Friday opinions.
Paul Krugman:
Let’s talk for a moment about budget reality. Contrary to what you often hear, the large deficit the federal government is running right now isn’t the result of runaway spending growth. Instead, well more than half of the deficit was caused by the ongoing economic crisis, which has led to a plunge in tax receipts, required federal bailouts of financial institutions, and been met — appropriately — with temporary measures to stimulate growth and support employment.
The point is that running big deficits in the face of the worst economic slump since the 1930s is actually the right thing to do. If anything, deficits should be bigger than they are because the government should be doing more than it is to create jobs.
NY Times LTE:
We seniors are probably the last generation that will enjoy generous, assured pensions as well as unlimited access to medical procedures and treatments.
Any society that spends seven times as much on its elders as on its young has its priorities backward and eventually risks a backlash from the frustrated young. Mr. Brooks rightly points out that because seniors hold far greater political power than the young, only seniors can create the political climate in which fairness can be brought about.
Like it or not, voting consistently is the only clear way to hold political power. And seniors vote consistently.
USA Today:
Will the real Tea Party please stand up?
Most political conventions are designed to showcase party unity, but the National Tea Party convention where Sarah Palin is to speak Saturday is sending a very different message.
Steven Pearlstein:
One thing that is already obvious is that most people in Washington have forgotten what bipartisanship means in practice, if indeed they ever knew it.
The most common misconception is that bipartisanship means finding common ground and focusing on the things most everyone agrees on. In reality, that turns out to be a pretty small set of ideas and proposals that, taken together, would not address the major challenges before us. Certainly, that is the obvious place to begin, and it would be an improvement over the current gridlock, but it won't add up to effective governance.
Charles Krauthammer: Liberals! Stick with Obama and you are doomed! Mwwahaaaha! Mwahaa! Mwaa- what? Obama is still outpolling Republicans? Tea party convention is collapsing and people are pulling out? Noooo!!!
Aaron David Miller:
Still, with all his woes and travails, Obama is a popular president with extraordinary talent. He is presiding over a country whose people by and large want him to succeed. Things happen, often quite unexpectedly, that can set the stage for recovery and turnaround. Their situations are hardly similar, but just ask two other beleaguered presidents, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.
Gerald Seib:
Much breath has been expended discussing whether President Barack Obama and Republican leaders can patch things up, even a little. Less noticed: A similar move is under way to attempt a bit of reconciliation between the White House and the business community.