from this week's economist:
America's debt: Shame on them | The Economist
Quote:
The sticking-point is not on the spending side. It is because the vast majority of Republicans, driven on by the wilder-eyed members of their party and the cacophony of conservative media, are clinging to the position that not a single cent of deficit reduction must come from a higher tax take. This is economically illiterate and disgracefully cynical.
A gamble where you bet your country’s good name
This newspaper has a strong dislike of big government; we have long argued that the main way to right America’s finances is through spending cuts. But you cannot get there without any tax rises. In Britain, for instance, the coalition government aims to tame its deficit with a 3:1 ratio of cuts to hikes. America’s tax take is at its lowest level for decades: even Ronald Reagan raised taxes when he needed to do so.
And the closer you look, the more unprincipled the Republicans look. Earlier this year House Republicans produced a report noting that an 85%-15% split between spending cuts and tax rises was the average for successful fiscal consolidations, according to historical evidence. The White House is offering an 83%-17% split (hardly a huge distance) and a promise that none of the revenue increase will come from higher marginal rates, only from eliminating loopholes. If the Republicans were real tax reformers, they would seize this offer.
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paul krugman's editorial about the loons on the right:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/15/op...WT.mc_ev=click
this is an excellent overview from the financial times:
US debt crunch: A nation taken to the limit - FT.com
so the debt cieling is what we call bullshit.
can you say: bullshit?
but wait---there's more: a steaming core of ultra-concentrated bullshit within the bullshit that is named grover norquist.
who the fuck elected grover norquist to anything?
his pressure group is at the center of the right's intrasigence in the face of reason, which most folk agree includes tax increases----except for the lunatic right and ideological hatchet men like norquist.
but read the articles above for yourself.