‘It is clear we must enter an age of austerity,” House minority leader Nancy Pelosi mourned as she endorsed Senator Harry Reid’s proposal for raising the debt ceiling. Austerity? Really?
Both the Reid plan and the plan by House Republicans, now being processed through Congress, fall somewhat short of any dictionary definition of austerity.
The Reid plan would theoretically cut spending by US$2.7-trillion over 10 years. Even if that were true, it would still allow our national debt to increase by some US$10-trillion over the next decade. But, of course, the US$2.7-trillion figure is mostly fiction. About US$1-trillion of the savings would come from the eventual end of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, savings that were going to occur anyway. Senator Reid might just as well have added another US$1-trillion in savings by not invading Pakistan.
Read Full Article »
