America Goes Dark - GoFuckYourself.com

Coup · 08-12-2010, 06:44 AM

America Goes Dark
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: August 8, 2010

The lights are going out all over America ? literally. Colorado Springs has made headlines with its desperate attempt to save money by turning off a third of its streetlights, but similar things are either happening or being contemplated across the nation, from Philadelphia to Fresno.

Meanwhile, a country that once amazed the world with its visionary investments in transportation, from the Erie Canal to the Interstate Highway System, is now in the process of unpaving itself: in a number of states, local governments are breaking up roads they can no longer afford to maintain, and returning them to gravel.

And a nation that once prized education ? that was among the first to provide basic schooling to all its children ? is now cutting back. Teachers are being laid off; programs are being canceled; in Hawaii, the school year itself is being drastically shortened. And all signs point to even more cuts ahead.

We?re told that we have no choice, that basic government functions ? essential services that have been provided for generations ? are no longer affordable. And it?s true that state and local governments, hit hard by the recession, are cash-strapped. But they wouldn?t be quite as cash-strapped if their politicians were willing to consider at least some tax increases.

And the federal government, which can sell inflation-protected long-term bonds at an interest rate of only 1.04 percent, isn?t cash-strapped at all. It could and should be offering aid to local governments, to protect the future of our infrastructure and our children.

But Washington is providing only a trickle of help, and even that grudgingly. We must place priority on reducing the deficit, say Republicans and ?centrist? Democrats. And then, virtually in the next breath, they declare that we must preserve tax cuts for the very affluent, at a budget cost of $700 billion over the next decade.

In effect, a large part of our political class is showing its priorities: given the choice between asking the richest 2 percent or so of Americans to go back to paying the tax rates they paid during the Clinton-era boom, or allowing the nation?s foundations to crumble ? literally in the case of roads, figuratively in the case of education ? they?re choosing the latter.

It?s a disastrous choice in both the short run and the long run.

In the short run, those state and local cutbacks are a major drag on the economy, perpetuating devastatingly high unemployment.

It?s crucial to keep state and local government in mind when you hear people ranting about runaway government spending under President Obama. Yes, the federal government is spending more, although not as much as you might think. But state and local governments are cutting back. And if you add them together, it turns out that the only big spending increases have been in safety-net programs like unemployment insurance, which have soared in cost thanks to the severity of the slump.

That is, for all the talk of a failed stimulus, if you look at government spending as a whole you see hardly any stimulus at all. And with federal spending now trailing off, while big state and local cutbacks continue, we?re going into reverse.

But isn?t keeping taxes for the affluent low also a form of stimulus? Not so you?d notice. When we save a schoolteacher?s job, that unambiguously aids employment; when we give millionaires more money instead, there?s a good chance that most of that money will just sit idle.

And what about the economy?s future? Everything we know about economic growth says that a well-educated population and high-quality infrastructure are crucial. Emerging nations are making huge efforts to upgrade their roads, their ports and their schools. Yet in America we?re going backward.

How did we get to this point? It?s the logical consequence of three decades of antigovernment rhetoric, rhetoric that has convinced many voters that a dollar collected in taxes is always a dollar wasted, that the public sector can?t do anything right.

The antigovernment campaign has always been phrased in terms of opposition to waste and fraud ? to checks sent to welfare queens driving Cadillacs, to vast armies of bureaucrats uselessly pushing paper around. But those were myths, of course; there was never remotely as much waste and fraud as the right claimed. And now that the campaign has reached fruition, we?re seeing what was actually in the firing line: services that everyone except the very rich need, services that government must provide or nobody will, like lighted streets, drivable roads and decent schooling for the public as a whole.

So the end result of the long campaign against government is that we?ve taken a disastrously wrong turn. America is now on the unlit, unpaved road to nowhere.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/09/op...e&ref=homepage

Haha this country is fucking doomed. But don't worry. cut taxes for the rich and it will all trickle down some day. lol.

Amputate Your Head · 08-12-2010, 06:49 AM

As long as we still have Starbucks and American Idol, nobody gives a shit. America is dead inside.

IllTestYourGirls · 08-12-2010, 06:52 AM

Proof that government has grown way to big. That all that is.

Agent 488 · 08-12-2010, 06:53 AM

every empire ends.

CaptainHowdy · 08-12-2010, 06:54 AM

I stopped reading at "Paul Krugman"...

u-Bob · 08-12-2010, 07:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coup

By PAUL KRUGMAN

ah, an article written by a neokeynesian....

Quote:

We?re told that we have no choice, that basic government functions ?

Education etc are not 'basic government functions'.

Quote:

services that have been provided for generations ? are no longer affordable.

That was to be expected... even Keynes himself saw it coming but he simply didn't care.
"In the long run, we're all dead." -- John Maynard Keynes

Quote:

And it?s true that state and local governments, hit hard by the recession, are cash-strapped. But they wouldn?t be quite as cash-strapped if their politicians were willing to consider at least some tax increases.

...

Quote:

But isn?t keeping taxes for the affluent low also a form of stimulus? Not so you?d notice. When we save a schoolteacher?s job, that unambiguously aids employment; when we give millionaires more money instead, there?s a good chance that most of that money will just sit idle.

Money in a bank/savings account doesn't sit idle. It serves as the basis for loans/investments/credit.

Taxation and government spending only inflates the money supply => lowers the value of money => the poor and lower incomes suffer first.

12clicks · 08-12-2010, 07:12 AM

Paul Krugman is a leftist idiot.
Here's something you don't hear from the idiot left. If the 50% of the population who pay NOTHING in income taxes paid $1000.00 just one time, there would be no national debt.
THAT is the problem with the country. 50% pay nothing and therefore have no skin in the game when they vote for their promised free handout.

our current problems have nothing to do with the wealthy being under taxed.

The idiot left lies about the "tax cuts for the rich"
the tax cut was across the board for ALL TAXPAYERS!
odd that the idiot left doesn't want to repeal the entire tax cut. the cost of THAT is WAY more than the small amount returned to the top 2%.

people just couldn't be any dumber and most of you absolutely are going to get what you DESERVE instead of what you WANT by voting for these leftist idiots like obama and crew.

Coup · 08-12-2010, 07:16 AM

http://www.defense.gov/contracts/

maxxtro · 08-12-2010, 07:36 AM

It used to be only North Korea...and now..

marketsmart · 08-12-2010, 07:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 12clicks

Paul Krugman is a leftist idiot.
Here's something you don't hear from the idiot left. If the 50% of the population who pay NOTHING in income taxes paid $1000.00 just one time, there would be no national debt.
THAT is the problem with the country. 50% pay nothing and therefore have no skin in the game when they vote for their promised free handout.

our current problems have nothing to do with the wealthy being under taxed.

The idiot left lies about the "tax cuts for the rich"
the tax cut was across the board for ALL TAXPAYERS!
odd that the idiot left doesn't want to repeal the entire tax cut. the cost of THAT is WAY more than the small amount returned to the top 2%.

people just couldn't be any dumber and most of you absolutely are going to get what you DESERVE instead of what you WANT by voting for these leftist idiots like obama and crew.

i cant believe i am going to do this....

i agree with everything you just wrote....

i would add that its not just obama, its the whole govt that needs to be voted out...

.

Coup · 08-12-2010, 07:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marketsmart

its the whole govt that needs to be voted out...

.

and not replaced.

u-Bob · 08-12-2010, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coup

and not replaced.

finnaly!

12clicks · 08-12-2010, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marketsmart

i agree with everything you just wrote....

then you're on your way to enightenment

Hawkeye · 08-12-2010, 08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coup

How did we get to this point? It?s the logical consequence of three decades of antigovernment rhetoric, rhetoric that has convinced many voters that a dollar collected in taxes is always a dollar wasted, that the public sector can?t do anything right.

This is bullshit, and Krugman has become nothing more than a hack for the Democrat party.

Small government conservatives (and the sane libertarians) aren't opposed to all government spending. They are opposed to welfare spending that takes away from legitimate government activities such as building roads and other infrastructure.

Also, regarding electricity blackouts, it's the liberals who are causing this with their opposition to nuclear power and their draconian environmental rules.

Black Ops · 08-12-2010, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 12clicks

Paul Krugman is a leftist idiot.

That is why HE is writing for the New York Times and YOU are writing on GFY.

A different opinion he may have, but an idiot he is not.

Tom_PM · 08-12-2010, 09:41 AM

In my area, they only open the state parks RIGHT before holidays, then close them right after. They can't afford to keep them up. A city north of me closed it's DMV offices years ago because the state budget didnt allow them to get money needed to pay staff. Other services are down to part time only.

Also, last year they closed a local elementary school and consolidated it with others. Cant afford to pay the teachers and staff they say. There's talks of them closing another one after this year.

Howsabout you guys? Anyone care to stay on topic? What about your area?

Brent 3dSexCash · 08-12-2010, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptainHowdy

I stopped reading at "Paul Krugman"...

same here

08-12-2010, 06:44 AM	#1
Coup 🚨 PBBC International 🚨 Industry Role: Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: /👁\ Posts: 9,931	America Goes Dark America Goes Dark By PAUL KRUGMAN Published: August 8, 2010 The lights are going out all over America ? literally. Colorado Springs has made headlines with its desperate attempt to save money by turning off a third of its streetlights, but similar things are either happening or being contemplated across the nation, from Philadelphia to Fresno. Meanwhile, a country that once amazed the world with its visionary investments in transportation, from the Erie Canal to the Interstate Highway System, is now in the process of unpaving itself: in a number of states, local governments are breaking up roads they can no longer afford to maintain, and returning them to gravel. And a nation that once prized education ? that was among the first to provide basic schooling to all its children ? is now cutting back. Teachers are being laid off; programs are being canceled; in Hawaii, the school year itself is being drastically shortened. And all signs point to even more cuts ahead. We?re told that we have no choice, that basic government functions ? essential services that have been provided for generations ? are no longer affordable. And it?s true that state and local governments, hit hard by the recession, are cash-strapped. But they wouldn?t be quite as cash-strapped if their politicians were willing to consider at least some tax increases. And the federal government, which can sell inflation-protected long-term bonds at an interest rate of only 1.04 percent, isn?t cash-strapped at all. It could and should be offering aid to local governments, to protect the future of our infrastructure and our children. But Washington is providing only a trickle of help, and even that grudgingly. We must place priority on reducing the deficit, say Republicans and ?centrist? Democrats. And then, virtually in the next breath, they declare that we must preserve tax cuts for the very affluent, at a budget cost of $700 billion over the next decade. In effect, a large part of our political class is showing its priorities: given the choice between asking the richest 2 percent or so of Americans to go back to paying the tax rates they paid during the Clinton-era boom, or allowing the nation?s foundations to crumble ? literally in the case of roads, figuratively in the case of education ? they?re choosing the latter. It?s a disastrous choice in both the short run and the long run. In the short run, those state and local cutbacks are a major drag on the economy, perpetuating devastatingly high unemployment. It?s crucial to keep state and local government in mind when you hear people ranting about runaway government spending under President Obama. Yes, the federal government is spending more, although not as much as you might think. But state and local governments are cutting back. And if you add them together, it turns out that the only big spending increases have been in safety-net programs like unemployment insurance, which have soared in cost thanks to the severity of the slump. That is, for all the talk of a failed stimulus, if you look at government spending as a whole you see hardly any stimulus at all. And with federal spending now trailing off, while big state and local cutbacks continue, we?re going into reverse. But isn?t keeping taxes for the affluent low also a form of stimulus? Not so you?d notice. When we save a schoolteacher?s job, that unambiguously aids employment; when we give millionaires more money instead, there?s a good chance that most of that money will just sit idle. And what about the economy?s future? Everything we know about economic growth says that a well-educated population and high-quality infrastructure are crucial. Emerging nations are making huge efforts to upgrade their roads, their ports and their schools. Yet in America we?re going backward. How did we get to this point? It?s the logical consequence of three decades of antigovernment rhetoric, rhetoric that has convinced many voters that a dollar collected in taxes is always a dollar wasted, that the public sector can?t do anything right. The antigovernment campaign has always been phrased in terms of opposition to waste and fraud ? to checks sent to welfare queens driving Cadillacs, to vast armies of bureaucrats uselessly pushing paper around. But those were myths, of course; there was never remotely as much waste and fraud as the right claimed. And now that the campaign has reached fruition, we?re seeing what was actually in the firing line: services that everyone except the very rich need, services that government must provide or nobody will, like lighted streets, drivable roads and decent schooling for the public as a whole. So the end result of the long campaign against government is that we?ve taken a disastrously wrong turn. America is now on the unlit, unpaved road to nowhere. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/09/op...e&ref=homepage Haha this country is fucking doomed. But don't worry. cut taxes for the rich and it will all trickle down some day. lol.

08-12-2010, 06:49 AM	#2
Amputate Your Head There can be only one Industry Role: Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Somewhere else Posts: 39,075	As long as we still have Starbucks and American Idol, nobody gives a shit. America is dead inside. __________________ SIG TOO BIG

08-12-2010, 06:52 AM	#3
IllTestYourGirls Ah My Balls Industry Role: Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Under the gold leaf ICQ 388-454-421 Posts: 14,311	Proof that government has grown way to big. That all that is. __________________

08-12-2010, 06:54 AM	#5
CaptainHowdy Too lazy to set a custom title Industry Role: Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Happy in the dark. Posts: 94,123	I stopped reading at "Paul Krugman"... __________________ Vacares - Web Hosting, Domains, O365, Security & More - Paxum and BTC Accepted Windows VPS now available Great for TSS, Nifty Stats, remote work, virtual assistants, etc.

08-12-2010, 07:12 AM	#7
12clicks Too lazy to set a custom title Industry Role: Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: God's right hand Posts: 19,801	Paul Krugman is a leftist idiot. Here's something you don't hear from the idiot left. If the 50% of the population who pay NOTHING in income taxes paid $1000.00 just one time, there would be no national debt. THAT is the problem with the country. 50% pay nothing and therefore have no skin in the game when they vote for their promised free handout. our current problems have nothing to do with the wealthy being under taxed. The idiot left lies about the "tax cuts for the rich" the tax cut was across the board for ALL TAXPAYERS! odd that the idiot left doesn't want to repeal the entire tax cut. the cost of THAT is WAY more than the small amount returned to the top 2%. people just couldn't be any dumber and most of you absolutely are going to get what you DESERVE instead of what you WANT by voting for these leftist idiots like obama and crew. __________________ I'm not a dinosaur, I'm a crocodile. I've seen dinosaurs come and go and I'm left unimpressed. Last edited by 12clicks; 08-12-2010 at 07:14 AM..

08-12-2010, 06:53 AM	#4
Agent 488 Registered User Industry Role: Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 22,511	every empire ends.

08-12-2010, 07:16 AM	#8
Coup 🚨 PBBC International 🚨 Industry Role: Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: /👁\ Posts: 9,931	http://www.defense.gov/contracts/

08-12-2010, 07:36 AM	#9
maxxtro Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: EU Posts: 561	It used to be only North Korea...and now.. __________________

08-12-2010, 09:41 AM	#16
Tom_PM Porn Meister Industry Role: Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 16,443	In my area, they only open the state parks RIGHT before holidays, then close them right after. They can't afford to keep them up. A city north of me closed it's DMV offices years ago because the state budget didnt allow them to get money needed to pay staff. Other services are down to part time only. Also, last year they closed a local elementary school and consolidated it with others. Cant afford to pay the teachers and staff they say. There's talks of them closing another one after this year. Howsabout you guys? Anyone care to stay on topic? What about your area? __________________ 43-922-863 Shut up and play your guitar.