Reason reviews the Administration's efforts to cut debt: "Obama: Fiscal situation 'untenable'"
There you have it. The 47 smartest economists around the president of the United States agree that the best way to solve the "untenable fiscal situation" is to boost education spending, weatherize homes, throw more bad money after bad in the housing market, more bad money after bad in the Small Business Administration, and maybe (though only over the president's dead body) freeze all taxes for two years. That oughtta tenabilize it.Robert Samuelson used to (and still does) advocate for the eliminiation of federal subsidies for Amtrak. It's not that these subsidies are expensive, it's that Amtrak is a symbol of a questionable government program (subsidizing train riders) perpetuated by inertia and a powerful union. If we can't make Joe Biden pay full price for his Northeast Corridor ticket, there's simply no hope we'll ever be able to cut anything meaningful to battle the deficit.
Extra - Shorter Ben Bernanke: "We're boned."
1 comment:
While abbreviation and succinct summaries are integral to the art of blogging, it is perhaps worth reading a less abridged version of Bernanke's conclusion:
"Well-designed fiscal rules cannot substitute for the political will to take difficult decisions, but U.S. and international experience suggests that they can be helpful to legislators in certain circumstances. Indeed, installing a fiscal rule could provide an important signal to the public that the Congress is serious about achieving long-term fiscal sustainability, which itself would be good for confidence. A fiscal rule could also focus and institutionalize political support for fiscal responsibility. Given the importance of achieving long-term fiscal stability, further discussion of fiscal rules and frameworks seems well warranted."
In recent history neither party has demonstrated the will to do this when they actually have the ability to make it happen.
Who is going to willingly take part in this kind of non-partisan, collaborative, rational approach to the budget? Pelosi? Boehner? Reid? McConnell?
Maybe all of them if they get scared enough about America's future. But that fear needs to wait until after November. The top priority is the power game and the mid-term elections. Too bad for us.
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