On "Meet the Press" this morning Scheiffer said buried on the

[candy331]

inside of newspapers last week was Greenspan's warning that taxes had to be raised/something because the economy is heading for economic disaster(my words)and he said the news failed to cover a real story for being sidetracked by the Pope's vigil and politicians were masters at changing the story of importance. Did any here hear Greenspan suggest tax increases or is Scheiffer just posturing?



On edit: Face the Nation is correct program, thanks correctors.

[dsc]

1. He did

It was on NPR on Wednesday.

[Kadie]

2. budget deficits "would cause the economy to stagnate or worse"

Greenspan: Deficits pose serious threat to economy

April 22, 2005

By JEANNINE AVERSA The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Bloated budget deficits pose a danger to the nation's long-term economic health, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned anew Thursday. He issued a fresh call to policy-makers to move swiftly to get the government's fiscal house in order.

Greenspan, in prepared testimony to the Senate Budget Committee, only very briefly touched on the economy's current performance, saying "activity appears to be expanding at a reasonably good pace," an assessment he has made repeatedly so far this year.

His comments come as some private economists are concerned about the extent to which high energy prices will crimp economic activity.

On the fiscal front, Greenspan said the persistence of swollen budget deficits in the years ahead "would cause the economy to stagnate or worse" unless the situation is reversed.


more...
http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050422/NEWS/504220343/1011

[aquart]

7. "Would"??? We're in stagflation NOW.

[POAS]

14. He also said

that the economy would NOT be able to grow its way out of these deficits.

[Nite Owl]

3. I believe he said that

at the Senate hearing on Thursday. He also said that programs like SS and medicare/caid need to reined in which of course was their goal in creating these deficits in the first place.

[mike_c]

4. but note-- the report I heard on NPR...

...stressed the need for "cuts in entitlement programs." I don't recall whether those were Greenspan's words or whether they were journalists' interpretations, but I left the broadcast with a real sense of outrage that the response to the Bush administration's fiscal irresponsibility (and the Congress's) was "stick it to the poor and least powerful."

[Tempest]

5. It was on the front page of my conservative newspaper

And the letters to the editor were not kind to Greenspan or Bush.

[sundancekid]

6. Schieffer's program is "Face the Nation" (not MTP) but the comments

of Greenspan's warnings are indeed documented in several places ... here is one: WaPo story of 4/22, buried way back on section, E01:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/04/21/AR2005042101518.html

Greenspan Says He Expects Tax Increases

By Nell Henderson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 22, 2005; Page E01

~snip
Greenspan, appearing before the Senate Budget Committee, also acknowledged that his support for tax cuts in early 2001 unintentionally led to policies that helped swing the federal budget from surplus to deficits. In pointed comments, Greenspan addressed recent Democratic critics who have sought to blame him for the return to deficits.

Greenspan reminded lawmakers that government economists at the time predicted budget surpluses "as far as the eye can see." Yet Greenspan had warned then in congressional testimony that the forecasts might be wrong, and he recommended some "trigger" mechanism that would limit the tax cuts if certain budget targets were not met.

Greenspan said he thinks "it's frankly unfair" for critics to blame him now for the fact that Congress chose to "read half testimony and discard the rest." Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes (D-Md.) said he believed it was "fair to consider how your message would be taken" and that lawmakers saw Greenspan's 2001 remarks as "providing a green light" for tax cuts, which were enacted without triggers.

"I plead guilty to that," Greenspan said. "If indeed that is the way it was interpreted, I missed it. In other words, I did not intend it that way."
~snip

[candy331]

8. Greenspan has lost all credibility, he is an old man who should

know that time is up for his lies. "hair is a crown of beauty on a wise man but a thing of disgust on an old fool".

[mmonk]

9. He previously hinted

that they do something when he brought up a sales or flat tax.

[MollyStark]

10. I read about it last week

but yes, it was not on CNN 24/7 so it didn't happen as far as the sheeple are concerned.

[bush_is_wacko]

11. I read it and that's about accurate! n/t

[zoeb]

12. Greenspan tries not to use tax increase

but refers to them as "deficit reduction methods". He also admitted that the Chimp's budget could not reduce the deficit and it would require a "combination of plans" meaning tax increases. Greenspan was adamant that tax increases could hurt the current economy but offered no alternative. He supported "triggers" in 2001 that would have prohibited excessive tax cuts for this very reason. The current congress is so economically challenged (f*cking stupid) and used phrases like,"surpluses as far as the eye could see," to push for excessive tax cuts that have led to the current deficits.

Gspan has repeated this mantra for the last three meetings but it's falling on a brainless congress. I believe that congress knows were headed for a deep recession and are ignoring the advice of Gspan to avoid throwing us more quickly into a recession. I say do it! Raise taxes get this damn recession underway instead of prolonging it. The sooner its over the better for the stock market and its volatility which is eating away at my "private accounts!"

[apple_ridge]

13. Here's another that didn't make the headlines:

America faces "huge imbalances, disequilibria and risks". "If we can believe the numbers, personal savings in the United States have practically disappeared....and the nation is consuming more than it is producing". "Altogether, the circumstances seem as dangerous and intractable as I can remember, and I can. What really concerns me is that there seems to be so little willingness to understand or capacity to do much about it ... As a nation we are consuming and investing about six per cent more than we are producing. What holds it all together is a massive and growing flow of capital from abroad..." "It is more likely than not that it will be a financial crises rather than policy foresight that will force the change." "So I think we are skating on increasingly thin ice." Paul Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, February 11, 2005

[Frances]

15. Greenspan wanted tax cuts for the rich

in 2001. He knew that it would be politically impossible to undo those cuts once they were law. And he knew that once the deficit was huge enough, the Congress would cut social security on the grounds that there was no money left. That's what he wanted all along: a reason to get rid of social security.

Meanwhile, the people who need social security the most don't realize they are being robbed because their ministers have them distracted by homophobia (which is a subsitute for racial phobias). Also their ministers are convincing them that the reason they are at the bottom of the heap economically is that they are being discriminated against because of their religion. Of course, they are being pushed further and further down the economic ladder by Bush and Rove and Frist, who pretend that these lower class fundies are their friends. The fundies have gained a lot of power to punish gays, but they are losing ground every day economically. They are being played for suckers.

[PurityOfEssence]

16. Yep, that's it in a nutshell

You really covered it all with that. That's also why neither party will ever even mention poverty in major campaigns: it's been driven into the heads of the middle- and working-class that this will come out of their pocket.

The new selfishness of the Reagan era has now gotten so entrenched in our already individualistic/libertarian national psyche that incremental meanness causes nary a flutter of the eyelid.

Homosexuals are a MUCH better target than racial minorities: they can be tarred as sinful, whereas even a complete blockhead can see that skin color is nothing but an accident of birth.

Disavowing science that tells us that sexuality is largely programmed in is easy: science is laughable crap, which all commoner-than-thou red-blooded Americans know. We're deeply anti-intellectual, and always have been; just listen to any DJ on the radio for a few minutes as they remind you that "well, of course, I don't understand any of that math stuff" or listen to running dogs like Paul Begala say things like "he's a vegan, whatever that is". Being ignorant is cool and unthreatening, and it sustains the myth that ANYONE can make it in this society, especially ignorant people.

The lower class fundies will march in lockstep regardless what happens, and with each law further guaranteeing their doom, they'll blame the left for not letting religion be government. When you accept something without proof, you're primed to accept anything else your chosen masters decide to spoon-feed you.

[Frances]

17. Frightening but true

"When you accept something without proof, you're primed to accept anything else your chosen masters decide to spoon-feed you."

The founding fathers were a part of the Age of Reason (Franklin and the kite & inventions, Jefferson and his interest in the discoveries of Lewis and Clarke, etc.)

The Republicans are taking advantage of the fact that the population is shifting to my native South, the Bible Belt, where the most sacred document is not the Constitution, but the Bible. The Republicans are moving toward the Divine Right of Kings theory that our founding fathers fought against. Ironically, the King my New England ancestor fought against was named George. We will soon be back where we started.

30 years ago Democratic Congressman Wright (from Texas) was forced to resign from Congress after being exposed for relatively minor transgressions. Now that we have almost completely moved into the Age of Faith, DeLay just calls on his fundie buddies and stays in power for much greater transgressions.

[Kansas Wyatt]

18. Greenspan kept warning about budget deficits and the tax cuts until...

About 9 months before the election, then he did a 180 and buried his head up Shrub's ass.