海角大神

Republicans lost the election but they still shape what鈥檚 debated in Washington 鈥� the federal budget deficit and so-called 鈥渇iscal responsibility.鈥�

The White House鈥檚 and the Democrat鈥檚 continuing failure to reshape that debate has lead directly and logically to Paul Ryan鈥檚 budget plan this week, which is a more regressive version of the same plan American voters resoundingly rejected last November.聽

Sadly, the President is playing into the GOP鈥檚 hands with a new round of negotiations over a 鈥済rand bargain.鈥�

Despite February鈥檚 encouraging job numbers, the major challenge is still jobs, wages, growth, and widening inequality 鈥� not deficit reduction and fiscal responsibility.聽

We鈥檇 need numbers like February鈥檚 every month for the next four years to get anywhere close to the level of unemployment we had before the Great Recession. But we won鈥檛 get there because of the austerity policies the nation has embarked on, and the continuing erosion of the middle class.聽

Austerity economics 鈥� of which Ryan鈥檚 upcoming budget is the most extreme version 鈥� is a cruel hoax. Cruel because it hurts most those who are already hurting; a hoax because it doesn鈥檛 work.聽
The entire framework is based on the false analogy that the federal budget is akin to a family鈥檚 budget.聽

Families do have to balance their budgets. But that鈥檚 precisely why the federal government has to be the spender of last resort when consumer spending falls short of boosting the economy toward full employment.

And as long as income and wealth continue to concentrate at the very top, the broad middle class and those aspiring to join it won鈥檛 have the purchasing power to boost the economy.聽

So why even try for a 鈥済rand bargain鈥� that won鈥檛 deal with these fundamentals but only further legitimize the GOP mythology and further mislead the public about what鈥檚 really at stake?聽