Paul Krugman: The Hijacked Commission

[highplainsdem]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/12/opinion/12krugman.html

The Hijacked Commission
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: November 11, 2010

Count me among those who always believed that President Obama made a big mistake when he created the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform — a supposedly bipartisan panel charged with coming up with solutions to the nation’s long-run fiscal problems. It seemed obvious, as soon as the commission’s membership was announced, that “bipartisanship” would mean what it so often does in Washington: a compromise between the center-right and the hard-right.

-snip-

We’ve known for a long time, then, that nothing good would come from the commission. But on Wednesday, when the co-chairmen released a PowerPoint outlining their proposal, it was even worse than the cynics expected.

-snip-

Actually, though, what the co-chairmen are proposing is a mixture of tax cuts and tax increases — tax cuts for the wealthy, tax increases for the middle class. They suggest eliminating tax breaks that, whatever you think of them, matter a lot to middle-class Americans — the deductibility of health benefits and mortgage interest — and using much of the revenue gained thereby, not to reduce the deficit, but to allow sharp reductions in both the top marginal tax rate and in the corporate tax rate.

-snip-

It’s no mystery what has happened on the deficit commission: as so often happens in modern Washington, a process meant to deal with real problems has been hijacked on behalf of an ideological agenda. Under the guise of facing our fiscal problems, Mr. Bowles and Mr. Simpson are trying to smuggle in the same old, same old — tax cuts for the rich and erosion of the social safety net.

-snip-

[SemiCharmedQuark]

1. Thanks for posting.

KR

[ProSense]

2. Krugman is right

Still, the commission simply put all the crap the could think of out front.

[neverforget]

3. Unserious indeed. Cut taxes for wealthy and corporations while telling everyone

else to buck up. Fuck you Bowles and Simpson.

[Dragonfli]

4. It is almost comical how the tax cuts to the top rate keep getting associated with deficit reduction

It's like going on a diet of ice cream and cake to lose weight, and the Administration hasn't batted an eye over the obvious contradiction.

This committee is about one thing, moving money from the poor, the elderly, and even the middle class (that used to at least get lip service unlike the poor)and giving it almost directly to the rich.

They even go outside of the budget to rob the SS fund (it's true it is not part of the budget or the deficit) to steal yet more of that by generating yet more of a surplus to borrow/steal rather than spending it on those that payed into it.

Not even a good con job, it is too obvious, I guess when the fix is in you can be as obvious and dishonest as you want.

[glitch]

18. The Lazy Con

Instead of the Long Con. You're absolutely correct, they're not even pretending anymore.

[PufPuf23]

21. Yep. Lazy instead of long con.

Sad but true.

The simple answer is a return to a more progressive tax rate and tinkering with social insurance programs (Social Security and Medicare). My tinkering would be more contributions from the wealthy. Other obvious ways to reduce deficits are to cut military and have investment tax credits rather than tax cuts for the wealthy to create jobs and more tax revenue.

[cascadiance]

5. Fascism HAS taken over!

It's just not admitting so out in the open yet. We're not far away from that!

We need to start a primary OR a general election challenge for 2012 NOW!

These F'KERS also want to raise the gasoline tax 15 cents a gallon too as ANOTHER way to steal money from the rest of us to line their F'ING pockets!

[Dragonfli]

6. Agreed, all my energy for 2012 is going into that last hail Mary

and hoping we can draft someone that is known to be one to govern as he/she runs.
One that has the best interests of the unrepresented 98% in mind, and a reputation that the people can trust, trust will be hard after the bill of goods so many were sold on the last time.

[somone]

7. A must read

[global1]

8. The Die Is Cast......

The Catfood Commission will succeed. Obama will say that it is the tough decision - but it was made in a bipartisan manner - and we'll just bend over and take another one in the shorts.

It's going to be interesting when all this outsourced product that isn't manufactured in the U.S. anymore - starts sitting on shelves because - no one can afford to buy any of it.

The corporatists think that they have us by the short hairs. They don't realize that they are shooting themselves in the foot and causing us to spiral down the rabbit hole even faster.

No jobs. No money to buy the crap they are trying to sell us.

No tax money being collected. People out of work don't pay payroll taxes.

People out of work don't buy things and so we won't be collecting sales taxes.

People that lose their houses won't be paying property taxes. Property taxes support your local state, city, town or village and schools. Without a substantial property tax base our infrastructure will deteriorate even faster.

Education will suffer even more than it currently is as this too is supported by property taxes. Our children will be shortchanged. Our future that is in their hands will suffer because they will not be able to compete with students from other countries that are getting fine educations.

The rich are thinking they are sitting on easy street right now. They got their hands in our back pockets so deep with cell phones with all the options, cable TV, faster internet, fancy electronics, new and expensive energy efficient cars, skyboxes, etc and the list goes on and on.

But when the money that's left in those back pockets need to pay for ever increasing cost of food and shelter. There won't be any left for all those extravagances that they are trying to sell us.

Folks - we're in a death spiral here. There is no way out of this if we continue on this path of financial ruin.

This is just another one of those bubbles that will burst - and this time it will burst in the faces of the rich - and when this one bursts - it will probably be too late to recover.

Jobs are the answer. Mr. Boehner - where are the jobs?

[cascadiance]

10. At least this time the Republicans are in charge and we CAN BLAME THEM!!!

At least those that are putting for the bills in the House. If they can't produce anything constructive, they can no longer stand back and point fingers at Democrats and say "It's not my fault!"

But damnit! We need some on our side to use the bully pulpit to make this fact VERY clear to the public, and also VERY clear that our side is willing to take risks against the corporate fascists that they will challenge their BS! Unfortunately I think we've not got too many voices for that either.

We need to start our own sort of "tea party" (called something else of course) within the Democratic Party and do it NOW! Probably too late to start a separate party or build up the Greens, etc. at the moment. Perhaps we need to talk the Greens in to coming out and clearly indicate that they plan to take over the Democratic Party and work with other progressives on making it what it used to be again and KICKING OUT any corporatists that stand in the way!

[global1]

13. Educate Me On The Greens......

What do they stand for? What are their positions? Would they be considered Progressive Dems? Something short of Progressive Dems? Or not even close to Progressive Dems? Is the Green Party to Dems as the Tea Party is to Repugs?

[laughingliberal]

12. Yes. The reason they're going after the SS fund is it's all we have left.

Jobs are the solution to deficit reduction but they'll withhold them and scream about the deficit until they get their hands on the SS money. Then they'll throw a few low paid, no bene jobs out for us.

Life as we once knew it is over.

[fascisthunter]

20. in a way, they are making wealth irrelevent

people are seeing through the bullshit, and I don't think the well-off will be getting such a pass anymore by average Americans.

[laughingliberal]

9. Krugman saw what I saw. Everyone takes a hit except the rich. Again!

This is the same crap we've seen for 30 years. Starting when Reagan cut taxes on the rich and raised FICA taxes we've been continuing down this path of letting the rich skate and covering the shortfall their tax cuts created on the backs of the poor and working and middle classes. The rigging of CPI calculations meant SS recipients have been falling into poverty at an alarming rate and this commission proposes more schemes to hide the real cost of living to further screw seniors and workers.

The mortgage interest deduction is the last real tax deduction available to the middle class. Bush I did away with the deduction we once got on interest on credit cards and auto loans. Funny how that allowed the credit company's to get laws passed to raise rates sky high after that.

They just passed a horror of a health care bill that left us enslaved to the employer based system for coverage and this plan eliminates the tax break for businesses who provide benefits. Like what you have? Enjoy it while you can. Everyone will be thrown into the open market to buy their own.

They actually propose raising copays on Medicaid recipients and VA patients.

And another effing tax cut for corporations and the rich.

Welfare for the Robber Barons-again. And self reliance for the poor.

As much as I hate a lot of what he did, Clinton did raise taxes on the rich. It's time someone stepped up and did it again.

[pa28]

11. Paul "Cassandra" Krugman strikes again.

He's so often right and yet he is treated like a pariah by the allegedly serious people in the inner ring.

I've seen tax and trade policy that amounted to class warfare but the Simpson commission's objectives are just a naked grab. Obama should get a fresh start and begin the second chapter in his Presidency by disbanding it ASAP.

[dreamnightwind]

22. We wish

"Obama should get a fresh start and begin the second chapter in his Presidency by disbanding it ASAP. "

Unfortunately I just saw Obama walking triumphantly with Bowles and Simpson, he looked quite at home with those two.

I have a bad feeling about this, we should take it as a serious threat.

[TexasObserver]

14. Agreed. Hooverian, in fact.

You're trying to get a fire started. It's burning a little, and you really need to add more wood. The GOP yells "throw water on it, that'll make it burn more!"

8 years of Reagan, 4 years of Poppy Bush, 8 years of Junior - nothing but big deficits

Last 2 presidents to balance the budget = Carter and Clinton

The GOP only cares about balanced budgets when Democrats are running the show, and even then, they only care about it as a political issue devoid of any real meaning. They don't care about the deficit. They created the deficit with their "guns and butter" funding and their tax cuts.

[highplainsdem]

16. +1

[Catherina]

15. Thank you Mr. Krugman. Rec'd n/t

[PA Democrat]

17. The commission's proposal reads like something Grover Norquist would write.

[fascisthunter]

19. "Mistake"... no, this wasn't a "mistake"

[Better Believe It]

23. President Obama did not have to set-up the commission or appoint the two chairs he named.

[fascisthunter]

25. thanks to lots of you, I know and now others know

pretending he is making mistakes and that he just needs to understand he is wrong, really isn't going to help us in the end. He either represents us or he doesn't. People should never take a politician at their word only, and I'm afraid lots of good people calling themselves liberal or progressive have fallen into that trap.

[Better Believe It]

31. Those who say that President Obama is "just" making one mistake after another don't think he's smart

And they are wrong.

He understands exactly what he's doing and who he is representing.

[blindpig]

24. You're damn straight it ain't no mistake

This is the fruition of the ruling class agenda.

[fascisthunter]

26. Absolutely it is... and THAT is the Mountain we need to chip down

too bad I can't do it with the side of my hand!

[blindpig]

27. It's gonna take a bunch of us...

[fascisthunter]

28. it's the inevitable

we have no other choice. It's funny because in a way Washington DC is creating a super majority of angry voters... very dangerous to their bottom-line.

[Individualist]

29. K&R

[Edweird]

30. "Hijacked" implies the commission did not perform as intended.