Posted on 01/02/2013 3:07:47 PM PST by blam
ROUBINI: America Has Yet To Wake Up To The Full Extent Of Its Fiscal Nightmare
Mamta Badkar
January 2, 2013
Last night the House of Representatives voted 257-167 to pass the fiscal cliff bill. Many have pointed out that president Obama has come out the winner, while the Republicans who signed Grover Norquist's no-tax- increase pledge have been the biggest losers.
But in a new op-ed for The Financial Times, Nouriel Roubini writes that the U.S. has been let down by its leaders and that they "dysfunctional nature" of the country's political system means another crisis isn't far off.
He also says the country has yet to wake up to the "full extent of its fiscal nightmare".
The next crisis according to Roubini could be just two months away, with spending cuts set to kick in at about the same time that the U.S. hits the debt ceiling. This is going to begin another "messy" debate between Democrats and Republicans.
"The longer-term picture is bleaker still. The reality is that America is yet to wake up to the full extent of its fiscal nightmare. Even the typical Republican voter is not – being on average older and poorer than a Democrat voter – in favour of gutting the welfare state. Tea Party extremists are more noise than signal. That is why the plans of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, the Republicans’ losing presidential ticket, postponed all the tough spending cuts on Social Security and Medicare by a decade.
Neither Democrats nor Republicans recognize that maintaining a basic welfare state, which is right and necessary in our age of globalization, rapid technological change and demographic pressure, implies higher taxes for the middle class
(snip)
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
US has been let down by its leadership
"A deal that extends unsustainable tax cuts for 98 per cent of Americans is no victory, writes Nouriel"
If you do realize what is happening and going to happen, you will take steps to safeguard your grandchildren’s future.
Obama knows this all too well - and it's his ultimate goal to make us all, both makers and low information voters, slaves to the state.
“Maintaining a basic welfare state... Is both right and necessary?”. Sorry, that’s not the issue. We have gone light-years beyond a basic welfare state, we’re being forced to live in a state of basic welfare (where we’re allowed fewer and fewer employment or business opportunities). Our welfare “safety net” has “transformed” into America’s burial shroud.
how do I protect my grandchildren s’ future....?
Americans who bothered to be informed woke up years ago.
Roubini is an arrogant elitist who believes that the State is a necessary “good.” It is best to ignore his pro-government blathering.
Yeah, well most Americans wouldn’t know how to wipe their asses if it weren’t for those stupid toilet paper commercials with the bears!
FTA “Republican voter ... being on average older and poorer than a Democrat voter “ . . .
I love this line. This is the chasm, the gulf, the split in America, the source of the low-information voter. they think give me mine ‘cuz I don’t give a flying fishcake.
Democrats are in positions to benefit from government largesse at EVERY level of the system. That’s what they do. It is who the they are. How many of your friends had a lifetime goal of getting a gub’mint/tax dollar paid job?
Having a government job was a last resort, not a premiere goal.
Teacher’s Unions, government employees of all stripes, AFSCME members even SEIU and Teamsters are representing Government employees.
This has nothing to do with grandchildren’s futures; the inflation caused by the spending today is destroying the present.
Many people don’t understand or see that; if they did Obama would have never been re-elected. As their lives continue in a crappy downward spiral, they will believe Obama’s media that somehow this is the Republicans’ fault.
It’s always been the “mainstream” media that researched and informed Americans about more complex problems.
Now “news” is all smash mouth, brainless political wannabes.
Fox should replace Sean once a month with a real discussion/debate group that can hash out issues and problems facing the country w/o political correctness ruling the day. Like Buckley. I doubt there are any intellecutals smart enough to be able to do that level of respectful and informed discussion.
Arrogant elitist? Yes, definitely.
However, the headline statement itself is absolutely correct....
no argument there. I do read Roubini and find him at times enlightening. Philisophically, he would be on the opposite side of someone such as Shrumpeter.
Like most elitists, Roubini cannot accept what Shrumpeter described as, creative destruction. To do so, would leave him feeling impotent. That said, I wouldn't put Roubini in the category of the evil left.
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