Op-Ed Columnist - Fiscal Scare Tactics - NYTimes.com

Op-Ed Columnist - Fiscal Scare Tactics - NYTimes.com

"The main difference between last summer, when we were mostly (and appropriately) taking deficits in stride, and the current sense of panic is that deficit fear-mongering has become a key part of Republican political strategy, doing double duty: it damages President Obama’s image even as it cripples his policy agenda. And if the hypocrisy is breathtaking — politicians who voted for budget-busting tax cuts posing as apostles of fiscal rectitude, politicians demonizing attempts to rein in Medicare costs one day (death panels!), then denouncing excessive government spending the next — well, what else is new?

The trouble, however, is that it’s apparently hard for many people to tell the difference between cynical posturing and serious economic argument. And that is having tragic consequences.

For the fact is that thanks to deficit hysteria, Washington now has its priorities all wrong: all the talk is about how to shave a few billion dollars off government spending, while there’s hardly any willingness to tackle mass unemployment. Policy is headed in the wrong direction — and millions of Americans will pay the price."

So, this choice is clear, begin to function or give in to fear.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/05/opinion/05krugman.html?ref=opinion

Dodd Denounces Pace of Banking Overhaul - NYTimes.com

Dodd Denounces Pace of Banking Overhaul - NYTimes.com

"Mr. Dodd said the White House was “on the right track” with its new ideas but warned of difficulty ahead.

“The refusal of large financial firms to work constructively with Congress on this effort borders on insulting to the American people, who have lost so much in this crisis,” he said.

He added that the financial services industry had sent “an army of lobbyists whose only mission is to kill the common-sense financial reforms the public demands.”

Only two days earlier, Mr. Dodd had sounded a different note when Paul A. Volcker, the former Federal Reserve chairman, testified on the two proposals he has championed. One would ban deposit-taking banks from proprietary trading — making market bets using their own money — and from owning hedge funds or private equity funds. The other would limit industry consolidation by capping the market share of a wide range of bank liabilities, not just deposits."

I'm far from sure that Senator Dodd isn't just as responsible for the slow pace of financial reform. To paraphrase Senato Durbin of Illinois, "Frankly, banks seem to own the Senate."

Expect more delay, followed by bipartisan fingerpointing, with a generous helping of fear, uncertainty and doubt. If that doesn't work, expect outright lies.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/05/business/05regulate.html?th&emc=th