Spoil the nation, Starve the beast

Krugman takes on the phony fiscal conservatives this morning. He notes the GOPers talk big, but cower when it comes to walking the talk.

So the beast is starving, as planned. It should be time, then, for conservatives to explain which parts of the beast they want to cut. And President Obama has, in effect, invited them to do just that, by calling for a bipartisan deficit commission.

Of course GOPers refused to do that.

Why are Republicans reluctant to sit down and talk? Because they would then be forced to put up or shut up. Since they’re adamantly opposed to reducing the deficit with tax increases, they would have to explain what spending they want to cut. And guess what? After three decades of preparing the ground for this moment, they’re still not willing to do that. [...]

At this point, then, Republicans insist that the deficit must be eliminated, but they’re not willing either to raise taxes or to support cuts in any major government programs. And they’re not willing to participate in serious bipartisan discussions, either, because that might force them to explain their plan — and there isn’t any plan, except to regain power.

As Dr Krugman says, it's apparent "the de facto strategy is to oppose any responsible action until we are in the midst of a fiscal catastrophe." Yes, these are the people who claim to put Country First. Bah. In essence, this strategy is de facto domestic terrorism.

[More posts daily at The Detroit News]