|
 |
11/24/2010
Really down in the dumps
“If Congress fails to rein in the deficit, it will be because of a lack of political courage – not any shortage of ideas out there on how to get the job done." So sayeth the venerable New York Times on Sunday. Sure, easy for them to say, when the public can’t even accept a retirement age of 69, phased in over 65 years for gosh sakes. To get past that kind of self interest requires yeah, tons of courage.
In the last couple of days, I’ve been on a roller coaster of hope and disillusionment over this budget and deficit business. Mostly though, it’s been disillusionment….
WaPo says solving the budget is doable! Yay! – the sides are getting closer!
… a surprisingly broad consensus is forming around the actions required to stabilize borrowing and ease fears of a European-style debt crisis in the United States. As a presidential commission struggles to build political momentum for such a package, even Republicans who initially opposed the commission's creation are still at the negotiating table.
But then bring on the experts – and the pundits. Robert Samuelson wrote of the politics of avoidance on the burgeoning budget. A good piece.
Any genuine debate must be wrenching because government has promised more than it can realistically deliver, and lower benefits or higher taxes will leave many feeling (justifiably) mistreated. No one would be happy. Liberals would have to accept sizable benefit cuts; conservatives, tax increases.
Recognizing this logic, America's leaders have averted their eyes and held their tongues.
And yesterday David Brooks told us budget reform is going nowhere. Damn.
Nobody has a political strategy for getting anything like this passed in the short term. There is very little likelihood the political class as currently constituted will address the looming fiscal disaster soon.
And Steve Chapman, writing for Reason.com. Will Republicans get serious about cutting spending? Don’t count on it. Oh my.
Then there’s the litany of all the programs that absolutely cannot afford to be cut!!!
For example, the left, on education budgets!
At a time when more and more Americans are going back to school as a means of bettering their chances of getting a good job in a very competitive job market, it seems counterintuitive to cut funding for the very programs that make a higher education more accessible for millions of Americans.
Blah, blah, blah. We all have our programs. I think it’s Daily Kos desperately railing on me to call my congressman, demanding he support Social Security! Oh my, you’d think the world was coming to an end. It certainly will end if Head Start programs don’t continue to grow around the country! And not to forget the conservatives demanding we maintain our defense budget. And those same conservatives hollering about Medicare rationing. On and on it goes.
It’s up to us folks. It’s up to us to support those congressmen calling for the radical spending CUTS (and maybe even as part of the compromise, taxing – eek – did I say that?) necessary to dig out of this huge hole we’ve dug ourselves in to. At the moment, I’m with David Brooks. I just don’t see it happening. Point the fingers at us. All of us.
Jo Egelhoff, FoxPolitics.net
COMMENTS
Jo, at some point you MUST recognize that politicians spend money because they are PAID to spend money. You haven't yet reached that plateau, and hopefully when you do you'll be different, but we have a corrupt political system that is costing taxpayers 10 times what a normal government should cost. THAT translates to deficits, debt and high taxes. See this article shows that "free market CEOs at government contractors" are walking away with $40-50 million salaries at taxpayer expense. Howard Lance of Florida takes in $46M from his company that gets $2.2 billion in government contracts while (incidentally) giving multiple $2000 campaign checks to politicians and $5000 checks to PACs.
Get used to it, or fix it.
Jack Lohman (Wed Nov 24 07:45:52 2010)
Jo, you are still not getting it.
Right now, while we are in a deep recession, is NOT the time for reducing government nor increasing taxes.
Devaluation would help. Fiscal stimulus would help. Once the economy is going again then deficit reduction would be higher priority.
Here is an excerpt, concerning devaluation, from Krugman.
>>>Menzie Chinn goes after Paul Ryan’s challenge: “Name me a nation in history that has prospered by devaluing its currency.” But why go back to the 1930s?
How about:
-Britain, which recovered strongly from its early 90s doldrums after it devalued the pound against the mark in 1992. (At the time, some wags suggested putting a statue of George Soros in Trafalgar Square.)
- Sweden, which recovered from its early 90s banking crisis with an export boom, driven by a devalued kronor.
- South Korea, which roared back from the 1997-1998 crisis with an export boom, driven by a depreciated won.
- Argentina, which roared back from its 2002 crisis with an export boom, driven by a depreciated peso.
And more. The truth is that every recovery from financial crisis I know of since World War II was driven by currency depreciation<<<
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/
Dean Weichmann (Wed Nov 24 08:30:07 2010)
I agree, Dean, but what Jo and conservatives in general refuse to ask is "WHY are we in this mess in the first place???" It is a subject that is left off the table. Political corruption is untouchable.
Jack Lohman (Wed Nov 24 08:48:38 2010)
Thanks Jack. It is strange, even the rich would be better off with an economy that is moving. Personal greed and and inability to see the big picture get in the way of progress. Not many of us would welcome restrictions on ourselves and others that benifit the whole. Think of the repealed Glass-Steagall act.
>>>The repeal of the Glass–Steagall Act of 1933 effectively removed the separation that previously existed between Wall Street investment banks and depository banks and has been blamed by some for exacerbating the damage caused by the collapse of the subprime mortgage market that led to the Financial crisis of 2007–2010.[4] The potential to make enormous profits trading mortgage-backed securities with artificially high ratings[5] encouraged banks to take on otherwise intolerable risk in the form of bad loans. The ease with which people were obtaining home loans contributed to an artificial housing boom and exacerbated the inevitable decline<<<
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass%E2%80%93Steagall_Act
Dean Weichmann (Wed Nov 24 09:38:18 2010)
And let me add -- though I know this subject is tiresome -- it is the ONLY one that counts. We will NEVER, EVER fix our economic system until we get the corruption out of politics.
Jo has banking friends and should ask them, "What would your employer do if they found an employee taking money on the side and giving away shareholder/company assets in return?"
I think we know the answer, but for politicians we turn a blind eye.
Jack Lohman (Wed Nov 24 09:51:10 2010)
Sorry to break into this mutual admiration society.
Jack, you keep repeating that the only way to fix our economic system to get rid of corruption. That is never going to happen. You're not dealing with angels, you're dealing with corruptible men and women. That's pie in the sky and you're old enough to know that.
Glass-Steagall was repealed because it was thought to put banks and their depositors/clients more at risk because they were, in effect, being made to put all their eggs in one basket.
What worked in the short run didn't work down the road because it was too all-encompassing.
Krugman is a poor example to cite because he's a pure Keynesian Liberal. Even in the face of opposite evidence he'll go with Keynes.
I notice Japan wasn't on that list of financial stimulus countries. That's because they tried it and their economy stayed moribund for the next 10 years or so.
Sorry, I really don't know that much about the subject, but I do know that doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result every time is a good definition of insanity.
I hear way too much "rich against poor" talk from both of you. No thanks. I'm in the lower part of any class scale there might be in this country but I damned well want my kids and grandkids to be able to have a chance at the American dream instead of being forced into a "class" where they have no chance to work their way out via hard work, talent and/or brains, i.e. socialism ........... that way lies madness.
You act as though Conservatives are the bad guys here. What you ignore is that the Democrats have proven to be the most corruptible of the parties. You may argue with that but I harken back to the turn of last century. Just pick it up from Woodrow Wilson and go on from there.
C.R. Stevenson (Wed Nov 24 10:45:32 2010)
I second all of that Char - including condemnation of Jack's constantly railing about corruption.
Jack, when I hear you solve the Social Security and Medicare funding dilemmas (with specifics - not just railing about corruption), I might take more seriously your mention of a billion here and a billion there. You also might recognize, as Char inferred, that campaign finance reform as you would like it, isn't going to happen tomorrow. Deal with it Jack. Deal with the budget and the deficit - now.
Jo (Wed Nov 24 11:15:54 2010)
There is going to be pain in fixing this and the Progressives on the left are planning on it. I saw on TV the other day an AFL-CIO official gleefully talking about the riots in France and GB over cuts in entitlements and the fact that it would soon happen here. It fits the Cloward–Piven strategy of overwhelming the welfare programs in order to crash it and replace it with a socialistic government. That will allow this administration to impose controls (read curtail freedom) on us in order to restore order from the coming chaos.
Jo is justified in her fears. I'm with you.
Lee Murray (Wed Nov 24 12:06:17 2010)
>>>get rid of corruption. That is never going to happen.<<<
Especially when people do not even try "cuz it'll never work".
>>>Glass-Steagall was repealed because it was thought to put banks and their depositors/clients more at risk because they were, in effect, being made to put all their eggs in one basket.<<<
Bullshit... The big banks wanted to get in on the bigger returns (that had higher risks)
Glass-Steagall was working, but greed overcame reason and the greedy were able to convince politicians to repeal it.
Dean Weichmann (Wed Nov 24 12:52:44 2010)
>>>Krugman is a poor example to cite because he's a pure Keynesian Liberal. Even in the face of opposite evidence he'll go with Keynes.<<<
OK Jo, cite someone better.
How about DeLong, Reich, Baker?
Reich;
>>>Republicans are still spouting nutty Social Darwinism. Cutting taxes on the rich is better than helping the unemployed, they say, because the rich will create jobs with their extra money while giving money to the unemployed reduces their desire to look for work.
Rubbish. The Bush tax cuts on the top never trickled down. Between 2002 and 2007 the median wage dropped, adjusted for inflation. And job growth was pathetic.
Jobless benefits don’t deter the unemployed from finding work. In most states, unemployment benefits are a fraction of former wages. And as long as unemployment remains sky-high, there are no jobs to be had anyway.
Besides, the economic downturn was hardly their fault. If anyone is to blame it’s the high-flyers on Wall Street who gambled away other people’s money, and the rich denizens of corporate executive suites who have sliced payrolls in order to show higher profits (and get more money from their stock options).<<<
Dean Weichmann (Wed Nov 24 13:01:48 2010)
Wow! Isn't it fascinating that only a few weeks ago this blog site was aglow with the promise of radical change if only voters would elect conservative legislators. Well the wave moved across the land. The tea-party folks celebrated numerous victories.
Now even before the new conservatives take office the bloggers and pundits are setting up excuses for failure. Talk about CYA!?! (Or is it simply easier to lob criticism from the sidelines at those who struggle to govern a complex, varigated, modern, democratic society.)
Dennis (Wed Nov 24 13:49:31 2010)
Dean, are you saying that you didn't see the rise in jobs following the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy??? Well, just give it a little time. And now we are being told that, yes, there is political corruption, but live with it. Unbelievable.
No thanks.
Jack Lohman (Wed Nov 24 15:59:52 2010)
Jack, thanks for the joke.
I hope everyone has a wonderful thanksgiving.
Dean Weichmann (Wed Nov 24 16:58:48 2010)
Here is another opinion, this time DeLong, concerning macroeconomics.
Just an excerpt, read the rest at the site.
>>>The Retreat of Macroeconomic Policy
J. Bradford DeLong
Economists today know a great deal more – albeit not as much as we would like – about how monetary, banking, and fiscal policies affect the flow of nominal spending, and their findings are the topic of a great deal of open and deep political and public intellectual discussion. And the working classes all have the vote.
Thus, I would confidently lecture only three short years ago that the days when governments could stand back and let the business cycle wreak havoc were over in the rich world. No such government today, I said, could or would tolerate any prolonged period in which the unemployment rate was kissing 10% and inflation was quiescent without doing something major about it.
I was wrong. That is precisely what is happening.<<<
http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/delong108/English
Dean Weichmann (Fri Nov 26 14:46:08 2010)
***Rubbish. The Bush tax cuts on the top never trickled down. Between 2002 and 2007 the median wage dropped, adjusted for inflation. And job growth was pathetic.***
I just stopped back in to see the rest of the posts but I can't let this stand.
In the Bush second term unemployament was at 4.6%. Your statement is obviously false and I'm not letting you get away with it.
When the economy went on it's slide into the tank was when the Democrats took over Congress in 2007.
You may have short memories but I remember during the mid 2000s there were job openings everywhere. The beginning wages for practically all jobs went up because workers were so scarce.
Also a memory jogger. The tax cuts didn't just go to the top money people It was an across-the-board tax cut and I'll thank you to keep that in mind.
Otherwise, why are the Dems complaining that they want to keep the tax cuts for the lower-on-the-economic ladder people if they didn't get one to begin with.
This lack of logical linear thought is really beginning to irritate me!
C. R. Stevenson (Fri Dec 03 15:06:44 2010)
|
|
Blog Archives
| 2010 |
  December
|
November
|
October
|
September
|
August
|
July
|
June
|
May
|
April
|
March
|
February
|
January
• Solberg: Healing After an Abortion
• Basketball fans eyeing extension of Miller Park sales tax
• Nanny sex-ed bill goes to Doyle
• A first. Village limits pension contribution for employees
• Nanny State update: Toothbrushing mandated
• Obama pushes education inflation
• WI Investment Board votes to borrow to juice up returns
• So Republicans have brought nothing to the table?
• You have got to be kidding me
• Nygren: Governor Continues Terms of Failure in State of the State
• Sen. Fitzgerald: Governor down the wrong track at high speed
• Phosphorus is the new CO2. $Billions in Wisconsin
• More Obama giveaways
• A reprimand? Would you keep him on the job?
• Burri: Sarah Palin for Prez troubles me
• Quote of the Day – Obama after the pie-eating contest
• Populism, abused and trampled
• Fitzgerald: Senate Republicans Propose Real Job Creation Agenda
• Stripped down health insurance – it’s about time
• Ok GOP, scrap the Party of NO; time to lead
• No way Feingold is a Coakley. Is Wall a Brown?
• Burri: Conservatives off the chart for a RINO?
• Paltry quid pro quo?
• Doyle says ARRA has ‘created or retained’ 44,000 WI jobs
• Does most of the public fall for this stuff?
• When you get signatures, always get a couple extra
• Blame it on the outmoded computers
• Scott Brown victory does not scuttle health bill
• 8th Congressional Candidate Forum, Jan. 25
• Scott Walker Meet-and-greet, Monday, Jan. 18
• Aren’t consumers taxpayers too?
• MORE taxes on investment income - dreadful and wrong
• Join the blaze orange army and say ‘Enough is Enough’
• The future of government-run health care
• Tax on banks is a really bad idea
• Roth, Savard on the stump, grassroots style
• Savard speaking in Appleton, 8 PM, Wed., Jan. 13.
• Rahmlow: Savard, Bies frontrunners for State Senate
• Burri: Failing Political Correctness 101
• School contracts and Race to the Top
• Senator Feingold worrisome and big red flags
• Psephological?
• This is really important. Contact Rep. Kagen. Now. Please.
• This is exactly what we need from Governor Doyle
• This guy is my hero
• Why am I not surprised?
• Talk health reform with Feingold (Th), Petri (today)
• Give the Mayor power over MPS - if he can break contracts
• Burri: Yup, Dems really are going to bypass a conference
• The $2.7 billion Wisconsin deficit no one told you about
• Walker launches county accountability website
• Rahmlow: Why is Van Hollen dodging the Nebraska deal?
|
| 2009 |
December
|
November
|
October
• The Lawton-Bader files
• Yup, it’s the TAX LEVY, not the tax RATE
• Ellis: costly automobile insurance laws must be rolled back
• If not Barrett, who?
• The subsidy game
• Burri: Bailouts, Banks, Health Care, and the Mob
• Attend Appleton Schools budget meeting tonight
• A public option WON’T increase costs? That’s delusional!
• Appleton Schools budget meeting Monday
• Wisconsin should be screaming for accountability
• Burri: If anything, we need more obstructionism around here
• WI on the leading edge - in the wrong direction
• Rep. Montgomery: Utility Customers Join State’s Crime-Fighting Efforts
• Public Conservation and Recreation Lands Total 16.5% of State
• In the crow's nest of the Titanic, shouting 'Iceberg!'
• Is Rep. Nelson a political hack?
• Health care: The road ahead will be brutal
• Kagen's pandering again
• Birthers - good stuff for you
• How much do we bend over backward for seniors?
• The trouble with health care is paying for it
• Two-parent families: The Gold Standard
• Burri: Kids... the joys and blessings
• Very, very worried about health care
• Rep. Huebsch: Wisconsin is proof government health care isn’t the answer
• School district contracts push up tax levy
• What? Obama, the Peace Prize?
• TODAY - hearing on Campaign Finance Reform
• Appleton School District tax levy up way too much
• CBO report is out - and the bill isn't even written yet?
• So, how much do YOU budget for health care?
• Burri: Copenhagen trip was amateurish
• “Sotomayor, you have blood on your hands...”
• Cap and Trade. Always follow the money
• Rep. Kagen gets (almost) free health services
• I actually agree with Rep. Kagen
• Future Wisconsin Conference for Conservatives, October 10, Wauwatosa
|
September
|
August
|
July
|
June
|
May
|
April
|
March
|
February
|
January
|
| 2008 |
December
|
November
|
October
|
September
|
August
|
July
|
June
|
May
|
April
|
March
• Important votes Tuesday, including Appleton Common Council
• Democrats are becoming supply siders??
• Further debunking Hillary myths
• WEAC has created an unsustainable monopoly
• From Mark Gundrum: One of the greatest honors an American can experience
• 'Operation Chaos' working?
• Joe Martin the best candidate in Appleton's 8th
• State programs to cut? - Volume II
• Oh the naivete of youth
• Not just disingenuous - flat wrong
• Steve - you will be missed
• Make cuts only AFTER you're elected....
• Getting serious: What programs can we cut?
• Rep. Steve Kagen joining me on Jerry Bader Show today
• Rep. Van Roy: Dental Care Pilot Program
• Has Dave Obey turned the corner on earmarks?
• Speaker Huebsch: Governor turns down Federal Aid?
• Mark Rahmlow: "We're Broke."
• As taxpayers, how do we know if it's a Chevy or a Lexus?
• This is trash talk - about a veteran
• Frank Lasee: Take time to get the Compact right
• 'The Gableman Ad' - is it racist?
• Roth thankful, Kagen shaking money tree
• Gov. Doyle's office not enamored with Freedom of Information
• Governor Doyle will never do it
• Leadership on smoking ban? Not Hanna
• Rep. Van Roy speaks out about smear ads
• You're threatening me about potholes?
• Losing the Hastert seat is NOT a trend and NOT curtians for the GOP
• First suggestion for 'slashing' programs
• Big money-saver for municipalities
• More one time fixes. Nuts.
• Any chances???
• I'm doing the Jerry Bader Show, today, the 11th
• Representative Frank Lasee: Final Waltz of the Season
• Guest Blog: It's not the county's business to be in the nursing home business
• Yup, Hillary won Texas and Ohio
• Gableman/Butler race featured - and it isn't pretty
• Lies from Planned Parenthood and NARAL
• He who sacrifices liberty.....
• Duh.
• The Troha sentencing, Doyle and that $200K
• Guns, passion and "originality"
• How hard is it anyway, to shut down a government program?
• Voting is a PRIVILEGE. And so are property taxes....
• Guest Blog: Governor Doyle, cancel your Ireland trip
|
February
|
January
|
| 2007 |
December
|
November
|
October
|
September
|
August
|
July
|
June
|
May
|
April
|
March
|
February
|
January
• Lots of ideas. No money.
• The Cigarette Tax - "Poor Policy Instrument?"
• School budget Lite?
• Frankenstein - not in the library, but in the legislature
• A librarian, a legislator, a president
• $1.25/pack - NO, NO, NO, and NO
• Kagen and Reagan in the same breath?
• Menasha: behind the 8-ball, but not biting the dust
• Any way you slice it, Wisconsin government wants (further) in on health care
• The World is Flat...what about health care?
• The PAC - too precious to fail. Day 3
• News follow-ups: Appleton West, Kagen at the White House
• Fox Cities PAC - too precious to fail - Day 2
• Fox Cities PAC - too precious to fail
• New Transit Tax coming your way
• Rep. Petri has his finger in the dike - I guess
• AASD Retirement Costs Burdensome
• Health care, health care, health care, health care
• Water rate increase was no slam dunk
• Education for all is just a bad dream
• New Year's resolutions from a parade snob
|
| 2006 |
December
|
November
|
October
|
September
|
| 2000 |
May
|
|
