Turn Out the Lights

Is the party over in America? Are we just to become another second rank nation?
by Charlie Leck

Here’s a tease! Paul Krugman’s August 8 column in the NY Times is really worth reading. I’ll provide its opening below and you see if you can then resist going to read the rest.

“The lights are going out all over America — literally. Colorado Springs has made headlines with its desperate attempt to save money by turning off a third of its streetlights, but similar things are either happening or being contemplated across the nation, from Philadelphia to Fresno.

“Meanwhile, a country that once amazed the world with its visionary investments in transportation, from the Erie Canal to the Interstate Highway System, is now in the process of unpaving itself: in a number of states, local governments are breaking up roads they can no longer afford to maintain, and returning them to gravel.

“And a nation that once prized education — that was among the first to provide basic schooling to all its children — is now cutting back. Teachers are being laid off; programs are being canceled; in Hawaii, the school year itself is being drastically shortened. And all signs point to even more cuts ahead.

“We’re told that we have no choice, that…” [to read the rest of the story, click here]

Why is it happening? Krugman’s got it nailed! How could it be fixed? Krugman is right on! Then why won’t we fix it? Krugman explains!

Can you still resist reading what he’s got to say? If so, you’re amazing!

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Krugman Sees Third Depression

Award winning economist and NY Times columnist sees G-20 Summit Meeting as very disappointing. Imagine Tom Emmer trying to understand this!
by Charlie Leck

I can perform no better service this morning than to send you to NY Times columnist, Paul Krugman, and his recent comments about the disappointing G-20 Economic Summit. He feels the Summit is doing exactly what it should not and is pushing us toward a third great depression that will see long, long-term unemployment and severe economic times ahead. I strongly suggest you read Krugman's column.

Governments, Krugman explains, "are obsessing about inflation when the real threat is deflation, preaching the need for belt-tightening when the real problem is inadequate spending."

Conservatives, following this trend, have a tight grip on American politics right now and they are calling for belt tightening, cuts in spending and no new taxes. You'll see why Krugman thinks that is exactly what should not be done.

"It's almost as if the financial markets understand what policy makers seemingly don't: that while long-term fiscal responsibility is important, slashing spending in the midst of a depression, which deepens that depression and paves the way for deflation, is actually self-defeating.

"So I don't think this is really about Greece, or indeed about any realistic appreciation of the tradeoffs between deficits and jobs. It is, instead, the victory of an orthodoxy that has little to do with rational analysis, whose main tenet is that imposing suffering on other people is how you show leadership in tough times."

The conservative voice appears to be in control right now and and those who vocalize it have no inclination toward "rational analysis."

Try to imagine the Republican candidate for Governor of Minnesota, Tom Emmer, even beginning to understand what Krugman is talking about!

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What if we don't pass health care reform?

The damage we'll do to the economy if we don't reform our health care system!
by Charlie Leck

Paul Krugman is an outstanding columnist (opinionator) who writes for the NY Times. Believe me, he is not a wild-eyed liberal. He's a strong centrist. I like him because his track record is so unbelievably positive. In other words, he ends up being correct on most issues. In today's column he writes about what is going to happen in our nation if health care reform is not passed. If we think passing Obama's health care reform package will be expensive, we should figure out how expensive it will be if we keep going the way we are.

"Health care reform hangs in the balance. Its fate rests with a handful of “centrist” senators — senators who claim to be mainly worried about whether the proposed legislation is fiscally responsible.

"But if they’re really concerned with fiscal responsibility, they shouldn’t be worried about what would happen if health reform passes. They should, instead, be worried about what would happen if it doesn’t pass. For America can’t get control of its budget without controlling health care costs — and this is our last, best chance to
deal with these costs in a rational way."

I strongly recommend Krugman's column about this subject to you. It is extremely important reading. [click here to read it]

For additional outstanding reading, read Salon.com's December, 2008 interview with Paul Krugman.