exceeding expectations

paul krugman:

"If Democrats hold the House, which is still a big if but is starting to look possible, the 111th Congress — and, yes, Obama’s first two years — will go down in history as an epic success."

here, here.

the three great health reform myths

1. obama is proposing a government takeover of one-sixth of the economy.

2. reform does nothing to control costs.

3. health reform is fiscally irresponsible.

three of the most often repeated arguments against the current health care reform plan. all three easily debunked. ladies and gentlemen, mr. paul krugman.

the circle of life...and death

paul krugman says the debate over health care reform seems to be ending much like it started, with dems offering "moderate plans that draw heavily on past republican ideas," and republicans responding with "slander and misdirection." what's the take-away?

What I took away was the arrogance that the success of things like the death-panel smear has obviously engendered in Republican politicians. At this point they obviously believe that they can blandly make utterly misleading assertions, saying things that can be easily refuted, and pay no price. And they may well be right.

but the dems hold the final card, says krugman: they can, and should, enact comprehensive reform without the republicans.

a breathtaking act of staggering hypocrisy

republicans love medicare. no, they really, really do.

making fun of crazy people

a republican party in laughable disarray may be good for democrats in the short term, but in the long run it's bad for the country. so says paul krugman, who, in his latest new york times column, feels a pang of guilt as well:

"Republicans have become embarrassing to watch. And it doesn’t feel right to make fun of crazy people. Better, perhaps, to focus on the real policy debates, which are all among Democrats."

you know you're a dork when...

...you pass paul krugman on the street and you're a little awestruck.

return of the zombies

paul krugman isn't so keen on the obama administration's plan to deal with the banks ("The zombie ideas have won.") and that's putting it lightly:

"Treasury has decided that what we have is nothing but a confidence problem, which it proposes to cure by creating massive moral hazard.

...I fear that when the plan fails, as it almost surely will, the administration will have shot its bolt: it won’t be able to come back to Congress for a plan that might actually work.

What an awful mess."

maybe geithner can scramble something else together by monday, hmm?

what grown-ups do

economist paul krugman has already spoken in fairly positive tones of obama's proposed budget. today, newsday agrees, and says we should all grow up:

"We can argue about the larger role for government that Obama envisions for the nation. And we can argue about whether high earners should pay higher taxes. But by putting his ideas into budgetary black-and-white, Obama has challenged taxpayers to make realistic choices about what they want from government - and then to pay for it.

It's what grown-ups do."