Remember that phrase? Anyway, I’ve long been convinced that “deficits” are what people say when the economy is bad. Since the U.S., for most of the last eighty years, has run deficits (and this isn’t a bad thing), it also has the advantage of being ‘right’ in that there are always deficits (although by the same criterion, we could blame oxygen too). Nonetheless, when people are pressed for specifics, they don’t really care about deficits–because people have to like this crap.
A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll bears this out:
In case it’s not clear:
As Charles Pierce is wont to write, “Fk the deficit. People got no jobs. Got no money.”
Meanwhile, our political betters are obsessed with deficits and not job creation.
mikethemadbiologist
Pingback: Nobody Cares About Deficit Reduction Including Deficit ‘Hawks’ | Mike the Mad Biologist
15. Which of these should be the higher priority for the nation right now — cutting government spending or creating jobs? Cutting spending 26 29
Creating jobs 63 62
Both(vol.) 11 8
DK/NA 1
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/08/05/us/politics/20110805_Poll-docs.html
“18. Which comes closer to your own view? 1) The federal government should spend money to create jobs, even if it means it has to borrow the money to do so, OR 2) The federal government should not spend money to create jobs and should instead focus on lowering the country’s debt.”
6/24-28/11
Gov’t should spend money – 42%
Gov’t should not spend money – 52%
Don’t know/no answer – 6%
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/06/30/business/20110630poll-full-results.html
Job creation without higher government spending, inflation, or trade barriers: http://jobcreationplan.blogspot.com/