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More evidence that austerity isn’t the answer

Post on October 22, 2012 by 8 Comments »

Bloomberg.com reports this morning that austerity policies appear to be quickly guiding Greece toward a “1930′s style depression.”  Of course, the United Kingdom is already learning about the impact of failed Hoover-style economics.

Now, when will the American political right (and much of the so-called middle) wake up to the hard truth that slashing public spending is the last thing  we need to do in the U.S. and a surefire way to stop the progress made over the past three-plus years?

 

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Comments (Closed):8

  1. Frank Burns
    October 22, 2012 at 11:12 am

    The answer is to focus on the private sector for creating jobs and not the public sector. Obama’s failed policies are evidence that spending on the public sector without getting anything tangible in return is a definate no go.

  2. david esmay
    October 22, 2012 at 1:20 pm

    The answer is to disregard Frank’s parroting of lame wrong wing talking points gleaned from heritage.org and regurgitated here, along with Myth Robme’s double down on supply side voodoo. Public expenditures like the stimulus and spending on education and infrastructure have immediate economic impacts. The retardlican solution is to redistribute wealth upwards into a few hands and let the economy swing in order to satisfy their “shareholder/controllers”.

  3. david esmay
    October 22, 2012 at 2:16 pm

    Frankie you seem to forget that over 600,000 jobs have been cut in the public sector in the last three years. Like all wrong wingers, teaidiots, and retardlicans, you seem to think the answer is to make the poor learn to do much more with much less, while the rich are encouraged to do less with ever so much more. In 1962 federal spending was 18% of the GDP, in 2011 it was 24%. Considering that our population has doubled since 1962, and yet spending has only increased 6%, with the majority of that being defense spending, it’s obvious where the cuts should be.

  4. Frank Burns
    October 22, 2012 at 2:56 pm

    David, you seem to forget the massive spending under Obama called “the stimulus”. It should have been called something else as it didn’t stimulate anything. Most of the money was given to state and local governments as grants, which simply delayed the inevitable layoffs. Quit using the Dem talking points and think for yourself for a change. You all throw out percentages that are given to you by Obama and his flunkies.

  5. gregflynn
    October 23, 2012 at 10:04 am

    About half of the stimulus has been grants to state and local governments. In rough numbers the stimulus over 4 years has been $800 billion or, about $200 billion per year. Grants to state and local governments have increased under ARRA by about $100 billion per year from about $400 billion per year to about $500 billion per year. Most of that money circulates in the economy. 2/3 to 3/4 of federal grants to state and local governments are classified as “payments for individuals” which are quickly injected into the domestic economy.

  6. david esmay
    October 23, 2012 at 12:15 pm

    Frank you seem to forget Bush’s 780 billion dollar stimulus, one that Paul Ryan said was absolutely necessary, that in reality was a worthless boondoggle, unlike President Obama’s, which actually saved jobs.

  7. david esmay
    October 23, 2012 at 12:17 pm

    Those percentages you speak of, I looked them up on the CBO website. I don’t troll heritage and faux news for raw material, I like facts.

  8. Frank Burns
    October 23, 2012 at 12:55 pm

    The government spending method of stimulating the economy has failed, plain and simple. The level of unemployment is the same when Bush left office, welfare and disability are up. This government spending approach is not working and all it does is to put us deeper in debt as a nation. Obama continues to play the blame game, but that’s not what true leaders do. Obama has a severe case of leadership deficit. After he is defeated next month, (his loss will be historic), I recommend he take a night course on leadership at his local community college to help him in his future endeavors.