Budget debate's center tilts to left
Robert Reich
SF Chronicle
Sunday, May 1, 2011
We continue to hear that the Great Budget Debate has two sides. The president and the Democrats want to cut the deficit mainly by increasing taxes on the rich and reducing military spending, but not by privatizing Medicare. On the other side are House budget chair Paul Ryan and congressional Republicans, who want to cut the deficit by privatizing Medicare and slicing programs that benefit poorer Americans, while lowering taxes on the rich.
By this logic, the center lies just between.
Baloney.
According to the most recent Washington Post-ABC News poll, 78 percent of Americans oppose cutting spending on Medicare as a way to reduce the budget deficit. Meanwhile, raising taxes on the wealthy is supported by 72 percent. That includes 68 percent of independents. Even a majority of registered Republicans - 54 percent - say taxes should be raised on the rich. A majority of Republicans!
In other words, the center of America isn't halfway between the two sides. It's overwhelmingly on the side of the president and the Democrats.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/04/30/INLK1J7M3M.DTL
SF Chronicle
Sunday, May 1, 2011
We continue to hear that the Great Budget Debate has two sides. The president and the Democrats want to cut the deficit mainly by increasing taxes on the rich and reducing military spending, but not by privatizing Medicare. On the other side are House budget chair Paul Ryan and congressional Republicans, who want to cut the deficit by privatizing Medicare and slicing programs that benefit poorer Americans, while lowering taxes on the rich.
By this logic, the center lies just between.
Baloney.
According to the most recent Washington Post-ABC News poll, 78 percent of Americans oppose cutting spending on Medicare as a way to reduce the budget deficit. Meanwhile, raising taxes on the wealthy is supported by 72 percent. That includes 68 percent of independents. Even a majority of registered Republicans - 54 percent - say taxes should be raised on the rich. A majority of Republicans!
In other words, the center of America isn't halfway between the two sides. It's overwhelmingly on the side of the president and the Democrats.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/04/30/INLK1J7M3M.DTL
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1 Comments:
The balance will shift when we are forced to take swift and decisive action once the song ends and we have to pay the band. Rising interest rates will be the start of a period of pain, the sooner we take action to actually reduce spending with the big four (Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and defense) the better.
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