Why Saving the Planet Means Saving the Economy, Too
We can't afford to wait until 2014 or 2016 or yesterday. Atcheson explains why the time for action is NOW.
Why Saving the Planet Means Saving the Economy, Too
Our problem isn't the deficit, it's climate change
by John Atcheson
Published on Tuesday, March 12, 2013 by Common Dreams
EXCERPT...
Let’s be clear: the deficit is not our biggest problem right now. Climate change is. It isn’t even our biggest economic problem. A stagnating economy is. And—as the majority of economists have pointed out, and as the European experience clearly shows—austerity will only make our economy worse.
Yes, in a decade or so, if we do nothing, medical and retirement obligations will cause deficits to increase. But right now, the deficit is shrinking, and it is projected to keep shrinking until then.
Putting the long-term deficit ahead of the short-term economic stagnation we are experiencing is like putting money into a retirement account you won’t need for twenty years instead of fixing a massive hole in the roof of your house that’s letting in the rain. In short, it’s stupid.
SNIP...
Given this evidence, it is one of the great mysteries of the universe that Washington is obsessed with austerity. Well, actually, it isn’t. Republicans have been singing lead soprano in a bad musical written by self-interested fat cats and plutocrats like Pete Peterson, and Democrats and the press have been their willing castrato chorus for going on 30 years now. The real objective of the whole show? Killing off the remains of the New Deal and Great Society programs they love to hate.
CONTINUED...
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/03/12-2
= new reply since forum marked as read
