Category Archives: I For One Welcome Our Austerity Overlords

Why We Can’t Have Nice Things, in Two Tables

Posted on February 15, 2013 by mikethemadbiologist

Suffice it to say, there are people who are represented in Washington, but you are most likely not one of them. First, attitudes towards deficit reduction–and let’s remember that almost no one thinks deficit reduction should be the top priority: … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, I For One Welcome Our Austerity Overlords, We're Really Fucked | 4 Comments

The Fiscal Cliff and Campaign Finance

Posted on January 2, 2013 by mikethemadbiologist

At the time I write this, I have no idea if the House Republicans will have blown up the fiscal cliff deal. Assuming they haven’t, the deal reached (or that would have been reached) provides two examples of political scientist … Continue reading →

Posted in Bidness, Democrats, I For One Welcome Our Austerity Overlords, We're Really Fucked | Comments Off on The Fiscal Cliff and Campaign Finance

The Asymmetry of ‘Shared Sacrifice’: You Can’t Have Skin in the Game When You’ve Been Cut to the Bone

Posted on December 11, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

As all of our artificial fiscal crises reach full screech, you’ll be hearing a lot about ‘shared sacrifice’, the notion that we all have to pitch in and solve these (relatively) trivial problems. The problem is that some people have … Continue reading →

Posted in Basic Human Decency, I For One Welcome Our Austerity Overlords, Social Security | 1 Comment

Healthcare Is Not the Same As Healthcare Budgeting: The CREs Are Going to Kill Us All Edition

Posted on December 3, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

Every so often, I blog about CRE, which is short for carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae (E. coli and relatives). CREs are resistant to just about every antibiotic (the two drugs commonly used, colistin and tigecycline, cause renal failure or are used off-label … Continue reading →

Posted in Antibiotics, E. coli, Fucking Morons, Healthcare, I For One Welcome Our Austerity Overlords, KPC, NDM-1 | 4 Comments

When Republican Cruelty Meets Democratic Cowardice: The Prevention and Public Health Fund Edition

Posted on November 26, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

By way of TPMDC, we read that the Republicans, in their ongoing quest to be more ridiculous and evil than cartoon villains, want to further reduce a provision of Obamacare, the Prevention and Public Health Fund (boldface mine): The prevention … Continue reading →

Posted in Basic Human Decency, Conservatives, Democrats, Fucking Morons, I For One Welcome Our Austerity Overlords, Public Health | 1 Comment

A Way to Keep Social Security ‘Solvent’

Posted on November 22, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

While the government could, at any time, decide to deficit spend to maintain full Social Security benefits in roughly twenty-five years, if CBO estimates are to believed (and they should be taken with a boulder of salt), Social Security will … Continue reading →

Posted in Democrats, I For One Welcome Our Austerity Overlords, Social Security | 2 Comments

How to Do a Grand Bargain, Real Democrat Style

Posted on November 18, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

With the Grand Bargain silly season upon us, most celebrity pundits, along with too many Democrats are talking about what cuts to make. Never mind that this is a completely artificial ‘crisis’, unlike, let’s say, a wall of water from … Continue reading →

Posted in Basic Human Decency, Democrats, Economics, I For One Welcome Our Austerity Overlords, We're Really Fucked | 5 Comments

Something to Remember When You Hear Our Punditariat Discussing the Looming Fiscal ‘Crisis’

Posted on November 15, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

It’s simple: the 2012 election. Most of the Washington Mandarin class, our supposed intellectual betters (just threw up in my mouth writing that), couldn’t read polls or understand the basic arithmetic* behind what various people, like Nate Silver, were doing. … Continue reading →

Posted in Fucking Morons, I For One Welcome Our Austerity Overlords, News Media | 1 Comment

Real Wor-Shing-Tun Elitism: The Social Security Edition

Posted on October 9, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

One of the reasons that the political response to high unemployment was so weak is due to the Washington ‘bubble effect’: despite high unemployment elsewhere, the Washington area has been booming (and doesn’t appear set to stop either). One example … Continue reading →

Posted in I For One Welcome Our Austerity Overlords, Social Security | 1 Comment

The Tragedy of Public Sector Layoffs

Posted on September 17, 2012 by mikethemadbiologist

What is rarely discussed is that a significant chunk of our unemployment problem is due to state and local government layoffs–something I predicted four years ago (this stuff just isn’t that hard to figure out). Here are some data for … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Fucking Morons, I For One Welcome Our Austerity Overlords | 3 Comments