Thank You Rep. Brad Miller - Representative, North Carolina !!!

[WillyT]

Econo-conned
by: Paul Rosenberg
Fri Nov 12, 2010 at 16:30

Proposing to "reform" Social Security because of long-term deficits is like invading Iraq because Afghanistan attacked us.

Or maybe the Social Security system has weapons of mass destruction.

--Rep. Brad Miller.Representative, North Carolina

Miller's got an excellent point. Not only does Social Security have nothing to do with the deficit, the way in which the two missions have gotten scrambled behind closed doors only to be sold as one and the same to the American public bears a striking resemblance to the deeply dishonest and very deadly Bush foreign policy. And the reason for the similarity is simple: They're both the product of the same general group of Versailles insiders. Oh sure, there are different subgroups at the driving core of each, but the broader group of professional cheerleaders is virtually identical. None of them lost a bit of prestige for being utterly and totally wrong about Iraq, and none will lose anything if/when they're proven utterly wrong about this. They are, to put it simply, the public face of the oligarchs who run America, and all that matters is that they say what the oligarchs want them to say. Being right is immaterial. In fact, given the ethos of "taking one for the team," it's even quite possible that being spectacularly, idiotically wrong could be better for your long-term career. Certainly, being deadly accurate would be poison. Just ask Phil Donohue.

Speaking of being deadly accurate, Paul Krugman has a new column out, "The Hijacked Commission", warning that:

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.

Krugman. You remember him. Nobel Prize. Warned against passing too small a stimulus. Particularly warned that once it proved too small, it would be too late to do anything about, there would be no political will to make up for the shortfall? Well, Krugman also warned that the Bush tax cuts were a terrible idea. Not content to write columns about it, he even put together a brief, quickie book, Fuzzy Math: The Essential Guide to the Bush Tax Plan,which literally tore Bush's plan to shreds. And after 9/11, as they economy was faltering, and Bush was putting together an economic stimulus plan, Krugman wrote again that "Fuzzy Math Returns" (SYNOPSIS: Don't sacrifice our long term economic prospects in the name of ending a short-term slump), in which he presciently warned:

<snip>

More: http://www.openleft.com/diary/20839/econoconned

:kick:

[The Wielding Truth]

1. Excellent ! Reason is being scooted away by those who wish to rob us again.

Good job Miller.

[OHdem10]

2. It is beginning to appear(I said appear) that in this particular

proposal they are using SS Fund to pay off the deficit.

If I understood them, (Walker ex CBO, Feldstein, Econ. Harvard)
on C Rose tonight. It seems there are other proposals possibly
3 others. The President will get these plus the Catfood Commission
should have their proposal formalized by Dec l.
The Congress will get those other proposals in the meantime. I suppose
there will be debates and one plan developed from all the
suggestions plus Congressional Input.

We must keep a close eye.