and John Ballard thinks it's worth reading...
Both Mr. Ryan and Mr. Romney, then, are fake deficit hawks. ... Still, Mr. Ryan and Mr. Romney are playing to a national audience. Are Republican governors, who have to deal with real budget constraints, different? Well, there have been many claims to that effect; Mr. Christie, in particular, has been widely held up, not least by himself, as an example of a politician willing to make tough choices.
But last week we got to see him facing an actual tough choice � and aside from the yelling-at-people thing, he proved himself just another standard fiscal phony.
Here�s the story:... Mr. Christie has been touting what he calls the �Jersey comeback.� Even before his latest outburst, it was hard to see what he was talking about... Yet Mr. Christie has been adamant that ... this makes room for, you guessed it, tax cuts that would disproportionately benefit the wealthy.
Last week reality hit:... the state faces a $1.3 billion shortfall. ... New Jersey, then, is still in dire fiscal shape. So is our tough-talking governor willing to reconsider his pet tax cut? Fuhgeddaboudit. ... So much for fiscal responsibility.
Will Mr. Christie�s budget temper tantrum end speculation that he might become Mr. Romney�s running mate? I have no idea. But it really doesn�t matter: whoever Mr. Romney picks, he or she will cheerfully go along with the budget-busting, reverse Robin Hood policies that you know are coming if the former governor wins.
There's more at the link, but that's the meat of what he said.
Krugman's analysis is deep on the surface, but way down deep it's pretty shallow because of what he does not say. He does not talk of President Obama saying on the campiagn trail that, "I've cut taxes on small business eleven times," or that "No one has cut taxes more often for the middle class than I have." He doesn't talk about Obama's plan to cut the corporate tax rate to 25% with ofsetting loophole eliminations "to be named later." He doesn't talk about the fact that Obama, even at this late date, has no comprehensive tax plan of his own to replace the Bush tax rates which expire the end of this year.
ReplyDeleteThis is not to defend Romney, but when you say "Fiscal Phonies" and talk only about Republicans... That is nonsense. I'll buy the title if you include both sides in it.