Krugman admits it: Pres. Obama was right & he was wrong. (Good move, Paul)

[DallasNE]

29. Presumption Of Truth In Right Wing Talking Points Is First Mistake

For starters, there was not even a budget position in the Whitehouse until 1943 nor in the House until 1974 so there is no "Constitutional duty" for a budget. Indeed, since one has not been passed since 2009 is further proof of that. It is the appropriations process that sets spending levels anyway. Forget about the budget.

Obama's spending increases have been the smallest in percentage terms since Dwight Eisenhower so they are easy to defend. So much for the "runaway spending" charge. Social Security is in pretty good shape as is. Yes, some fairly small changes are necessary in order for full benefits to be paid beyond 2042 but those are not urgent. Medicare has some more substantial issues because of runaway medical costs plus people are living longer. Something I have not heard discussed is a half percent increase in the Medicare payroll tax. Changing from a fee for service arrangement could reduce things on the cost side along with negotiating prices on prescription drugs for seniors. There is already limited means testing and this could be further modified. Not sure if that gets us all of the way there but CBO scoring of specific proposals would be very enlightening. The GOP seems to fear CBO scoring since they never propose anything specific enough to be scored.

From where I sit, the Democrats still hold all of the high cards. The Tea Baggers are deluding themselves if they think otherwise.