Liberals and conservatives hate it. Krugman and Brooks hate it. You hate it. I hate it, probably for different reasons than you, which is that it does nothing to balance revenues with spending. In fact, according to my favorite authority, the CBO, it actually makes the deficit worse!
So how did this happen? It's that evil socialist Obama! It's the Republicans! No, it's us.
"Whom should we blame for this? Again, we should not blame Obama and
Boehner. In their different ways, they and a number of other people in
the Congress are trying to find a politically palatable way to deal with
these hard issues. They got what conditions allowed.
Ultimately, we should blame the American voters. The average Medicare
couple pays $109,000 into the program and gets $343,000 in benefits out,
according to the Urban Institute. This is $234,000 in free money. Many
voters have decided they like spending a lot on themselves and pushing
costs onto their children and grandchildren. They have decided they like
borrowing up to $1 trillion a year for tax credits, disability
payments, defense contracts and the rest. They have found that the
original Keynesian rationale for these deficits provides a perfect cover
for permanent deficit-living. They have made it clear that they will
destroy any politician who tries to stop them from cost-shifting in this
way.
Most members of Congress are responding efficiently to the popular will.
A large number of reactionary Democrats reject any measure to touch
Medicare or other entitlement programs. A large number of impotent
Republicans talk about reducing the debt, but are incapable of forging a
deal that balances tax increases with spending cuts.
The events of the past few weeks demonstrate that these political
pressures overwhelm the few realists looking for a more ambitious
bargain. The country either doesn’t know or doesn’t care about the
burdens we are placing on our children. No coalition of leaders has
successfully confronted the voters, and made them heedful of the ruin
they are bringing upon the nation."
-David Brooks
The politicians are simply, as you would say, responding to incentives
Eli
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