Reply #11: No. [View All]

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

You are confusing good-government (avoiding waste) with deficit reduction.

Krugman understands just fine. This policy is being offered as a demonstration of seriousness about the deficit.

Any aid-and-comfort to deficit "seriousness" today is an embrace of the totally insane Republican view of the world and of the economic crisis.

If the deficit were actually reduced, even by cutting wasteful programs, it would be a net stimulus reduction.

Since the whole thing is a cynical scam it will not substantively affect the deficit or affect the economy one way or another but the argument being publicly embraced by the WH is political suicide and economic insanity.

And promoting a freeze--the WH's characterization--is poisoning any possible chance of doing much needed government actions.