Newsweek‘s Eleanor Clift has a new piece headlined”Math Lessons: How Did a Concept as Unsexy and Complicated as the National Deficit Become the Galvanizing Political Issue of the Day?”
Sheasks: “Why is the deficit the top issue in voters’ minds?”
If she eliminated the word “why,” you’d be left with agood question to ponder. The answer would be no, andthe piece could end there.
But instead of writing that piece,Clift wrote this:
The deficit is really a symbol for the anger that people feel about the amount of money that has been poured into the economy, without any tangible returns that they can see in their own pocketbooks. “The American people are not Keynesians,” says Brookings scholar Tom Mann. “In tough economic times, they spend less, and they think government should do the same.”
There is plenty of evidence to suggestthat people actually want the government to spend more money in order to create jobs. But in the corporate media’s worldview, people care a whole lot about the deficit–but not, apparently, what actually caused the deficit.
well, duh! americans don’t understand the difference between micro and macro economics….shocking!
The media is painting this narrative about a “big” republican take over, all you hear in the news is how Obama’s support is crumbling and people are against big government.
I feel as if all those statistics about how America is falling behind in education is finally bearing fruit; People can be convinced of anything as long as your PR firm and budget are big enough.
Eleanor Clift is not a liberal, has never been a liberal, but she plays one on TV.
Yes, UnEasyOne, Clift plays one just like Juan Williams plays one. The received wisdom is that “most” Americans care deeply about the deficit, and that the Federal government’s budget is just like the family budget, and should be run in exactly the same way.
It’s been pointed out here before that the Deficit and the Debt were higher as a factor of the GDP after WW2 than it is today. Only today it’s such a bad thing because Corporations don’t want you to think there’s a place for the government in improving the economic outlook in America. That’s the pervue of Corporations alone. Corporations that still employ Americans don’t want a secure american workforce. they preffer “a level of worker insecurity” (Greenspan’s term) to lower wages and discourage unionism. the “deficit” card is just another tool in the box (some of the old ones are wearing out, like abortion and guns cause they got overused) to make people hate government and vote for the “hate Government” Party. Not sayin’ I like running a deficit. But right now we’re fighting fire with fire to get things kick started after off shoring all our treasure to Iraq and our jobs to China. It could backfire, but at least the roads will be better even if traffic during rush hour is a lot lighter.
OR maybe because gamekeeper Obummer linked Social Security with the issue and dog-whistled (sicced) his Catfood Commissars (Sympson, et al) on the rest of US All to “dig the gummit out of the deficit”! Just(ly) STOP DIGGING, especially with those Hellfire BOMBS and BOOBS running rampant around (in circles in) the Middle-east!! Get Out NOW!!!
Okay, UnEasyOne, I’ll bite: just how do you classify Eleanor? To me, she’s just another irritating Liberal, but there are too many of them for her to be something special. No, her claim to fame must be that her screech ranks right up there with fingernails on the blackboard, baby crying, and Rap “music”.
My guess is after the corporations have sucked the life out of America, they will carry on to S. America, Asia, and wherever there is possibility of corrupting a government. The CEOs and”investors” care less about people, governments, environment, or anything else. They see nothing but ever increasing profits.
Like the robots they hope to establish before the serfs and slaves die out, they have a heartless focus.
Our only hope is corporate distruction before they eliminate ALL LIFE FORMS.
The author of the article wrote:
“There is plenty of evidence to suggest that people actually want the government to spend more money in order to create jobs”.
Yes, the fact that the Repugs won Ted Kennedy’s seat and also won the governors race in New Jersey and Connecticut show that, right ?.
And the fact that all the well established polling organizations are right now showing almost CERTAIN big gains for the Repugs in next month’s election are all strong signs of that ? Isn’t that right ? Yeah, ………. right.
I’m a liberal but I still think that Obama (and the Democratic leadership in Congress) should have took the initiative immediately starting on 1/20/09, looking for ways to cut wasteful spending in every department. And should have been very public about it.
I know they had a lot on their plate and I know that 20/20 hindsight is easy.
But Obama might have saved a few seats from going to the GOP next month if he had showed some willingness to do that !
People don’t spend their way to prosperity. Neither do governments.
People usually get prosperous by living within (or below) their means, saving, and investing prudently.
Sure, some people just inherit money.
But most self made millionaires observe the following rules.
1. Live below your means.
2. Save prodigiously
3. Invest prudently.
Do you hear me Congress ?
Mr. President ?
Mikikijoe
Im a conservative but I agree with your every word.
To some of the other bloggers…One thing I would say is that i have never been convinced that government can create jobs.Other than releasing the reins that inhibit job growth.
MickeyJoe:
You say:
1. Live below your means.
2. Save prodigiously
3. Invest prudently.
Yes. But one must have means to live below & money to save prodigiously &/or invest prudently.
MickyO:
You say, responding to MickeyLack:
Im a conservative but I agree with your every word.
To some of the other bloggersâ┚¬Ã‚¦One thing I would say is that i have never been convinced that government can create jobs.Other than releasing the reins that inhibit job growth.
Perhaps you should bone up on your history. I expect it’s true that private contractors hired the people who rebuilt our economy after the dreadful first great depression but the money came from the government. Check it out & get back to me.