Social Security And The Deficit

I listened to about as much as I could take of Meet The Press this morning. The conversation about negotiations over the Fiscal Cliff was particularly inane.

Worse than that, it was dangerous for the future of American working people.

Let me try to put it clearly:

1.  Our budget deficits have not caused a loss of jobs;

2.  Our loss of jobs has caused the budget deficits;

3.  Job one is jobs;

4.  Reduced federal spending right now will increase unemployment;

5.  The super rich don't create jobs;

6.  Spending by ordinary citizens does create jobs;

7.  Republicans do not now and never have been concerned about deficit spending - their concern is that ordinary people rather than the super wealthy might benefit;

8.  Social Security does not contribute to the deficit.

Here are some recent blog posts that address the issues. Rather than attempt to summarize them, I'll just post the links:


http://baselinescenario.com/2012/11/28/social-security-and-the-national-debt/

http://jaredbernsteinblog.com/when-youre-trying-to-decide-if-we-need-to-renew-the-payroll-tax-break-picture-this/

http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2012/12/should-we-extend-the-payroll-tax-cut.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-weiler/republican-party-zero-credibility_b_2219085.html

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/02/the-full-mcconnell/

http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2012/12/lets-get-serious-about-getting-serious.html

http://swampland.time.com/2012/11/30/fiscal-cliff-fictions-lets-all-agree-to-pretend-the-gop-isnt-full-of-it/ 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/03/opinion/krugman-the-big-budget-mumble.html?ref=opinion

http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2012/11/the-outlook-has-already-improved.html 

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/11/no-social-security-trust-fund-isnt-fiction

Read them all. There are more, but these are enough to get the idea. From the Republican point of view, the only proposals that qualify as "serious" are those that hurt poor and middle class citizens and benefit the well off. They and their supporters are willing to spend big bucks promoting such ideas and opposing ideas that benefit working people.

The only way ordinary working people can stand up to the plutocrats and their stooges and dupes is to use the vote.