QandO: More Krugmania

March 02, 2004

More Krugmania
Posted by Jon Henke

Paul Krugman is especially shrill today...

Second, squeezing spending doesn't mean cutting back on wasteful programs nobody wants. Social Security and Medicare are the targets because that's where the money is. We might add that ideologues on the right have never given up on their hope of doing away with Social Security altogether. If Mr. Bush wins in November, we can be sure that they will move forward on privatization — the creation of personal retirement accounts. These will be sold as a way to "save" Social Security (from a nonexistent crisis), but will, in fact, undermine its finances. And that, of course, is the point.

Hm..."ideologues on the right". Well, let's look at one of the original ideologues....

In the important field of security for our old people, it seems necessary to adopt ... voluntary contributory annuities by which individual initiative can increase the annual amounts received in old age. It is proposed that the Federal Government assume one-half of the cost of the old-age pension plan, which ought ultimately to be supplanted by selfsupporting annuity plans. - MESSAGE TO CONGRESS ON SOCIAL SECURITY WASHINGTON, D. C., JANUARY 17, 1935

Add one more to the list of dangerous right wing ideologues: Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

UPDATE: Luskin has more. Apparently, Paul Krugman has undergone quite a metamorphosis on the subject of Social Security. Coincidentally, his flip--flop allows him to continue being critical of the Bush administration! What luck!

UPDATE II: Welcome to QandO. Take a look around - bookmark, blogroll, come back. You know the drill.

TrackBack

Comments

The Social Security crisis is non-existent? Krugman forfeited any hope of intellectual honesty with that statement....not that he had much left.

Posted by: Steverino at March 2, 2004 10:38 AM

No. If you look at what Krugman said, you'll see that he's accusing the administration of making the crisis seem worse than it is. By adopting a holy-shit-we-are-screwed-a-lot-sooner-than-we-thought approach, Krugman claims, the administration will have a much greater chance of pushing privitzation through.

You don't have to agree with his claims, but you should try to understand them properly, something Luskin and other idiotic Krugman critics usually fail to do.

Posted by: Brian at March 2, 2004 01:33 PM

Quoting Krugman directly, "These will be sold as a way to "save" Social Security (from a nonexistent crisis)".

If Krugman had meant to say that the administration is making the crisis seem worse than it is, he should have said "from an overstated crisis", or words to that effect. Instead, he deliberately chose the word "nonexistent". I don't buy your explanation of what Krugman said here.

Posted by: Steverino at March 2, 2004 01:39 PM

I think the point is that Krugman is a weathervane (that's better, I think than the term "policy whore"). Whether or not a policy position is valid or useful or desirable or good for the economy or whatever is totally dependent on whether he is expressing an opinion on Bush or any given Democrat. If Tom Daschle and George Bush offered totally identical policy prescriptions for some problem, Krugman would praise the first (with some caveats to show that he is a possible Nobel winner) and trash the second. The man has no shame.

Posted by: JorgXMcKie at March 2, 2004 07:03 PM

Steve, your problem is that pretty much everything in the piece confirms what I say.

Jorg, I don't know where you're coming from with that, but save it, because it makes you sound a tad ridiculous.

Posted by: Brian at March 2, 2004 07:24 PM

Brian - saying it doesn't make it so, except in the deluded minds of Krugman apologists. Care to provide a specific example that refutes Steve's observation?

You won't because you can't. But by all means keep trying, it's entertaining to watch you humiliate yourself.

Posted by: btroid at March 2, 2004 08:03 PM

Brian, Krugman said the Social Security crisis is nonexistent. If it's not nonexistent, then Krugman was lying.

Krugman states that Social Security is fully financed through 2042. But that isn't quite true. The fact is, Social Security will be paying out more than it's taking in as of around 2012. What Krugman has done is applied the past surpluses in SS to the deficit it will start running, and used that to say that it's fully financed for the next 38 years.

But Krugman knows that the SS surpluses were already spent in each budget year. What SS has is a bunch of IOUs from Uncle Sammy. Those will have to be paid off, starting in about 8 years.
Krugman himself made this point a year ago. And now he mocks Greenspan for making the same point.

Sorry, but you're wrong on this one. Krugman did NOT say that the Bush administration is overstating the problem, he said that it was nonexistent. There's a big difference between the two, and you know it.

Posted by: Steverino at March 2, 2004 10:40 PM

Brian...your response to Steve's comment proving you are wrong as a Krugman apologist clearly indicates your emotional immaturity. The best the left has to offer? So sad are you and your type.

Posted by: Anti-Brian at March 3, 2004 12:27 PM

Sorry Brian: I have read the entire article, and find no evidence to back up your response:

"No. If you look at what Krugman said, you'll see that he's accusing the administration of making the crisis seem worse than it is. By adopting a holy-shit-we-are-screwed-a-lot-sooner-than-we-thought approach, Krugman claims, the administration will have a much greater chance of pushing privitzation through."

How can the Administration make a crisis that doesn't exist worse?

Actually it was your insults at the end that gave your BS away.

Posted by: Phil Winsor at March 4, 2004 07:46 PM

Once again, Luskin's article contains more erroneous and misleading statements than the article that he's addressing. He's just getting more painful to read. See the analysis of his article at the URL connected to this message ( http://home.att.net/~rdavis2/luskin6.html ).

Posted by: R. Davis at March 6, 2004 03:53 AM

Gay man gay black gay twinks. Gay ass free gay movies FReE GAY StORiES. Gay thumbs nude gay FREE GAY PIc. Gay fucking free gay mpegs frEE gay bOYS. Gay cartoons twinks gay ass. Gay universe gay naked men GAy BOys. Gay bondage gay male gaY PERsONaLs gAy AniMe. Free gay sex stories gay porn GAY COCK. Gay masturbation gay muscle GAY MOVIES GAY TEENS. Nude gay men gay teen frEe GAy porn. Gay hunks gay incest free gay video gay people. Gay fucking gay nude FREE GAY PICTURES. Gay stories gay cartoons GAY EROTIC STORIES. Gay cartoons gay ass STUds fREE Gay GaLLerIes. Gay anime nude gay men gay hardcore free gay porn. Gay hardcore free gay video clips GAY BEARS. Free gay clips gay travel free gay mpegs. Gay cartoons gay anime GAY PENIS GAY TEEN BOYS. Gay cumshots gay blowjob gAy bLACk vIdEOs. Gay cartoons gay anal GaY SeX PiCs. Free gay porn gay xxx gay pictures. Gay hentai gay males gAY thuMBS. Gay movies gay pics gAy mAstuRbaTion. Free gay galleries gay hardcore gay black. Gay pictures free gay galleries free gay. Gay bears gay guys GAY XXX. Free gay boys gay black GAY VIDEO GAY VIDEOS. Stud gay blowjob GAY PEOPLE FREE GAY MOVIES. Gay porno free gay video GAY POrNO. Gay men gay universe free gay galleries. Free gay video clips free gay clips FREE GAY SEX. Gay male gay males gAy rIGhTS gAY muSCle. Gay boys free gay sex movies gAy fucK. Gay blowjob gay bears gay sex STOrIes gaY SEX piCs. Gay men having sex gay hunks gaY HEnTAI. Gay videos free gay GaY anAL. Gay photos gay incest gay underwear pics. Gay hardcore free gay boys naKEd GAy MEN. Stud gay bears GAY MALE STORIES. Gay black gay pics nude gay. Gay bear free gay boys gAy pORN. Gay sex pics gay underwear pics gAy cOckS. Gay kiss gay male stories twinks. Gay erotic stories free gay clips gay teens gay black. Gays gay fuck gay men having sex. Gay thumbs gay teen boys free gay pics. Gay males gay pictures FrEe GaY VIDeO cLIPs. Gay men sex gay blowjobs gaY sPAnKiNG. Gay men having sex gay blowjobs gaY fuCkINg. Gay pictures gay hardcore gay BOY. free gay porn

Posted by: gay males at November 19, 2004 01:29 PM

Posted by: gay males at November 19, 2004 01:30 PM