You Keep Using the Word “Austerity”. I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means.
Back in the early days of the debt ceiling circus, before it became a maze of twisty little deal offers, all alike, the left-wing site Talking Points Memo was all atwitter. The entire debate — not just a couple early conservative suggestions, but the whole thing — was the beginning of a new dark age, an Age of DogFood Casseroles and Grandmas Pushed from Cliffs. An…Age of Austerity!
Really. Here’s the headline (via memeorandum):
Whatever The Outcome Of The Debt Vote, The Age Of Austerity Is Here
Oh deary, dear. Is it possible that Thomas Lane of Talking Points Memo doesn’t know what the word “austerity” means? See, I do, and I didn’t see any of that “deficit-cutting, lower spending, and a reduction in the amount of benefits and public services provided” the word requires before it is applied. Neither did Chris Edwards at the Cato Institute. Here’s a chart from his analysis of one of Boehner’s mid-week plans, one of the plans I hasten to remind you, that both the President and Harry Reid condemned as far too partisan and Spartan.
That’s certainly some austerity right there, huh? You like the way the big red line of deficit spending keeps climbing and climbing into forever? I sure as heck don’t, which is why I’ve roundly c0ndemned every spending plan John Boehner has put out over the past week.
The grand progressive meme right now is that the Republicans want to hack government to the bone, burn irreparable holes in the cherished Safety Net for the Poor(tm), and twiddle their villainous mustaches. As you can see, that is as far from the truth as east is from the west. John Boehner’s plans — indeed the plans favored by most of the Republicans in Congress — is nothing like “austerity”. Anyone who says different isn’t just lying, but lying poorly, and we should laugh at them until they slink back into the cozy confines of their SorosMonkey cages.
Other Posts of Interest:
- Oh What a Feeling, Dancing Around the Debt Ceiling.
- Cut, Cap, and Compromise
- “Go Ahead…Make My Day” and Other Bluff-Friendly Quotes The President Memorized Yesterday
Category: Progressives, The Economy and Your Money
I think these clowns fear some slipperly sanity slope, where a hint of common sense here means further gains for responsibility down the road.
That's not a bad theory at all, actually.
[...] night:If pixels could sound off, you’d be getting Baker Streeted right now. Also, Mr. Bise is a blogger of no mean repute. But you probably already knew that. Did I mention that his podcast also rocks hard? Truly a [...]