New Washington Post Column: Time to Pay For the Country We Want

This week’s column is up in the Washington Post, and it’s downright socialist. Hide ya kids.

I argue that the GOP’s insistence on cutting discretionary spending—but cutting taxes MUCH MORE—is fiscally meaningless. Here’s an excerpt:

Put all of these cuts together . . . and you still can’t cover the more than half a trillion dollars the Bush tax cuts will cost over the next two years.

Yes, this country needs to do something about the national debt. But the United States won’t get anywhere near fiscal stability by cutting taxes and cutting only discretionary spending. If you’ve been paying attention, you’ve probably heard this, but it bears repeating: Entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare must be reformed along with military spending. Those are the political graveyards where Beltway insiders log the big-league spending. If we’re not moving on these issues, we’re not making progress on the national debt. Period.
…
We’re telling the nation’s best and brightest: Don’t go to teach in America’s lowest-performing districts – we can’t afford it. We’re going to give oil companies $4 billion in subsidies instead (on top of profits that approached $80 billion last year). You’ve got to be kidding.

Read the whole thing HERE.

If you’re looking for other sensible thoughts on the budget situation, you might look at E.J. Dionne’s column today or Jonathan Chait’s recent pantsing of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis).

(Quick summary of Chait’s post: Ryan is disappointed that Obama’s abandoning the Deficit Commission’s plan. Ryan was on the Deficit Commission. Ryan voted against it.)