Christ...

Can ANYONE in here read and actually THINK about what is being said?

Krugman didn't say that anticipated increases in health care costs are "is the biggest single thing driving the deficit." He said it is "the ONE thing, driving the increasing deficit."

And contrary to Nick's lame excuse that I'm "picking up a word or two and make a federal case out of it, ignoring the point."

That IS - and was - Krugman's point: That the increasing U.S. deficit projections are ONLY driven by anticipated increases in health care costs.

Again, his ENTIRE AGENDA was to a) promote a Keynesian economic approach and b) promote the adoption of the health care overhaul.

So, I'm not "nit-picking." It was KRUGMAN, who nit-picked, saying that anticipated rises in health care costs are the "[/b]ONE[/b] thing" we need to be concerned about. Clearly trying to dismiss everything else.

Hard to say I'm picking on that one word, when his use of that word is his ENTIRE PREMISE, isn't it?

Even the CBO - in predicting lower deficits in the next few years attributes only a small portion of that anticipated reduction to reduced health care costs. Instead, the budget office projected that annual deficits will fall by 2014 as the economy recovers, citing that a growing economy means higher federal revenue and lower spending for unemployment benefits and other programs.

Also, health care costs don't necessarily drive "one third of the deficit." In the first place, there's wide disparity about exactly how much of the Federal budget they occupy. And it changes every year. The most generous estimates are that those costs could reach as high as 1/3 of the budget. They could be significantly lower.

In addition, their overall impact on the deficit (not the budget) should take offsets into account.

In other words: Military spending has no offsets. If we spend $664 billion on military, there is no (or very little) offset. We don't make any (or very little) money on having or producing our military operations. It's all deficit.

But when we spend $740 billion on Medicare and Medicaid, a good deal of that is offset by direct payments into the fund. It's not all deficit financed (although it's been mismanaged enough that soon it probably will be - if they don't just shut it down).

ALL of this (and more) is stuff that Krugman just skated right by, while trying to jam his: "Listen to me, don't worry about ANYTHING ELSE, just pass health care reform and the deficit - which is ONLY health care costs - will go away" message.

But some people...

...yes, I'm looking at you guys...

... don't really pay attention and THINK about what is ACTUALLY being said - especially if what is being said sounds like what they already think or want to believe. They just go: "Hey, that sounds right!" without thinking critically about the issue.

Bottom line: if you think Krugman is right that anticipated increases in the deficit are driven by "one thing: increased health care costs," then let's just watch.

We now have a new health care plan that we were told would REDUCE health care costs, and the deficit, directly. White House Budget Director Peter Orszag argued that the estimates of the savings from the healthcare bill would reduce deficits by well over $143 billion (which, incidentally, is a tiny, tiny fraction of our overall deficit of $1.3 trillion this year - is any of this sinking in yet? No?...) in the first decade and by more in the second decade.

So, let's see if these "reduced health care costs" will really be "the ONE THING," driving our reduced deficit, over the next few years.

My prediction: Not likely (in other words: Krugman was lying).

You're an idiot.

Good response, Nick.

Paul Krugspin is "99% right and always backs up his statements with sound economics."


I wonder why the guy is left to simply blog for the NYTimes, now...

And you're digging yourself deeper into the hole.

Yeah, I know, Einstein. You did.

Nick, why do you bother wasting your time with Knife? He doesn't want to have a discussion. He's just a blowhard that's more concerned with impressing himself and living up to his name than actually hearing what anyone else has to say. His vanity and condescending tone get in the way of anything useful he might have to say.

Does anyone actually read all of what he writes anymore? They're just long-winded tributes to himself and his imagined mental superiority. It's like he's on stage, just finishing off an exceedingly long, self-aggrandizing monologue. He takes a bow in appreciation of the three people in the audience. He then exits stage left and then comes back out for an encore that nobody asked for.

Wow.

Just...


Wow.

There really is no response to any of that.

I'll move on by simply reiterating: Let's just see if our new "reduced health care costs" will really be the "one thing," driving our reduced deficit, over the next few years.

Good question, EWF.

Yes Knife... why bother. As far as all the Krugmeisters in the world go.... Some people are just too smart for their own good. Their arrogant little self-importance and self-indulgence prevents them from learning anything useful from history. And then there are those who are just too busy to care or just simply too lazy or stupid. They just need to create their own brand new shiny universe, together with their own brand new shiny lessons to learn from- if they ever do. It is what it is, that's life.

And then there is this "Countess" Pelosi:

While the photos in that video are sad and charged with emotion they have zero to do with the mosque in NYC or Pelosi's rational comments about the resistance to a mosque being built in the general area.
It's an obvious and offensive attempt to link a group of people to an act of terrorism based on their legal and protected religious preferences.
Plenty of atrocities have been committed by "christians" in the name of "god" without the backlash we're seeing here.

It wasn't Muslims who bombed the trade center. It was Assholes who were deluded into thinking they held the moral high ground here on earth. That is not a muslim trait, it's a trait of the extremists in all religions.

That ridiculous waving of the fear flag for political gain is childish, repulsive and IMO the greatest evil that threatens us as it divides and weakens us with lies and misdirection making us less likely to stand up to assholes in the future.
Like the ones that made that video.