Krugman is not right when it is convenient. He is just right.

[phantom power]

7. Until the economy improves, we absolutely can and should dismiss the deficit completely.

There is absolutely no good-faith argument being made about "reducing the deficit." It is 100% dogwhistling about cutting social security and medicare and other safety net programs that need expanding, not contracting.

The time to reduce deficits is when the economy is strong. That isn't just an ideological statement. It's an economic model, which Krugman has explained dozens of times.

There might be a good faith argument for cutting our eye-wateringly bloated military budget. And increasing taxes on the wealthy. The rest of it will do very little except make our already-historically-long recession last a lot longer.