New York Times columnist Paul Krugman today has a piece telling readers not to worry about the massive, growing national debt – the GOP is just trying to whip voters into a frenzy and stall Obama’s domestic policy agenda.
If you’ve been reading about President Obama’s budget, you know that there really is reason to worry. What is being proposed isn’t just a temporary spending surge to address the economic crisis, but a permanent expansion of government. Instead of controlling one in five of the country’s dollars (an outrageous sum, but the norm in recent history,) the federal government will be charge of nearly one in four of our dollars.
But what I think is particularly amusing about Krugman’s piece is this analogy. He compares the alarmism about the debt to the push to enter Iraq:
To me – and I’m not alone in this – the sudden outbreak of deficit hysteria brings back memories of the groupthink that took hold during the run-up to the Iraq war. Now, as then, dubious allegations, not backed by hard evidence, are being reported as if they have been established beyond a shadow of a doubt. Now, as then, much of the political and media establishments have bought into the notion that we must take drastic action quickly, even though there hasn’t been any new information to justify this sudden urgency. Now, as then, those who challenge the prevailing narrative, no matter how strong their case and no matter how solid their background, are being marginalized.
Hmmmm…. group think; allegations not backed by hard evidence reported as established beyond a shadow of a doubt.; the marginalization of anyone challenging the “prevailing narrative.” Yes this sounds quite familiar. Yet cap-and-rade remains one of the President’s priorities.