Chorus of Warnings Grow: 'Say No to US Austerity'

[xchrom]

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/11/16-7



As President Obama and Washington lawmakers embarked on fiscal negotiations to address federal budget concerns and the impacts of a stubborn economic recovery, nearly 350 prominent economists, under the banner "Jobs, Not Austerity," issued a statement warning that the "obsessive concern with cutting deficits that has infected both parties” is a serious threat to making sound economic policy decisions in Washington.


The signatories to the statement—hailing from universities and research groups across the country and the world—joined a growing chorus of others who are eager to convince US politicians that "austerity-style" policies—like the ones which have decimated the European economy in recent years—are the exact opposite of what sound economics would prescribe. The US economy in the post-election period is still “marked by mass unemployment, rising poverty, and declining wages,” said the group and warned that big spending cuts aimed at reducing deficits could throw the economy back into recession.

"Too many in Washington are fixated on cutting public spending to balance the budget, not on how to put people back to work and get our economy going," read the statement. "There is no theory of economics that explains how we can deflate our way to recovery."

"Voters in this election told politicians exactly what these economists are saying," said the Campaign for America's Future's Robert Borosage, one of the authors of the statement. "Getting the economy growing and creating jobs is far more important than cutting deficits in this still-weak recovery," he said.

[Fire Walk With Me]

1. They'll print endless amounts of money to bail out banks but none for the people.

Jail the bankers, cut the military budget, tax the rich, end the Fed.

[xchrom]

2. i'm not sure about the fed part -- but i am 100% on board with the rest.

and i'll add break up the too big to fail banks and financial houses.

[HiPointDem]

3. KR. Europe in recession again, china reportedly slowing, with huge inventories --

what is the reason for deliberately crashing the world economy?

because it seems to me that's what they're trying to do.

only reasons i can think of: to concentrate capital/wealth, decrease suppy of goods & concurrently pump up prices; to provoke global chaos in order to destroy governments.

[graham4anything]

4. Most people did not realize the vast majority of leaders were RIGHTWING leaders

and one by one, they are falling

The French leader was defeated and a liberal was elected now

all rightwing leaders need to be defeated and a liberal needs to come in and save the world

[Victor_c3]

5. that makes sense

times get tough so people turn towards religion and patriotism while they try to preserve their own and expel all things foreign from their economies and societies. That is a huge part of what the tea party in American politics was about.

I've always said that religion and patriotism are just tools to control the masses. I fell for the feigned republican patriotism when I was younger and I joined the military and fought in a war that I never agreed with (I joined before September 11th, 2001 and I found myself in Iraq in 2004). I sure won't fall for the republicans again...

[madlefty]

6. 'Say No to US Austerity'

I am retired and trying to live on less than 900.00 a month my car is 24 years old I can't afford payments on a newer used one. That little raise in social security is all eaten up in benefit cuts. I don't eat much meat anymore (can't afford it) never go out to eat.
Any more cuts and I'll have to have my cable tv and Internet shut off and go to the lowest minute plan on my phone. I am just one of thousands who will have to do the same. This can't be good for the economy!!!

[Egalitarian Thug]

7. K&R I hope we don't let them get away with this.

[protect our future]

8. I do not understand

why so many people in the US--people who are not stupid and pay at least some attention to what is happening in the world--are clamoring for deep and unbalanced spending cuts when this approach has been or is being tried elsewhere around the globe, and the result is a devastating economic crash. The evidence is right there for anyone to see. Perhaps it is simply a matter of semantics. The word "austerity" is applied when referring to the situation in another country, but the word "austerity" is avoided when someone talks about what measures should be taken here. Here, it's called "balancing the budget" or "reducing the deficit." Never "austerity." I suppose if the MSM began using such a scary word here, it might alert too many people to the truth.