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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated
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To: carranza2 who wrote (437942)7/30/2011 9:37:10 AM
From: Geoff Altman4 Recommendations  Read Replies (3) of 793921
 
While the author of the article gave a fairly accurate account of Europes problems, IMO they gave the more or less standard left wing account of what needs to be done in America. Correct me if I'm wrong but it sounds to me like they're stating that we need another stimulus spending spree (medium term):

Its fiscal problem is not now—it should be spending to boost recovery—but in the medium term. Its absurdly complicated tax system raises very little, and the ageing of its baby-boomers will push its vast entitlement programmes towards bankruptcy.

The article mentions our insanely complicated tax code ( I agree) but seems to ignore the revenue that reforming the tax code and broadening the base would bring. The author seems to indicate that this entire fiscal dilemma could be put off and dealt with in the future on some imaginary date:

America’s debt debate seems still more kabuki-like. Its fiscal problem is not now—it should be spending to boost recovery—but in the medium term.

So we should dump money into the economy until our fiscal problem is a complete crisis with no rope to play with? This entire article boils down to, Obama = model of fiscal statesmanship, compared to GOP = pygmy thinking knuckle draggers and TEA partiers = living in some fantasy? Nope, this article isn't slanted.....<sic> Sounds to me like it was written by a European.

Yet Mr Obama and his party seem a model of fiscal statesmanship compared with their Republican opponents. Once upon a time the American right led the world when it came to rethinking government; now it is an intellectual pygmy. The House Republicans could not even get their budget sums right, so the vote had to be delayed. A desire to curb Leviathan is admirable, but the tea-partiers live in a fantasy world in which the deficit can be reduced without any tax increases: even Mr Obama’s attempts to remove loopholes in the tax code drive the zealots into paroxysms of outrage.

If by fiscal statesmenship the author means ignoring the problem all together then he has a point.......
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