Joe Nocera has a worthwhile article in the NYT that addresses some issues related to my post of Sept 6.
I have had numerous comments on my use in that post of the term "terrorist tactics" to describe how Republicans caused a crisis around raising the debt ceiling. Most of those comments, but by no means all, agreed in principal with the criticism that I reported in my Sept 7 post "Strong Language". However, only one of the respondents, Stephen, submitted his thoughts via the comments feature of the blog. Thank you, Stephen! I urge you to follow his example as this makes it easier to share your thoughts and keep the discussion going.
Ed
2 comments:
Ed,
Obstructionist tactics and brinksmanship are nothing new in American politics. In fact, we've seen much worse, as in what the student left did to the Democratic convention in 1968. The Tea Party bargained hard, knowing that they were positioning their leadership to cut a deal closer to their principles. The underlying issues are real and fundamental - has government grown too big (yes), does Kenysian economics work (good at stopping contagion, not so good at creating wealth or actually fine tuning the economy), do revenues have to be part of the solution (yes as part of a real tax reform that makes the code more efficient and fair) and are costs the far bigger part of the problem (absolutely, from the Pentagon to Medicare, spending is way out of control and wasting huge sums for little long term payback). The debate is so accrimonious because we can't submerge these problems in surplus resources or rapid growth, and attempts to "jump start that" are doomed by the housing/financial overhang. So, clean up the overhang comes first and that means economies and positioning for eventual growth.
sva
The radical right legislators who threatened to force the country into default are elected representatives who have taken an oath of office and are paid by citizens. Their "antics" really aren't comparable to those of the students radicals of 1968. I couldn't agree more that the underlying issues are profound and will require a lot of extremely difficult choices and compromises. I do not think that the artificial crisis over the debt ceiling was a responsible or ethical way to advance the cause.
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