For reasons that are not quite clear to me, I often seem to have trouble making myself understood in online discussions. My post yesterday on the consequences of the fiscal deal is a good example. Based on the comments thread, I seem to have come across as an austerity-monger who hates poor people. So I’m …
The Hard Truth About the Tax Deal
From Krugman last week (Jan. 2): The deficit is no problem now, but eventually we will emerge from the liquidity trap, and at that point you do want to start stabilizing debt. How big a deal is that? If you look at the CBO numbers, under their “alternative fiscal scenario” (Bush tax cuts extended and realistic …
Happy New Year… I Guess
Happy New Year… may next year be as good or better than than the last. One thing that would make that possible is if the president rejects a deal that is worse than doing nothing. I know, 11th dimensional chess, he’s smarter than I am, etc… But the current deal being discussed sucks eggs. There …
The Inconsistent Lunacy of the Gun Nuts
Building on Imani’s post, I want to flag another issue raised by the “rush the gunman” meme on the right. Whenever people talk about restriction on guns, the gun nuts come out make dire warnings about how our rights of self-defense are threatened. This is the case even when discussing limitations on “assault weapons.” These …
As far as half-measures go…
… this isn’t too, too awful. All at once, a “fiscal cliff” deal seems to be coming together. Speaker John Boehner’s latest offer doesn’t go quite far enough for the White House to agree, but it goes far enough that many think they can see the agreement taking shape. Boehner offered to let tax rates rise for …
Indicators of Action
Grief vs. rage. I’ve been going back and forth since Friday. I have two elementary school aged kids. Newtown hit me hard. But in the end, I’m a fucking pussy. I’ll blog. I’ll vote. I’ll organize. I’ll give money. But none of that requires me to leave my home, to sacrifice, to make a commitment. …
The Venn Diagram of Tragedy
What makes these mass shootings so fucking infuriating is that the situations are so simple, so consistent. Mental illness + guns. This isn’t one of the incredibly difficult-to-predict situations. A who could have known moment. No, what seems to have been going on in the Lanza house was the equivalent of building a bomb. And …