Reasons not to cheer the trigger

[jpgray]

Much of the call for doing so finds its roots in short-term thinking and political blindness. Ezra Klein's article is a good example of this.

The first difficulty is that for hiring to take place demand needs to expand and not contract. It's a bit ridiculous to cheer the stimulus's success at one moment, and then at the next to cheer its opposite, what would effectively amount to anti-stimulus. As terrible a source of demand as our defense spending is, it remains a source when few are available. Cuts to social spending are far less justifiable and will cause more misery and harm to the already hurt and miserable. The wealthy are not job creators, and are utterly incapable of saving anything worth saving if demand fails to rebound and expand - I don't see how the trigger does anything but harm economically.

Then there is the politics of defense cuts and tax cut expiration. Show me the influential and ambitious politician who stands strongly for cutting defense spending when troops are in combat. Show me the one who fearlessly "raises" taxes by allowing tax cuts on the working class to expire in troubled economic times. You can't show me these, because they do not exist - these actions will be effected only by some trigger or simple expiration, not by the strong efforts of any politician.

But there is little reason to believe they will be effected even by such impersonal means. My assumption is that any cuts in defense spending will not be permanent but speedily reversed, as Obama's defense officials are against them and the president himself remains exposed on defense, despite a series of fantastic successes on our foreign policy goals as defined by the opposition. My other assumption is that the tax cuts will not be allowed to expire - the GOP will be flagrant in supporting them for the rich, and the Democrats will be coy in supporting them for the rich by a posturing refusal to allow them to expire for the working classes.

What's missing is leadership, and that's clear when we have become a cheering section for expiration dates and doomsday devices.

[Vincardog]

1. When the Democratic plan to campaign for the POTUS is "It would be much worse if any of them win"

My answer to your OP is "the proposals by the dread SUPER DUPER committee would have been much worse".
The idiots in charge have bought into the idiotic belief that they need to embrace budget cutting to satisfy the GODs of the FREE MARKET.
Instead of banishing the asinine often disproved beliefs in RayGuns voodoo economics BOTH sides continue to pay homage to them.
Ask me why I am not happy.

[great white snark]

2. Who said that is the plan?

Not letting the Republicans reverse what Obama has done seems to be a theme. Certainly Obama will run on his accomplishments.

[Vincardog]

3. Certainly

[Vattel]

8. kick

[paulk]

4. k & r

"What's missing is leadership, and that's clear when we have become a cheering section for expiration dates and doomsday devices."

[Vattel]

5. Finally, some common sense about this.

[DCBob]

6. The stimulus was meant to be a short term fix to allow time for the economy to recover naturally.

And like it or not we have to deal with our debt situation at some point. It cannot be ignored. The rating agencies will downgrade us if we do that. Then our cost of servicing our debt will go even higher. The trigger looks pretty good compared to what might have come out of the super committee and it is most likely the best deal we ever could have gotten out of the Republicans in the current political environment. So yes, there are reasons to "cheer" the trigger.

[jpgray]

7. But no one is serious about the deficit

That's a given for the GOP, but it's true of the Democrats as well. Health care costs are the major driver of future deficits. It isn't a problem with Medicare growing too expensive, but with health care in general growing too expensive. And what is our response?

You don't fix the problem by limiting cheap and largely effective Medicare while instituting public subsidies for the mandated purchase of expensive private insurance. You don't fix it by excluding re-importation and price negotiation on pharmaceuticals from health care reform.

Our focus is on limiting Medicare in eligibility and benefits, as though once Medicare contributes less to the deficit we might declare victory, even if health care costs apart from Medicare explode. This is ridiculous - if Medicare had never existed, we would be far worse off in deficit spending assuming we wanted to insure seniors at the same level in the private market.

The standard for action should be this at least - that an action is better than the lack of one. I'm not convinced the triggered spending cuts meet that standard.

[DCBob]

9. I think the President is. With looming threats from the rating agenicies he has to take it serious.

I hate those fking rating agencies and they deserve a big chunk of the blame for the financial collapse in 08 but like em or hate em they do have major impact. We have to keep them happy or our ratings goes down and our interest rates go up.

[Vincardog]

10. Bullshit. The ratings agencies are complicit in the fraud that the economic royals are perpetrating

IF the mighty $$$ loses value what happens to their almighty investments?

[DCBob]

11. It may be bullshit to you but its stark reality to the President.

If we get another downgrade the cost of servicing our debt goes up. Those are the facts.. like it or not.

[Vincardog]

12. Speaking of complicit. If anyone was serious about the DEFICIT they would have to demand a massive

increase in the tax rate of the wealthy. Where is the seriousness?
Where is the call for Corporations to pay their fair share?
Where are the tariffs?
Where is the Financial Transaction Tax?
Where is the inheritance tax?
The whole government is buying into this BS cut to save and balance the budget on the backs of the poor.

[DCBob]

13. I thnk the President and most Democrats wanted most if not all of those things youve listed..

I think we can safely blame the Republcans for not allowing those things.

[Vincardog]

14. Please provide a link that proves any demands

[DCBob]

15. Sorry I dont have time to do that, but feel free to post any links that support your premise.

Ciao.

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[JVS]

17. I'm moderately pleased because it is the best preservation of the status quo

These assholes can't agree on small cuts (which would be bad for mostly stuff I support).

I'm pretty sure these assholes can't agree on bigger cuts (which would be bad for both stuff I support and stuff I oppose)

So hopefully they'll kick the can down the road and at least we can pray that we get better assholes to make decisions.