The original meaning of "fiscal conservative" may be gone. In fact, Democrats have had a better claim on the label in recent years than Republicans. But it's important to remember that the concept is as legitimate as ever. The United States does indeed face a long-term budget deficit that eventually will require a solution, and cuts to government spending almost certainly need to be part of that solution.
So the next time that you hear a politician describe himself or herself as a "fiscal conservative," I recommend deep skepticism. But I also hope that Washington one day has more real fiscal conservatives than it does today.
Yes, New Democrats are far more consistent proponents of inflicting austerity on Americans, particularly the working class, than are Republicans -- and that is a travesty. The NYT op ed was written after Trump's election driven by the wholesale rejection of the New Democrats' agenda by the white working class. The New Democrats have learned nothing from that defeat. They continue to push the message of Wall Street and the wealth -- the infliction of self-destructive austerity -- as their defining mantra. They continue down the disastrous path that Tom Frank has been warning them about for over a decade. (Yes, I know that Trump will continue to betray the white working class.) We desperately need a "Washington" and a political party in which no official buys the Wall Street dogmas favoring austerity. Austerity is to economics as bleeding a patient is to medicine. Among the last things that "Washington" needs is to have "more" Wall Street sycophants pushing austerity "than it does today."
And no, "cuts to government spending" are not "almost certainly" essential in the "long-term." Growth is what is essential, and austerity is the great enemy of American growth. Clinton's "growth" was not the product of austerity and it was not real. It was the product of the two largest bubbles in history. The U.S. had far higher deficits relative to GDP in and after World War II. Does anyone think austerity was the proper answer to Hitler, the attack on Pearl Harbor, or the Great Depression?
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
3
3
1
