The endless learning curve
by digby
Krugman:
Greg Sargent has more bang-your-head-against-the-wall material about the Obama administration’s “pivot” to deficits. Quoting a new book by David Corn:
Plouffe was concerned that voter unease about the deficit could become unease about the president. The budget issue was easy to understand; you shouldn’t spend more money than you have. Yes, there was the argument that the government should borrow money responsibly when necessary (especially when interest rates were low) for the appropriate activities, just like a family borrowing sensibly to purchase a home, to pay for college, or to handle an emergency. But voters needed to know — or feel — that the president could manage the nation’s finances.
The depth of political malpractice here is just mind-blowing.
The goes on to show that the public always thinks the budget should be balanced, no matter what --- even in the Great Depression. And I would guess that one of the reasons is that politicians --- including the President -- are constantly telling them that the federal budget is just like the family budget and we all have to tighten our belts!
"Now, finally, we should all be able to agree that we've got to do something about our long-term deficits. Now, these deficits won’t just burden our kids and our grandkids decades from now -- they could damage our markets now, they could drive up our interest rates now, they could jeopardize our recovery right now.
Responsible families don’t do their budgets the way the federal government does. Right? When times are tough, you tighten your belts. You don’t go buying a boat when you can barely pay your mortgage. You don’t blow a bunch of cash on Vegas when you’re trying to save for college. You prioritize. You make tough choices. It’s time your government did the same. "
That was February of 2010. It was still going on in July of 2011, 18 months later:
"Government has to start living within its means, just like families do. We have to cut the spending we can’t afford so we can put the economy on sounder footing, and give our businesses the confidence they need to grow and create jobs.”
Long learning curve, there.
Can we all agree, at least in hindsight, that this was the wrong approach? It's not as if some very prominent people weren't saying it at the time. And 18 months later, too. not to mention those of us in the peanut gallery.
I'm reading Showdown right now. And like all the books about the first term, it's intensely frustrating. It's not as if we didn't know all this. But finding out just how thoroughly they bought into the nonsense is still chilling.
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