Deficits & Rcessions

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-19-2005
Deficits & Rcessions
Thu, 04-16-2009 - 10:13am

I posted this as a reply on another thread, but the more I thought, the more I believed that this deserved it's own thread. If it is determined that one occurrence of this post must go, I would greatly appreciate the other occurrence.

If you believe the radical conservatives, there were thousands of protests that hosted millions of Americans who are fed up with the runaway taxing and spending that the perceive our government to be practicing. If you believe the bemused hosts of MSNBC’s evening lineup, what you saw was a smattering of the 24 to 26% of Americans who simply cannot bring themselves to find anything positive about the new president, from his handling of the shipping piracy episode to the shoes that his little girls wear to school.

The one thing that we do know about them though, is that they are not simply right-wing ideologues spewing partisan bluster. We know this about them, because they are telling anyone who will listen. So if they are not simply right-wing ideologues spewing partisan bluster and it is truly all about reigning in out of control federal spending, then we know that they are not very smart. Because it took them eight years to find their teabags while the Bush administration was spending like drunken sailors on an ill-advised war.

My father often told me that I should never try to teach a pig to sing, he said all I’d be doing would be wasting my time and agitating the pig. With apologies to my dear departed father, I shall once more try to explain to those whom I shall euphemistically refer to as “The Intractable 25%” that there are two major fiscal issues that must be balanced. These issues are the economic crisis and the budget deficit. While these issues are certainly connected, they are not one in the same. Theoretically, the federal government could cut spending to a bare bones level and make no move to stem the economic downturn. An argument could be made (though a weak one) that the deficit would go down … but at what cost? Who among us would be happy with a 25% unemployment rate? The obvious answer that the radical right has always relied upon would be the 75% who are not suffering! But I digress. My point is, that sometimes (and this is one such time) hard choices are what is the worst of two poor options? We cannot engage in deficit reduction and fight the economic downturn at the same time. A choice must be made, and it is becoming increasingly clear as the economic downturn begins to show signs of slowing, that correct choices are being made. Now that I’m certain that I have sufficiently agitated “The Intractable 25%”, I shall yield the soapbox to the next speaker and chuckle along with the delirious executives at Lipton. So get out your crayons and write me your rebuttals, I find your "logic" to be quite entertaining.