November 7th - "both Romney and Obama have plans to dramatically remake... American Government"

[TPaine7]

This is not the story you have heard about the budget. You have probably heard a terrifying tale of dysfunction and impending doom, with the catchphrase “the fiscal cliff” used by budget wonks to describe all the automatic changes scheduled for January 1. It’s a story of disaster that could arrive by accident and must be prevented at all costs. Every aspect of this narrative is inaccurate.

The term “fiscal cliff” has leached into the broader political lexicon, though few people understand what it means, and many of them invoke it to mean its precise opposite. Among Republicans, especially, “fiscal cliff” has come to signify their Obama-era fears of a Greece-style debt crisis. Pete Peterson, an investor and longtime fiscal hawk, has devoted more than a half-billion dollars to lobby for a bipartisan debt-reduction agreement, funding a vast network of centrist anti-deficit activists, like the Concord Coalition, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, and an organization called “the Campaign to Fix the Debt,” all of which have pounded a national drumbeat warning against the perils of the fiscal cliff. “Rhetoric won’t fix the debt, action will,” warns a statement by Fix the Debt. A “solution to the nation’s fiscal crisis,” scolded the Washington Post editorial page, which closely echoes the views of the Peterson network, “can be implemented only if Republicans and Democrats hold hands and jump together.”

This is all utterly wrong. Bipartisan agreement is not necessary to fix the debt. Nothing is necessary to fix the debt. It is as if the network of activists, wonks, business leaders, and Beltway elder statesmen who have devoted themselves to building cross-party support for a deficit deal have grown more attached to the means of bipartisanship than to the ends for which it was intended. The budget deficit is a legislatively solved problem. It is, indeed, an oversolved problem. In the absence of any agreement between the president and Congress, the deficit will shrink to less than one percent of the economy by 2018, and remain below that level through 2022. The budget deficit declines so sharply and so drastically, and in ways that neither party is entirely comfortable with, that the task for Washington is to pull back on deficit reduction.

...

But here is a case where a bad metaphor has caused everybody to think about the matter in exactly the wrong way. When you walk off a cliff, the first step is your last. There is no such thing as falling halfway down a cliff. But the “fiscal cliff” is not a cliff at all. The economic damage is cumulative. It is the opposite of the debt ceiling, when the doomsday clock ticked down to a moment of sudden calamity. A full year of inaction would do a lot of damage, but a week, a month, or even a couple of months would not. The president would have enough control over the mechanics of the budget to delay the effects of higher taxes and spending cuts in order to cushion the blow to the economy. Even if the tax hikes and spending cuts go into effect, any deal that gets signed later could be retroactive. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve could also take emergency action to keep the recovery afloat.

http://nymag.com/news/politics/elections-2012/obama-romney-economic-plans-2012-10/
(The quote is from page 5.)

This is a very interesting read, and if the author has things right, Obama has a very serious ace up his sleeve, a card that will lead to an Obama II that richly deserves the respect of all and the fear of obstructionist Republicans.

I hope the re-elected Obama is prepared to run roughshod over obstructionism and make the most of his power!

[longship]

1. Too bad this is a 2AM post.

Try to keep this kicked late night era.

R&

[AverageJoe90]

2. I may need to repost this tomorrow if it doesn't get much attention.

This could be extremely important. Major K & R, TPaine!

[bloomington-lib]

3. kick

[xxqqqzme]

4. I'm still up

so I'll kick it.

[Stewland]

5. Romney/Ryan and their plan to destroy America

I can honestly say that we can plainly see the hand writing on the wall.The long enacted plan by conservatives to install a fascist theocracy. Bachman would then seem almost normal. Lets hope enough democrats get out and vote. If elected Romney would have to throw the religious a bone or two. Would he like Bush ,demonize Gays,Muslims and progressives. If Republicans win it will seem like the end of decatant Weimar Republic before the Nazi too over.

[A-Long-Little-Doggie]

6. Kick for the morning crowd

Good read indeed.

[jsr]

7. Good article

[bemildred]

8. So we have a supposedly democratic system awash in overt lying to the electorate.

Billions of dollars worth of lies and dissembling, and everybody rags of the voters for not figuring it out somehow.

[bemildred]

9. Yes. Yes yes yes. nt