Krugman Watch
Just a couple of points here. Krugman calls out Republican irresponsibility. Fair enough, Republicans are probably the only people more irresponsible than Democrats. However, he quotes Arnold Kling comparing the administration's plans to thugs breaking into his house. One problem, Kling is no Republican. Actually, two problems, as Kling also (first) compared the Bush administration to thugs. Hardly being a Republican hack. [Update: Video and partial transcript of what was said. Shockingly, The NY Times didn't fact-check Krugman one little bit.]
One other thing. It may seem like semantics, but I think it's important. Krugman claims the administration's stimulus plan will cost less than Bush's tax cuts. Sorry, but no. Taxes are costs, tax cuts are not. To spend is to tax. Therefore, a real tax cut cannot cost more than spending. Fake tax cuts can (like rebate checks), but I'm pretty sure those were small enough to keep the cost of Bush's tax cuts below this monstrosity that Obama wants. [I want to emphasize here that I'm not a fan of Bush's tax cuts for a few reasons, but I believe that how we use the word cost to describe government actions needs to be correct so that we think about them correctly, or at least better.]
One other thing. It may seem like semantics, but I think it's important. Krugman claims the administration's stimulus plan will cost less than Bush's tax cuts. Sorry, but no. Taxes are costs, tax cuts are not. To spend is to tax. Therefore, a real tax cut cannot cost more than spending. Fake tax cuts can (like rebate checks), but I'm pretty sure those were small enough to keep the cost of Bush's tax cuts below this monstrosity that Obama wants. [I want to emphasize here that I'm not a fan of Bush's tax cuts for a few reasons, but I believe that how we use the word cost to describe government actions needs to be correct so that we think about them correctly, or at least better.]
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