Today At The Virtual Summit: Countering The Deficit Hysteria

Today at the Virtual Summit on Fiscal and Economic Responsibility for People Who Did Not Wreck the Economy hosted by Campaign for America's Future...

Can We Have A Debate?: Dean Baker sees the White House debt commission trying to "impose a false consensus":

These affairs are not about promoting a real exchange of views on issues like the future of Social Security, Medicare, and public support for education, research and infrastructure. The purpose of these events is to tell the public that everyone agrees, we have to cut the deficit. And, this means cutting Social Security and Medicare. This is argument by authority.

Yes We Can!: Campaign for America's Future convened top economic experts this afternoon to provide the media with the views not heard by the commission this morning.

No One To Trust: Susie Madrak sees no one to trust after the first White House debt commission meeting:

...when they say “everything’s on the table”, they mean “only the things the rich and powerful want on the table are actually on the table.” And we’re supposed to be too stupid to notice.

The Counter-Message: Mike Lux offers progressives a one-two punch to reframe the debate:

1. The best way to make major progress on the deficit is to rebuild a broadly prosperous economy. ... 2. There are many different ways to cut the deficit without slashing Social Security, Medicare benefits, and programs to help the poor.

Jobs Is Job #1 Robert Borosage chastises the Washington establishment for putting deficit reduction ahead of job growth while unemployment remains unacceptably high:

Choosing between deficit reduction or greater stimulus isn’t a matter of taste or of economic mumbo jumbo. It’s about values and priorities.

For too many lawmakers, high unemployment seems to be an acceptable price for fiscal probity.

But there are worse things than deficits, and grinding mass unemployment is one of them. Families will divide. Young hopes will be crushed. Wages will stagnate; Gilded Age-style inequality will grow worse; poverty will spread.

There Are No "Greedy Geezers": Nathan Tabak and Ashley Carson debunk the "greedy geezers" attack with something called facts.

Mythbusting: Finally, Lynn Parramore offers "Nine Deficit Myths We Cannot Afford."

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