years.

It ain't rocket science. Everyone knows what to do.

Cut military spending
Raise taxes on those who can afford it.... even to last century's brackets would help tremendously.
Make corporations pay a mandatory minimum tax.


The Pentagon and our military will not collapse
The wealthy will not go broke
Corporations will not go under

All boats will rise.

I say, YES, let all the Bush tax cut expire.... like the GOP itself, when they were in power, voted for them to do. Then pass NEW Dem cuts targeted for the middle class.... that start now, not 10 years from now.

Like I said, it ain't a mystery or even a difficult idea. Everyone knows this will do the trick.... especially if the "extra" revenue significantly goes to replacing, repairing and upgrading infrastructure thereby creating jobs that cannot be outsourced overseas.

A no brainer.

Obama needs to stop trying to "reform" things without really changing anything. You either change it or not.