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Economy
In reply to the discussion: Weekend Economists Ring in the Old, Wring Out the New: Dec. 30, 2011 to Jan. 2, 2012 [View all]Demeter
(85,373 posts)75. Carelessly Mistaking Theater For Policy by: Paul Krugman
http://www.truth-out.org/carelessly-mistaking-theater-policy/1325001582
One crucial thing you need to understand about political journalists in the United States is that, with some honorable exceptions, they dont know or care about actual policy. In a way, that makes sense the skills needed to cultivate contacts, to get the inside scoop on whats going on in Congressional scheming or campaign war rooms, are very different from the skills needed to interpret spreadsheets from the Congressional Budget Office.
The problem, however, is that all too often political journalists mistake the theater of policy for reality (or dont care about the difference). Hence, the awful decision of Politico to give Representative Paul Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, an award as the health care policy maker of the year. Even if you like the thrust of Mr. Ryans ideas, even if you think privatizing Medicare and turning it into a voucher scheme is fine, what became painfully, embarrassingly clear during the debate over the Ryan plan was that Mr. Ryan is, well, incompetent. The plan was a mess, from its invocation of ludicrous Heritage Foundation projections to its crazy assertions about what would happen to discretionary spending. Its true that the plan got everyone talking, as Politico says but mostly it got people talking about what a mess Mr. Ryans effort was.
Oh, and it was pretty clear that Mr. Ryan wasnt being honest about his own numbers.
Whats going on here, I suppose, is that Politico is mistaking theater for policy. Mr. Ryan isnt an important health care reformer, or even minimally competent in his attempted wonkery, but he plays a deep thinker on TV. And the people at Politico either dont understand the difference, or they dont care.
Lies and Elections
As we wait to see whether the Republican party nominates for president the guy who claims that his health plan was nothing like Obamacare, (Mitt Romney), or the guy who claims that Freddie Mac paid him $1.6 million for his work as a historian (Newt Gingrich), one thing is obvious: This election is going to pose a major challenge to the news media. How will they handle the lies problem?
THEN COMES THE BAD NEWS....SEE LINK
One crucial thing you need to understand about political journalists in the United States is that, with some honorable exceptions, they dont know or care about actual policy. In a way, that makes sense the skills needed to cultivate contacts, to get the inside scoop on whats going on in Congressional scheming or campaign war rooms, are very different from the skills needed to interpret spreadsheets from the Congressional Budget Office.
The problem, however, is that all too often political journalists mistake the theater of policy for reality (or dont care about the difference). Hence, the awful decision of Politico to give Representative Paul Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, an award as the health care policy maker of the year. Even if you like the thrust of Mr. Ryans ideas, even if you think privatizing Medicare and turning it into a voucher scheme is fine, what became painfully, embarrassingly clear during the debate over the Ryan plan was that Mr. Ryan is, well, incompetent. The plan was a mess, from its invocation of ludicrous Heritage Foundation projections to its crazy assertions about what would happen to discretionary spending. Its true that the plan got everyone talking, as Politico says but mostly it got people talking about what a mess Mr. Ryans effort was.
Oh, and it was pretty clear that Mr. Ryan wasnt being honest about his own numbers.
Whats going on here, I suppose, is that Politico is mistaking theater for policy. Mr. Ryan isnt an important health care reformer, or even minimally competent in his attempted wonkery, but he plays a deep thinker on TV. And the people at Politico either dont understand the difference, or they dont care.
Lies and Elections
As we wait to see whether the Republican party nominates for president the guy who claims that his health plan was nothing like Obamacare, (Mitt Romney), or the guy who claims that Freddie Mac paid him $1.6 million for his work as a historian (Newt Gingrich), one thing is obvious: This election is going to pose a major challenge to the news media. How will they handle the lies problem?
THEN COMES THE BAD NEWS....SEE LINK
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