It’s a Time to Listen, and to Obey the Laws of Arithmetic

New York Times ^ | November 8, 2008 | N. Gregory Mankiw

[LowCountryJoe]

PAY ATTENTION TO BUDGET CONSTRAINTS The nation faces a long-term imbalance between government spending and tax revenue. The fundamental problem is that the federal government has promised the elderly more benefits than the tax system can support. This fiscal imbalance will become acute as more baby boomers retire and start collecting Social Security and Medicare benefits.

Yet during the campaign, Mr. Obama promised to cut taxes for 95 percent of Americans, to vastly expand health insurance coverage and never to cut Social Security benefits or raise the retirement age. The new administration will almost surely have to renege on some of these promises. As the economic team will often say, even if the laws of arithmetic are ignored during campaigns, they become a real constraint when making actual policy.

[bcsco]

As a new senator, Mr. Obama voted along predictable left-wing lines. As president, he will need a more eclectic, nuanced approach.

Uh huh. Nuance is back in vogue. Here we go...

[ecomcon]

Guess which ones are reneged on?

[mlocher]

Here it comes.....The propaganda machine is already setting the stage for a huge tax increase on everyone that makes over $40K. If it moves, chain it down!

[Thermalseeker]

Guess which ones are reneged on?

All of them....

[chippewaman]

We make him KEEP ALL of his campaign promises. If he doesn’t, he gets his face in the fan. I’m certainly in the 95% category, so I’d better get a tax cut.

[LowCountryJoe]

What really worries me is that not enough of them will be.

[Jack Hammer]

All assets are ther property of The State; those who cooperate with State policy will be allowed to keep a small portion of those assets. From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.

The irony is that generations of Americans spent their lives, their treasure, and their blood fighting communism, and yet, after the Berlin Wall and the Bamboo Curtain fell, Americans decided they wanted to adopt communism as their own.

[The_Reader_David]

Of course the Times editorial board knew this back when they endorsed B. Hussein Obama. They could have let an editorial to this effect appear back in October, but no, only after their darling boy gets elected do they decide to point out that he can’t actually keep all his campaign promises.

[ronnie raygun]

Yeah 2+2=5 I got an “A” for effort, like the good faith effort associated with mortgage paybacks. The “A” was also colored blue not to offend me. It’s so easy in Obama world, come lets hold hands and sing! Can you say brainless?

[JimRed]

From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.

At first blush it sounds really fair; later (when it's too late) you discover that some @$$hat bureaucrat gets to decide what your ability and needs are.

[G.Mason]

New York Times?

Now there is a well respected and worthy publication ... for lemmings.

[adorno]

So then, Obama ran with a far left agenda, and now, the NY Times is advocating that he adopt many of the policy positions of Republicans? If he does that, then republicans will have to point out, in each and every instance, where Obama has usurped their positions.

[stevem]

Yet during the campaign, Mr. Obama promised to cut taxes for 95 percent of Americans, to vastly expand health insurance coverage and never to cut Social Security benefits or raise the retirement age. The new administration will almost surely have to renege on some of these promises. As the economic team will often say, even if the laws of arithmetic are ignored during campaigns, they become a real constraint when making actual policy.

Renege? Are we making Obama into a liar already? What kind of "Hope and Change" will that be???

Last Tuesday, many people voted for Mr. Obama hoping that he would achieve the kind of economic success that Mr. Clinton enjoyed in the 1990s.

With the exception of the hard core communists, most of the "Hope and Change" crowd were clueless as to what they hoped for and what to actually change. I think N.Gregory Mankiw already knows that.

[LowCountryJoe]

Do you mean to tell me that a paper and group of journalists that shilled for a Democrat may not have have given us the full story — in other words, left out pieces of the story — when it was needed most? I am shocked; shocked, I tell you!

[I_Like_Spam]

Its undoubtably prudent for Mr. Obama to renege on most of his proposals.

However, politically its essential that he not be allowed to save face when he does.

Letting the people know how much money Obama is cheating them out of when he doesn’t reduce taxes on the bottom 95% is important. Making the Democrat senators and reps unite together to renege on the promises, by continuing to vote “no” on Obama’s proposals will discourage the Obama base who is counting on him to pay their mortgages and fill their gas tanks.

[Malsua]

All of them....

Naw. All the TAX THE RICH promises will be kept. The rich will simply be redefined.

[browardchad]

The advance propaganda vehicle has spoken.

Time to take bets on what the Obamanation of JFK's "Ask not" line will sound like.

"No, we can't?"

[Doogle]

...noting, the NYT has this revelation after their clown is in the most powerful position. It's sorta like screw you, were doing this, you ain't gonna stop it,we know it's probably going to lead to disastrous consequences, but hey isn't it better you know now?

Thanks for the info

[rbg81]

The irony is that generations of Americans spent their lives, their treasure, and their blood fighting communism, and yet, after the Berlin Wall and the Bamboo Curtain fell, Americans decided they wanted to adopt communism as their own.

---

Yes, I have often thought that. The most brilliant move the Communists made was to allow their system to collapse and disappear. Why? Because then people would focus on Communist theory (which sounds great on paper) and remove the visible evidence of its failure. Also, when the Capitalism economic downturn came (as they inevitably do), they could trumped the the failure of Capitalism as the cause of all the world’s woes.