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Fri Sep-17-10 01:15 PM Original message |
| 300 Economists Warn: Don't kill economy in the name of deficit reduction. Read their warning here |
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ECONOMISTS, CIVIC LEADERS ISSUE WARNING
Danger Ahead: Spur Jobs First More than 300 economists, policy experts and civic leaders have signed a statement warning political leaders of “a grave danger” that the still-fragile economic recovery will be undercut by austerity economics of the kind being pushed by conservative politicians and by the White House deficit commission. Robert Borosage: "Austerity in the midst of a stagnant economy is more likely to increase deficits than to decrease them." Read more »  INTRODUCTION The statement on this page, signed by more than 300 economists and major civic leaders, reflects a grave concern that the “austerity economics” being advocated by many politicians in Washington will derail our already weak economic recovery. This statement outlines a progressive approach to reviving the economy and addressing the federal deficit, with the top priority being putting people back to work and investing in the foundational elements of a new economy of broad prosperity. In the fall of 2008 the U.S. and other major economies were in a free fall in the wake of a global financial crisis. Emergency stimulus policies here and around the world broke the fall, but brought us only part way to full recovery. Today there is a grave danger that the still-fragile economic recovery will be undercut by austerity economics. A turn by major governments away from the promotion of growth and jobs and to premature focus on deficit reduction could slow growth and increase unemployment – and could push us back into recession. History suggests that a tenuous recovery is no time to practice austerity. In the Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal generated growth and reduced the unemployment rate from 25 percent in 1932 to less than 10 percent in 1937. However, the deficit hawks of that era persuaded President Roosevelt to reverse course prematurely and move toward budget balance. The result was a severe recession that caused the economy to contract sharply and sent the unemployment rate soaring. Only the much larger wartime spending of the early 1940s produced a full recovery. Today, the economy is growing only weakly. 7.8 million jobs have been lost in the recession. Consumers, having suffered losses in home values and retirement savings, are tightening their belts. The business sector, uncertain about consumer spending, is reluctant to invest in expansion or job creation, leaving the economy trapped on a path of slow growth or stagnation. Over 20 million American workers are now unemployed, underemployed or simply have given up looking for a job. The President and Congress should redouble efforts to create jobs and send aid to the states whose budget crises threaten recovery by forcing them to lay off school teachers, public safety workers, and other essential workers. It also makes sense to invest in public service jobs – and in infrastructure projects for transportation, water, and energy conservation that will make our economy more productive for years to come. Target what drives deficits. Don’t fix what isn’t broken. Austerity advocates confuse two different issues—short term deficits generated by the recession and long term projections of deficits and debt. Deficits rose last decade largely due to the Bush tax cuts and the unfunded wars and prescription drug program, but they exploded as a result of the economic crisis. Once prosperity is restored, deficits will be reduced substantially. Over the long term, projections of rising deficits and debt are mainly due to one fundamental factor: rising health care costs. Contrary to the claims of many deficit hawks, America does not have an entitlement crisis. America has a broken health care system. Efforts to reduce public sector costs without fixing the health care system, such as caps on Medicare and Medicaid spending or replacing them with vouchers, will undermine the effectiveness of these programs, but won’t fix the broken health care system. The health care reform bill passed earlier this year may be a first step towards repairing the health care system, but much more will need to be done. Social Security has nothing to do with our current deficit. It is supported by its own dedicated payroll taxes (which were increased to build up a trust fund to cover the baby boomers’ retirement). Social Security has actually reduced the unified budget deficit for the most of the last three decades and will continue to do so for most of the next decade. Making sure Social Security is solvent for the next century should be dealt with separately from any process set up to address short or longterm deficits, and can be accomplished with minor adjustments. Restore fiscal responsibility, while investing in the future. The president’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform has set a goal of reducing the Federal deficit to 3 percent of GDP by 2015. It is not clear that this arbitrary target can be met without damaging our recovery. In any case, the goals of economic policy must be far broader. The most important question is this: What will drive economic growth, job creation and prosperity in the years to come? Conservatives argue that we should simply reduce deficits and wait for the next economic boom. But the last boom was built on a bubble, inflated by unsustainable household debt and financial speculation. If we focus merely on cutting spending and raising taxes, the economy could shrink again – or stay stuck in a permanently low level of growth and high levels of unemployment. President Barack Obama has called on us to build a new foundation for the economy. This requires making investments vital to our future – in education and training, in research and development, in a modern infrastructure for the 21st century. It requires ending our addiction to oil, and capturing a lead role in the green industrial revolution, creating the next generation of green jobs. Study after study demonstrates that America has a huge “public investment deficit” in areas vital to our economy. Some estimates suggest a shortfall in public investment of as much as $500 billion a year. As long as we have unacceptably high unemployment, outlays for additional investment can be deficit-financed. But once we achieve a robust recovery, our country should continue to pay for productive public investment, while acting to bring down public deficits. This will require new revenues. We must have the confidence to forge our future. At the end of World War II, the US was burdened with debt that totaled over 120% of GDP. But we made the investments vital to a new economy – the GI Bill, housing subsidies, the interstate highway system, the conversion of military plants, and the Marshall plan. We ran annual deficits over most of the next three decades and the debt grew in absolute size, but the economy and the broad middle class grew faster. By 1980, the debt had been reduced to barely 30% of GDP. The better way to reduce the deficit as a percent of GDP is to increase GDP. Even with a growing economy, increased investment and deficit reduction will require new sources of revenue, new priorities and a crackdown on wasteful subsidies. Below are a range of measures which could be used to reduce the deficit and finance needed investments. Not all signers endorse every one of these options: Any effort to cut spending should address the military budget, which consumes over half of discretionary spending. Much of our huge military spending is devoted to weapons designed to counter a Soviet Union that is no more. Defense experts estimate we could achieve significant Pentagon savings – in the range of $100 billion per year – while still sustaining the most powerful military in the world. We can use funds freed up to invest in new manufacturing industries that make our nation more secure. Second, we should cut back the massive amounts wasted on outmoded subsidies – billions to the oil industry, to wasteful farm subsidies, and tax loopholes benefitting a few, with little productive return. On the revenue side, in an era of Gilded Age inequality, progressive tax reform is long overdue. Revenue for reducing deficits and increasing investment can be raised by making taxes more progressive and by taxing activities we want to discourage. Some examples: • A small tax on financial transactions (e.g. 0.025 percent on credit default swaps) would reduce high volume speculation and would produce revenues of at least $177 billion per year.. • The Wyden-Gregg corporate loophole-closing proposals produce $1.078 trillion over ten years. • Taxing hedge fund mangers’ “carried interest” income as regular income gains $3 billion per year. • End special tax treatment of capital gains income. Revenue: $480 billion over ten years. • A 5.4 percent surcharge on high incomes (passed by the House) produces $500 billion over ten years. • A carbon tax would help reverse climate change. Revenue: $500 billion over ten years. • End Bush tax cuts for people making more than 250k. Revenue: $678 billion over ten years. • One version of a progressive estate tax on large fortunes would generate $50 billion per year. Any value-added tax that amounts to a regressive sales tax on the working middle class should not be part of this package. There may be a future case for a VAT, perhaps to fund progressive social programs or replace even more regressive taxes, but not for deficit reduction. Take the high road to fiscal balance. There are two alternative paths to long-term fiscal balance. The less desirable path is austerity economics: government sharply cuts spending long before full employment is reached; production stagnates; revenues decline. We might reach budget balance but at a lower level of economic output, with increased taxes on working Americans and reduced public services. The alternative, high-road path would increase public spending financed by deficits for a year or two until unemployment is definitely on a downward trend and GDP is rising rapidly. We then collect more revenues from a stronger economy. By identifying investments vital to our future, and paying for them with targeted spending cuts and progressive tax reforms, our country provides the basis for new private-sector investments that help fuel growth, generating greater revenues while reducing the deficit. The benefit of this second path is that government moves towards a reduction in annual deficits and a lowering of the debt-to-GDP ratio, at a higher level of economic output, while building a new basis for long-term prosperity. Statement Authors Robert Borosage and Roger Hickey Institute for America’s Future Dean Baker Center for Economic and Policy Research Robert Kuttner The American Prospect and Dēmos Endorsers Institutional affiliations are provided for identification only. Economists Tanweer Akram ING Investment Management Randy Albelda University of Massachusetts Boston Sylvia Allegretto University of California, Berkeley Gar Alperovitz University of Maryland Nancy Altman Social Security Works Eileen Appelbaum Rutgers University Diane Archer Institute for America’s Future Michael Ash University of Massachusetts Amherst Nahid Aslanbeigui Monmouth University Marshall Auerback Roosevelt Institute Reuven Avi-Yonah University of Michigan Hillel Bachrach 20/20 HealthCare Partners LLC M. V. Lee Badgett University of Massachusetts Amherst Ron Baiman Center for Tax and Budget Accountability Dean Baker Center for Economic and Policy Research Radhika Balakrishnan Rutgers University Nesecan Balkan Hamilton College Nina Banks Bucknell University William Barclay Chicago Political Economy Group Chuck Barone Dickinson College Michael Belzer Wayne State University Lourdes Beneria Cornell University Barbara R. Bergmann American University Alexandra Bernasek Colorado State University Cihan Bilginsoy University of Utah Cyrus Bina University of Minnesota (Morris Campus) Angela Glover Blackwell PolicyLink Howard Botwinick State University of New York, Cortland Roger Bove West Chester University (Retired) Paula Braveman University of California, San Francisco Clair Brown University of California Berkeley E. Richard Brown University of California Los Angeles Robert Buchele Smith College Cruz Bueno University of Massachusetts–Amherst Jim Campen University of Massachusetts Boston (emeritus) Colin S. Cavell, Ph.D. University of Bahrain American Studies Center John Chasse Association for Evolutionary Economics Howard Chernick Hunter College CUNY Paul Christensen Hofstra University Steve Clemons New America Foundation Anne Cobb Empire State College Lizabeth Cohen Harvard University James Crotty University of Massachusetts Amherst James Cypher California State University Fresno Diana Dai Diana Dai Communications Inc. Peter Damiano The University of Iowa Anita Dancs Western New England College Jane D’Arista PERI/SAFER Paul A David Stanford University Paul Davidson University of Tennessee Susan M. Davis Buffalo State College Charles Davis Indiana University John Davis Marquette University Anthony D’Costa Asia Research Centre Amy B. Dean Author, “A New New Deal” Gregory DeFreitas Hofstra University James Devine Loyola Marymount University Ranjit Dighe SUNY College at Oswego David Doane Oakland University Karen Dolan Institute for Policy Studies G. William Domhoff University of California, Santa Cruz Peter Dorman Evergreen State College Amitava Dutt University of Notre Dame Gary Dymski University of California Riverside Todd Easton University of Portland Gary Edelman Edelman & Associates Barbara Ehrenreich Author, “Nickeled and Dimed” Justin Elardo Portland Community College Zohreh Emami Alverno College Brian England University of Utah Gerald Epstein University of Massachusetts at Amherst Jeff Faux Economic Policy Institute Steven Fazzari Washington University Rashi Fein Harvard University Susan Feiner University of Southern Maine Thomas Ferguson University of Massachusetts, Boston and Roosevelt Institute Rudy Fichtenbaum Wright State University David Fields University of Utah Catherine Finnoff University of Massachusetts at Amherst Richard Flacks University of California, Santa Barbara Nancy Folbre University of Massachusetts at Amherst Robert Francis Shoreline Community College Robert Frank Cornell University Gerald Friedman University of Massachusetts at Amherst James K. Galbraith University of Texas, Economists for Peace and Security John Gallup Portland State University William Ganley Department of Economics & Finance, Buffalo State College Angel Garcia Banchs Universidad Central de Venezuela David George La Salle University Christophre Georges Hamilton College Arthur Gerds Unaffilliated Teresa Ghilarducci New School for Social Research Helen Ginsburg Brooklyn College and National Jobs for All Coalition Lonnie Golden Penn State Abington Stephen Gorin Plymouth State University Ulla Grapard Colgate University Carole Green University of South Florida Daphne Greenwood University of Colorado-Colorado Springs Karl D. Gregory Oakland University and KDG & Associates Lawrence Grossberg University of North Carolina Robert Guttmann Hofstra University Statement Authors Robert Borosage and Roger Hickey Institute for America’s Future Dean Baker Center for Economic and Policy Research Robert Kuttner The American Prospect and Dēmos Jacob Hacker Yale University Robin Hahnel Portland State University John Battaile Hall Portland State University Lori Hansen Former Member, Senate Democrats Social Security Advisory Board Martin Hart-Landsberg Lewis and Clark College Heidi Hartmann Institute for Women’s Policy Research John Harvey Texas Christian University Carol Heim University of Massachusetts, Amherst James Heintz University of Massachusetts Susan Helper Case Western Reserve University John Henry University of Missouri–Kansas City Conrad Herold Hofstra University Adam Hersh University of Massachusetts Gillian Hewitson University of Sydney Joan Hoffman John Jay College of Criminal Justice Michael Intriligator University of California Los Angeles Dorene Isenberg University of Redlands Ken Jacobs University of California Berkeley Peter Jacobson University of Michigan Robert Johnson Roosevelt Institute Helene Jorgensen Author, Sick and Tired Arne Kalleberg University of North Carolina J. K. Kapler University of Massachusetts Boston Victor Kasper Jr. Buffalo State College Jeffrey Keefe Rutgers University Mary King Portland State University Eric Kingson Syracuse University Andrew Kohen James Madison University (emeritus) Ben Kohl Temple University Gerald F. Kominski University of California Los Angeles Brent Kramer City University of New York Peter Karl Kresl Bucknell University (emeritus) Robert Kuttner The American Prospect Supriya Lahiri University of Massachusetts Lowell Thomas Lambert Indiana University Southeast Dr. Tom Larson California State University, Los Angeles Keith Leitich Central & East Asian Affairs Analyst Margaret Levenstein University of Michigan Charles Levenstein University of Massachusetts Lowell Henry Levin Columbia University Marc Levine University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Mark Levinson Service Employees International Union Victor Lippit University of California, Riverside Robert Lynch Washington College Catherine Lynde University of Massachusetts Boston Arthur MacEwan University of Massachusetts Boston (emeritus) Christopher Mackin Ownership Associates, Inc. Yahya Madra Gettysburg College Jeff Madrick Roosevelt Institute; Schwartz Center, The New School Mark Maier Glendale Community College Jean Maier US Society for Ecological Economics Julianne Malveaux Bennett College for Women Arindam Mandal Siena College John Mannah New School for Social Research Theodore Marmor Yale University Julie Matthaei Wellesley College Peter Matthews Middlebury College Daniel McFadden University of California, Berkeley Hannah McKinney Kalamazoo College Walter W. McMahon University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Joseph Medley University of Southern Maine Michael Meeropol Western New England College (emeritus) Martin Melkonian Hofstra University John Messier University of Maine Farmington Peter Meyer The E.P. Systems Group, Inc. Thomas Michl Colgate University Marcelo Milan University of Wisconsin Parkside William Milberg New School for Social Research Lawrence Mishel Economic Policy Institute Vernon Mogensen Kingsborough Community College, CUNY Michael Morrill Keystone Progress Philip Moss University of Massachusetts Lowell Tracy Mott University of Denver Jamee Moudud Sarah Lawrence College Dedrick Muhammad Institute for Policy Studies Kevin Murphy Oakland University Michael Murray Bates College Michele Naples The College of New Jersey Julie Nelson University of Massachusetts Boston Immanuel Ness Brooklyn College/CUNY Katherine Newman Princeton University Eric Nilsson California State University–San Bernardino Laurie Nisonoff Hampshire College Jack Norman Institute for Wisconsin’s Future Michael Nuwer State University of New York Potsdam Paulette Olson Wright State University Mary Orisich Holyoke Community College Pierre Ostiguy Bard College Christine Owens National Employment Law Project Aaron Pacitti Siena College Spencer Pack Connecticut College Thomas Palley New America Foundation Robert Pandolfo DBA/Analyst, self-employed Dimitri Papadimitriou Levy Economics Institute Richard Parker Harvard University James Parrott Fiscal Policy Institute M. Stephen Pendleton Buffalo State College Michael Perelman California State Universty–Chico Tova Perlmutter Sugar Law Center for Economic & Social Justice Rick Perlstein Author, “Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America” Joseph Persky University of Illinois at Chicago Mark Peterson University of California Los Angeles Karl Petrick Western New England College John Philo Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice Paul Pieper University of Illinois at Chicago Bruce Pietrykowski University of Michigan–Dearborn Karen Rosel Polenske Massachusetts Institute of Technology Robert Pollin University of Massachussets Amherst Marilyn Power Sarah Lawrence College Thomas M. Power University of Montana Mark Price Keystone Research Center Edith Rasell United Church of Christ Justice & Witness Ministries Michael Reich University of California Berkeley Robert B. Reich University of California Berkeley; former Secretary of Labor Cordelia Reimers Hunter College - CUNY Joseph Ricciardi Babson College Malcolm Robinson Thomas More College John Roche St. John Fisher College James Rock University of Utah Charles Rock Rollins College John Roemer Yale University Sergio Romero Boise State University Jaime Ros University of Notre Dame Batt Rosemary Cornell University Michael Rosen Milwaukee Area Technical College Sam Rosenberg Roosevelt University Joshua Rosenbloom University of Kansas David Rosnick Center for Economic and Policy Research Lynda Rush California State Polytechnic University Hector Saez Beyond Growth Anandi Sahu Oakland University John Sarich Institute of Global Communications Lisa Saunders University of Massachusetts–Amherst Harwood Schaffer University of Tennessee Helen Scharber University of Massachusetts–Amherst Ted Schmidt Buffalo State College John Schmitt Center for Economic and Policy Research Victor Schoenbach University of North Carolina Sanford Schram Bryn Mawr College Sherle R. Schwenninger New America Foundation Elliott Sclar Columbia University Stephanie Seguino University of Vermont Jean Shackelford Bucknell University Sumitra Shah St. John’s University Derek Shearer Occidental College Kristen Sheeran Economics for Equity and Environment Network Heidi Shierholz Economic Policy Institute Richard Shirey Siena College Laurence Shute California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Alexandra Sidiropoulos Miskin & Tsui-Yip LLP Mark Silverman Steptoe & Johnson LLP Peter Skott University of Massachusetts Amherst Lewis Smith Economist, retired Vince Snowberger Economist, retired Case Sprenkle University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign James Ron Stanfield Colorado State University (emeritus) Casey Stanton Transportation Equity Network Howard Stein University of Michigan Mary Stevenson University of Massachusetts Boston James Stewart Penn State University Jeffrey Stewart University of Cincinnati Frank Stricker California State University–Dominguez Hills Peter Temin Massachusetts Institute of Technology David Terkla University of Massachusetts Boston Mark Thoma University of Oregon Frank Thompson University of Michigan Chris Tilly University of California Los Angeles Jim Tober Marlboro College John Tower Oakland University (Retired) Scott Trees Siena College Economics Department Dale Tussing Syracuse University Leanne Ussher Queens College, City University of New York David Vail Bowdoin College Marjolein van der Veen The Nation Bryan Van Namen Economics Blogger Matt Vidal King’s College London Rudiger von Arnim University of Utah Valerie Voorheis Marlboro College Graduate Center Paula Voos Rutgers University Steven Wallace University of California Los Angeles Paul Wallace Retired Joseph Washington Unaffilliated Lucy Law Webster Economists for Peace and Security John Weeks University of London (emeritus) David Weiman Barnard College, Columbia University Scott A. Weir Unaffilliated Mark Weisbrot Center for Economic and Policy Research Charles Weise Gettysburg College Thomas Weisskopf University of Michigan Ralph Whitehead University of Massachusetts–Amherst Jeannette Wicks-Lim University of Massachusetts Amherst Roger Wilkins Campaign for America’s Future John Willoughby American University Martin H. Wolfson University of Notre Dame Yavuz Yasar University of Denver June Zaccone National Jobs for All Coalition Ajit Zacharias Levy Economics Institute David Zalewski Providence College James M. Zelenski Regis University Michael Zimmerman University of Colorado Frederick Zimmerman University of California Los Angeles Ben Zipperer University of Massachusetts–Amherst Civic and Labor Leaders Deepak Bhargava Center for Community Change Jeff Blum USAction James Boland International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Robert Borosage Campaign for America’s Future Anna Burger Former Secretary-Treasurer, SEIU Darcy Burner Progressive Congress Action Fund Nancy Duff Campbell National Women’s Law Center Rea Carey National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund Ashley Carson Older Women’s League Larry Cohen Communications Workers of America Darryl Fagin Americans for Democratic Action, Inc. Rabbi Michael Feinberg Greater New York Labor-Religion Coalition Mark Friedman Third Culture Leo Gerard United Steelworkers of America Robert Greenwald Brave New Films Mary Kay Henry Service Employees International Union Roger Hickey Campaign for America’s Future Michael Huttner ProgressNow Rev Jesse Jackson Rainbow-PUSH Coalition Avis Jones-DeWeever National Council of Negro Women Bob King United Auto Workers Union Joan Kuriansky Wider Opportunities for Women Antonio Lodico Mon Valley Unemployed Committee Meizhu Lui Closing the Racial Wealth Gap, Insight Center for Community Economic Development Ben Manski Liberty Tree Foundation Don Mathis Community Action Partnership Gerald McEntee American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees Brian Miller United for a Fair Economy Terry O’Neill National Organization for Women Robert Patrician Communications Workers of America Miles Rapoport Dēmos Charles Rodgers New Community Fund Justin Ruben MoveOn.org Steven Schwartz Ballot Initiative Strategy Center Karen See Coalition of Labor Union Women Hilary Shelton NAACP Curtis Skinner National Center for Children in Poverty Ted Smukler Interfaith Worker Justice Margery Tabankin The Streisand Foundation Scott Wallace Wallace Global Fund Deborah Weinstein Coalition on Human Needs Michael J. Wilson Americans for Democratic Action State Civic Leaders Betty Ahrens Iowa Citizen Action Network Gerard Bradley New Mexico Voices for Children Linda Brown Arizona Advocacy Network Bless Burke Western North Carolina Workers’ Center Simone Campbell NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby Sarah Chaisson Warner New Hampshire Citizens Alliance for Action Melba Collins Arkansas Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice Lynda DeLaforgue Citizen Action/Illinois Rion Dennis Progressive Maryland Adrienne Evans United Action for Idaho Linda Garding North Dakota People.org Debra Gardner Public Justice Center Rebekah Gienapp Workers Interfaith Network (Memphis, Tenn.) Jesse Graham Maine People’s Alliance Jill Harrington Ocean State Action Alice Hoffman Pa. Alliance of Retired Americans Nancy Holle Community, Faith and Labor Coalition Janice “Jay” Johnson Viginia Organizing Jonathan Klein Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE-LA) Robert Kraig Citizen Action of Wisconsin Mary Mancini Tennessee Citizen Action Craig McMahon Step Safe Bill Moyer Backbone Campaign Bill Newton Florida Citizen Action Group Anne Nolan Candidate for Minnesota State Representative, District 15A Brian O’Shaughnessy Labor-Religion Coalition of New York State Will Pittz Washington Community Action Network Tom Rankin California Alliance for Retired Americans Brian Rothenberg ProgressOhio Phyllis Salowe-Kaye New Jersey Citizen Action Joel Scott Detroit Federation of Teachers Nicholas Segura Jr. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers LU569 Eric Sklar Vice Mayor, St. Helena, Calif. Marc Stier Penn Action Tom Swan Connecticut Citizen Action Group Linda Teeter Michigan Citizen Action Ron Williams Oregon Action Gary Zuckett West Virginia Citizen Action Group http://ourfuture.org/files/documents/don't-kill-growth-and-jobs.pdf |
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| suston96
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Fri Sep-17-10 01:20 PM Response to Original message |
| 1. Link says "page not found". Please fix. Thanks. nt |
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| Better Believe It
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Fri Sep-17-10 01:22 PM Response to Reply #1 |
| 2. OK Here's how to get to the statement. |
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| LiberalAndProud
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Fri Sep-17-10 01:27 PM Response to Reply #2 |
| 4. nevermind |
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| LiberalAndProud
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Fri Sep-17-10 01:24 PM Response to Original message |
| 3. At first glance, I wondered if this was a backhanded way of promoting tax cut extensions. |
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| Ignis
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Fri Sep-17-10 01:31 PM Response to Original message |
| 5. K&R, but your link in the OP is broken. Use this one instead: |
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| L0oniX
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Fri Sep-17-10 01:31 PM Response to Original message |
| 6. Cut tax all breaks for the rich to reduce the deficit! |
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| DCBob
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Fri Sep-17-10 01:34 PM Response to Original message |
| 7. I dont think anyone in the Administration is ready to implement any of the deficit reduction ideas.. |
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| Better Believe It
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Fri Sep-17-10 02:01 PM Response to Reply #7 |
| 10. The deficit can only be reduced if the economy is growing. |
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| DCBob
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Fri Sep-17-10 02:14 PM Response to Reply #10 |
| 11. Not sure we need big gov programs.. they dont always work as well as they sound on paper.. |
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| Better Believe It
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Fri Sep-17-10 02:38 PM Response to Reply #11 |
| 14. Only a small percentage of the stimulus was used for job creating infrstructure/public works program |
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| TexasObserver
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Fri Sep-17-10 01:37 PM Response to Original message |
| 8. They're right. We can't save our way out of this. |
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| xchrom
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Fri Sep-17-10 01:54 PM Response to Original message |
| 9. recommend |
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| fishbulb703
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Fri Sep-17-10 02:18 PM Response to Original message |
| 12. unrec |
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| Better Believe It
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Fri Sep-17-10 02:39 PM Response to Reply #12 |
| 15. Austerity for whom? Wall Street or Main Street? |
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| fishbulb703
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Fri Sep-17-10 03:20 PM Response to Reply #15 |
| 20. that answer is pretty obvious. i can survive off of <1/10 of what we pay those fuckers |
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| The Magistrate
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Fri Sep-17-10 02:39 PM Response to Reply #12 |
| 16. Reasonable Minds, Sir, Do Not And Cannot Disagree On This Matter |
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| fishbulb703
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Fri Sep-17-10 03:19 PM Response to Reply #16 |
| 18. nope, austerity is exactly the extent we will need to go to due to the "stupidity" and "malice" |
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| Smashcut
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Fri Sep-17-10 02:34 PM Response to Original message |
| 13. K/R |
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| bullwinkle428
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Fri Sep-17-10 03:06 PM Response to Original message |
| 17. Word. "Thatcherism" is exactly what we do NOT need right now! |
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| HughMoran
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Fri Sep-17-10 03:20 PM Response to Original message |
| 19. . |
 |
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| Better Believe It
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Fri Sep-17-10 04:51 PM Response to Original message |
| 21. Kick |
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