Unlike the GOP and journalists reporting on the budget, Dean Baker knows how to do the math. Republicans shut down the government to try to defund Obamacare. Polling told everyone that this was an unpopular idea, but Republicans, believing they knew better, ignored that and shut it down any way. When that failed, they were allowed by the media to pretend that it had nothing to do with Obamacare, but it was about spending instead. Of course pretending we have a spending problem is just as bad as pretending Obamacare will destroy America. In fact Obamacare has a far better chance of dramatically reducing spending over the next few decades than any other legislation the GOP has ever proposed. Right now we are spending less per GDP (21.6%) than average (22%) or peak spending (23.5%) during the Reagan administration. At the end of ten years our spending as a percent of GDP will have risen to Reagan era spending. So why does the GOP pretend we have a spending problem now? There are no rational reasons. They may as well fear that a driver in New Jersey heading West is in danger of falling into the Pacific Ocean. So there must be darker emotional reasons for this. They have never stopped hating Social Security and Medicare, even though their voters love these programs. One wonders why GOP voters never wake up and figure out which party is always trying to cut their Medicare and Social Security. I will never be able to understand why Republicans think our biggest problem is that rich people dont have enough money, and that mugging the elderly is the best way to try to get more money for rich people.
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 03:19:20 +0000
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