Paul Krugman: 'Obama Has Done More to Rein in Deficits Than Any Previous President'
On Monday, New York Times columnist and Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman ironically asked his readers, "How can voters be so ill informed [sic]?"
Either dishonestly or ignorantly adding to the problem he's supposedly concerned with, the so-called "economist" Friday said President Obama "has done more to rein in long-run deficits than any previous president":
What would a serious approach to our fiscal problems involve? I can summarize it in seven words: health care, health care, health care, revenue.[...]
So anyone who is really serious about the budget should be focusing mainly on health care. And by focusing, I don’t mean writing down a number and expecting someone else to make that number happen — a dodge known in the trade as a “magic asterisk.” I mean getting behind specific actions to rein in costs.
Here's where it got hysterical:
What would real action on health look like? Well, it might include things like giving an independent commission the power to ensure that Medicare only pays for procedures with real medical value; rewarding health care providers for delivering quality care rather than simply paying a fixed sum for every procedure; limiting the tax deductibility of private insurance plans; and so on.
And what do these things have in common? They’re all in last year’s health reform bill.
That’s why I say that Mr. Obama gets too little credit. He has done more to rein in long-run deficits than any previous president.
Really? As ABC's Jake Tapper noted Monday, the President's recent budget forecasts $7.2 trillion in added debt over the next ten years, and this assumes economic growth far greater than anyone is predicting including the Congressional Budget Office.
Equally shameful, Krugman was advancing the myth that ObamaCare will reduce the deficit.
As Townhall's Kevin Glass reported last March in the middle of the healthcare debate, ObamaCare has multiple gimmicks in it that give the illusion of cost savings:
1. Double-counting Medicare cuts as both saving Medicare and spending on new programs
2. Counting revenue that must be used for future spending as deficit-reducing savings
3. Starting revenue provisions immediately while delaying spending provisions until 2014
4. Carefully writing the language so that the CBO can't count the individual mandate in the cost of the bill (which they had done in the past)
5. Claiming that additional tax money raised will go to pay for spending in the bill when it must be used for other programs
The Heritage Foundation just last month did a detailed analysis of the games ObamaCare plays to come up with bogus claims of cost savings:
The federal government’s finances were dismal even before the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) was enacted. That is why lawmakers who pushed for its passage felt compelled to try to calm worried Americans by claiming that the law would cut projected federal budget deficits in addition to covering the uninsured.[1]
And, in fact, the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) official estimate shows that PPACA’s health care provisions[2] would cut projected deficits by $124 billion over the period from 2010 to 2019.[3] But that cost estimate is not the whole story—not by a long shot. A close examination of what CBO said, as well as other evidence, makes it clear that the deficit reduction associated with PPACA is based on budget gimmicks, sleights of hand, accounting tricks, and completely implausible assumptions. A more honest accounting reveals the new law as a trillion-dollar budget buster.
Yet Krugman says Obama "has done more to rein in long-run deficits than any previous president." I guess this is another example of his "disturbing habit of shaping, slicing and selectively citing numbers."
And he wonders why voters are so ill-informed!
- Noel Sheppard's blog
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Comments
Wait,
Submitted by Ashrak on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 12:46pm.
I thought Obama left the healthcare bill to Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid???
The implosion continues.
Mandatory Drug testing for NYT Columnists
Submitted by xyzzypoofs on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 12:50pm.
would be a more effecient use of Taxpayer $ in Healthcare.
Whatever shred of credibility the Krugster may have had left...
Submitted by Dave. on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 12:53pm.
...just went up in smoke like a Cheech & Chong fattie.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
that picture of Krug the Ugh
Submitted by jon_torlin on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 1:07pm.
That explains the look in Krugman's picture here, look at those eyes.
He's tripping.
-Jon
jon,
Submitted by Dave. on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 2:38pm.
bk needs to get a hold of that pic and change Berkely to Berzerkely.
LOl - With the Krugster in the foreground, it's a can't miss.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
Dave.....LOL............
Submitted by BEGRUNT on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 2:59pm.
I was going to comment on that picture of Krugman at Berkerly.....and use "Berzerkely".........your right that is perfect for bk. Another term that we in CA use for Berzerkely, is the "little red city on the bay"..... :-)
"A nation can suffer it's fool's, but cannot survive the traitor"
Cicero
BEG,
Submitted by Dave. on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 3:22pm.
And bk could take that pic I linked to and replace Tommy Chong's face with Krugman's.
Little red city by the bay.
That's perfect.
Vote for the American in November
Hey Dave,
Submitted by Ashrak on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 3:43pm.
If the Krugster did spark a fattie like that, he would start laughing at himself as he tried to tell such blatant lies. He wouldn't be able to hold it in. But hey, at least then he could join the rest of us as we continue laughing at him.
Ashrak,
Submitted by Dave. on Sat, 02/19/2011 - 11:19am.
LOL - He has to be doing something mind-altering.
Either that or mental illness hath crept upon him.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
Gazing in his mirror.....
Submitted by Pilgrim1949 on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 12:54pm.
Methinks this self-styled intellectual out -- er, um I mean -- power-house has just answered his own question....
...which isn't surprising given the self-approving echo-chamber that he inhabits.
Yet another dim bulb subtracting from the sum total of human knowledge each time his mouth utters forth vibrations in the human hearing spectrum.
"Ye canne change the laws of physics....." but some politicians believe that with the right legislation you can pretend they don't really apply to your own pet projects...
Green Jobs, Unicorns and Pixies
Submitted by Prowler-Getz on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 12:58pm.
You forgot to mention that he his also counting Obama's green jobs initiative. You know, where any day now, we will discover free enery from unicorns, and pixie dust will make us all healthy and immortal.
Monsters Inc.
Submitted by MaximusBraveheart on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 1:29pm.
And here I thought we were going to get our power from the idea Al Gore presented in Monsters Inc... power of little kids screaming when they see Al Gore, Obama, Nancy, Harry, or Barney.
These traitors need to be exposed in the harshest of light.
-- Maximusbraveheart -- Is TRUTH knowable? Moral Relativism is the abandonment of Truth. Truth is knowable. Truth conforms to Reality. Reality is observable by evidence & witness in this day & from history. Relativism is Sesame Street play land.
Hahahahahaha!
Submitted by Lentenlands on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 1:00pm.
Hey man, remember that last tab of acid that Krugman had? He just dropped it man!
Hahahahahahahahaha!!!
http://smashabanana.blogspot.com/
Surprise....NOT
Submitted by donabernathy on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 1:05pm.
roflmao
Krugman is out and out lying now
Submitted by c5then on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 1:41pm.
Obama has added more to the national debt than all of the previous Presidents COMBINED!!!!!
He and the democrats are a fiscal disaster for this country. G.W. Bush and the Republicans in 2000-2006 were only marginally better.
HIs current Department of HHS has a larger proposed budget than the entire government under President LBJ! It's almost $1 trillion all by itself. And it is unconstitutional to boot.
Madison and Jefferson and Franklin built a Republic - Roberts killed it!
Bearded marxist
Submitted by AgentAmerican on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 1:50pm.
Paul Krugman is part rodent. He should be frogmarched to prison along with Joe Shihtzu
Dishonest or Ignorant?
Submitted by ThisnThat on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 1:58pm.
I can't believe you provided any doubt, Noel. Krugman is dihonest to the bone. But, in fact, his employer, the NYT, demands that in a columnist. If Krugman or any other NYT'er turned to honest reporting, he would be fired in a New York minute.
__________
“Didn't win the Medal of Honor? Didn't even serve? Then lie about it. We'll support you." — 9th Circuit Court
Krugman Throws In The Towel On Believability
Submitted by Boil It Down on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 2:10pm.
It's obvious that Krugman does not care the least bit about anyone believing him anymore. How could he possibly think anyone would buy Obama as a deficit hawk? Does he think we've turned out enough generations of the uneducated graduates that have no math or reading skills that he could get away with this absurdity? He is at UC Berkeley after all.
What purpose could it serve Krugman to spout this nonsense? Is he on a commission that pays him every time he makes one of these crazy assertions? As a journalist or economist you'd think he would strive to be factually correct, credible and objective, but he races off in the opposite direction merrily "misinforming" as he goes.
Is this what everyone means by 'jumping the shark'?
Absolutely!
Submitted by hbnolikeee on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 2:08pm.
If by rein in you mean confiscate all our money. This creep is insane.
It's simple, really...
Submitted by Beukeboom on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 2:11pm.
Krugman's nothing more than a pathological liar hiding behind the label of journalism.
Reign in?
Submitted by CobraMan on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 2:37pm.
"He has done more to rein in long-run deficits than any previous president."
If by "reign in" you mean guaranteeing trillion dollar deficits every year for the next ten years and "stabilizing" deficits at 3 to 5 percent of GDP (you want to guarantee a set level of federal deficit spending, a set level of debt every single year?) as the Obama administration is promising, then, Yes, I would agree with Paul. No other President in history is promising to run, at the minimum, hundreds of billions of dollars of deficits every year (and, in doing so, guaranteeing that the National Debt can NEVER be paid off!), even LONG after they leave office.
Obama is promising us that he's going to "rein in" the deficit by placing us in perpetual debt! That truly is historic.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
Unbeleiveable
Submitted by Fedup1959 on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 2:31pm.
The embodyment of 'moron'.
If I where in a crowd and
Submitted by StillRight on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 2:34pm.
If I where in a crowd and some "journalist", or politician said something as blatantly false, I would feel my intelligence so insulted that I want to leave my character and start swearing and shouting him down as a liar.
More Krugman assertions....
Submitted by daddysyk on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 2:51pm.
Bill Clinton has done more to improve marriage fidelity than any previous president.
Michael Vick has done more for the humane treatment of animals than any other athlete.
Nancy Pelosi has done more to discourage Botox use than any previous Speaker.
John Edwards has done more for cancer-stricken women than any previous Senator.
Barney Frank has done more for people who slobber as they talk than any previous congressman.
Seriously, this friggin moron
Submitted by Scuba Dude on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 3:14pm.
Seriously, this friggin moron won a Nobel Prize?
The Nobel has now become something akin to a "participation award". That is the award that libturds have given out to those who just showed up. You may not have won but we will give you something for your self esteem.
Hey, look at me! .....he stammered.....
Submitted by Pilgrim1949 on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 3:25pm.
In an intellectual(???) equivalent of, "Look, no hands!" we now have this ersatz journalist performing to the exclamation of, "Look, no brains!"
The results -- entirely predictable.
Wobble, swerve, bumpity-bump......crash!!!
"Ye canne change the laws of physics....." but some politicians believe that with the right legislation you can pretend they don't really apply to your own pet projects...
That makes two
Submitted by BikerHoop on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 3:31pm.
times the Nobel Committee has screwed up. When they awarded this moron his prize and when they gave the totally unwarranted prize to Obama-lama-ding-dong.
As for me, the Nobel Committee has totally destroyed any credibility they had.
Paul
Submitted by JPP on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 3:34pm.
I wonder what alternate universe Paul just arrived from? His grasp on reality is tenuous.
what happens
Submitted by Agnostic on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 4:24pm.
I know in the socialist utopia that these people love so much there is no such things as natural disasters, terrorist attacks and all prices stay the same on the global market but what will the nation do when reality hits the fantasy land and there is no money to recover. Perhaps they believe that since we are kissing Islamic butt now they will come help us out in an emergency.
Krugman needs a long vacation
Submitted by jkwtrading on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 4:25pm.
Krugman needs a long vacation in the funny farm
Permanent vacation.
Submitted by Beukeboom on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 5:22pm.
Permanent vacation.
Bkb,
Submitted by Dave. on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 6:32pm.
LOL - Or maybe one like this?
Sheesh, I'm on a Cheech & Chong kick today for some reason.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
That's it...It's official...Krugman...
Submitted by PrairieSky on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 5:43pm.
has lost whatever tenuous grip he ever had on reality...Next stop, the rubber room.
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction...It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them (our children) to do the same." ~President Ronald Reagan
Press already Jumped the Shark
Submitted by Slyrr on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 6:22pm.
How much longer can the media even pretend to be credible? How many times will they urinate in our faces and say it's raining?
Krugman has gone from
Submitted by Cowboy on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 6:35pm.
Krugman has gone from politically dishonest to insane.
No Toker Him
Submitted by JustAl on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 7:10pm.
I used the think he just did a few bong hits before speaking or writing. But, now, I'm not so sure, seems more like acid to me.
Krugman's Planet
Submitted by Scottyb4292 on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 9:06pm.
Paul Krugman lives on a planet that has no gravity and it is named after himself; Krugman's Planet. Nothing lives or grows there except distorted, malignant deviations of nature. It has no magnetic pole, meaning there is no point on the compass that remains constant. Despite Krugman's Planet having no gravity, it is covered with fevered swamps where weird fish swim and devour themselves before they rot and spawn new monsters from their flesh. Oddly, every beast that drags itself throught the slime of Krugman's Planet has strange buggy eyes that seem to behave independently of the head and have a vacuous, empty appearance.
Because there are no magnetic poles or gravity on Krugman's Planet, down is up and up is down. Temperature there nearly reach absolute zero at night, while at daytime soars to 14 trillion degrees above zero. There is no way to measure a day on Krugman's Planet because its rotation is completely erratic, violating all known laws of physics. Sometimes it rotates clockwise. Other times, it rotates counter-clockwise. It spins erratically, depending on how Paul feels that day.