Cuomo: Everyone To Blame For Supercommittee

[Cuomo repeatedly insisted that the failure of the panel to come to an
agreement on reducing the nation’s debt — either through a mix of tax
increases and spending cuts — said more about the government itself than
any individual person.]

Actually, it says the most about Cuomo’s economic illiteracy.

Raising taxes and/or cutting spending will further depress the economy. That ought to be great for a double dip recession! Why are the Republicans insisting on debt reduction NOW? They’re the 1%. They won’t be the ones who get screwed. Plus, it will make Obama look even worse than he already does.

Why hasn’t one of the goofballs in the LCA asked Cuomo why HE wanted a fiscal policy that would cause a further contraction in the economy?

What it the point of electing congressmen if even the work (or lack therefor) of congressional committees is to be pinned on the President?

I believe the GOP is focusing on debt reduction now because its spiraling out of control and the don’t want to end up like PIIGS over in Europe where you reach a point of no return. You’re rationale as to why the GOP is focusing on it is simply political hackery that all too often becomes part of our public discourse.

Their being the 1% is a bunch of nonsense as many of the cuts will also impact the 1% types like John Corzine, George Soros, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, (insert liberal wall street hedge fund manager here), etc… And no one wants to cut spending to make Obama look worse, he does just fine looking bad on his own.

Contraction is coming no matter what because we are in a debt-deflation scenario that will take a decade to work out. All the stupid liberal policies like delaying mortgage foreclosures, increasing taxes and fees, burdensome developmental regulations, etc… are simply making the situation worse. Throw in Dodd-Frank costing banks anywhere from hundreds of million to billions in compliance cost and that is your problem. Why doesn’t anyone ask Cuomo about that?

This is a bunch of gobbledygook.

The simplest explanation is usually the best explanation. And the simplest explanation illustrating the stupidity of the GOP’s demand for fiscal austerity NOW (as we wallow in a recession) comes straight from any introductory economics course.

The Republican’s obsession with debt (or maybe that’s just a convenient excuse) has them calling for more and bigger cuts in government spending. If you don’t spend money, you won’t wind up in hock (accumulating debt) is the associated logic.

Well…cutting debt is all well and good, but you DON’T do it in the middle of a friggin recession. Cutting government spending ALWAYS has a contractionary effect on an economy. It directly yanks a certain amount of demand for goods and services out of the economy. Less demand leads to less production which leads to less employment (i.e., higher UNemployment) which leads to even LESS demand for goods and services (because the unemployed don’t have money to spend) and the cycle keeps repeating itself. The economy spirals downward even more. Just what we need when the economy is already in the toilet!

I defy anyone to offer an equally simple and clear explanation of how the U.S. is anything like Europe — a conglomeration of countries with each their own economy who bound themselves to a single currency — and  why THEIR economic woes justify the U.S. INTENTIONALLY making its own economic situation WORSE.

I agree with your straightforward Keynesian view Buster.

That said, the problem is we have two real problems with the debt. One is we keep running structural deficits – that is we don’t use debt for periodic stimulation, we use it for current consumption. The other is who we borrow it from – the Chinese and other foreign investors holding so much affects our trade also.

If we need to borrow money, it ought to be within our own economy, within our own country as we did with WW2 war bonds. If you don’t want to tax the excess income of the wealthy, they ought to be loaning us cheap money.

Buster, you sound like a government planner in Greece.

The United States is running $1 trillion plus deficits a year and debt is almost 100% of GDP and rising. Anyone with simple financial skills can see this is going to become a disaster.

Short term pain for long term gain is what this country needs. There just isn’t a leader with the guts to tell it like it truly is.

Got some historical data?

Refresh my memory as to what happened to the federal debt during the Clinton years versus the GWB years?

Definitely remind me what the “federal debt as a percentage of GDP” was when Bush the second left office?

Talk is cheap. Let’s look at the numbers…for the U.S.  You can go to Greece if you want. I’ll limit my concerns to my own country.

I’m with you on it Buster. The conservatives always paint the grass as being greener on the other side of the fence. I say we send the public there and let them see for themselves.

I don’t care if it takes until the Second Coming to fix the economy afterward. Give everyone a full does of the conservative medicine and see how it tastes. Sometimes you have to get badly burned to know not to go there again.

[Why are the Republicans insisting on debt reduction NOW? They're the 1%.]
Happy holidays Buster. I’m not up on economics, however I am reading comments and saw the above statement. Are, in fact, the 1% Republicans and not Democrats? If you say it’s so — then I will believe it.