Stephen Colbert is sick. But he still did a show last night, and talked about the Republicans filibustering unemployment benefits. For a rebuttal to all the talk the GOP keeps saying about how it would add to our national debt, and that tax cuts are the way to go, he brought on Paul Krugman to respond to those claims.
I really do not feel well, folks. And I am not the only one who is not feeling well. Last week, evidently the Labor Department reported that we lost another 125,000 jobs, and I'm pretty sure the guy who created that report was then fired. Well, here's what happened next. OK, the Republicans filibustered extending unemployment benefits, which I think takes some giant legislative balls, good for you fellas. And of course the Democrats got up in arms, because this November a lot of them are going to need unemployment benefits. I'm so thirsty. Someone else talk for a while.
[C-SPAN, July 1, 2010]
REP. JOHN LEWIS (D-GA): Mr. Speaker, it is a strain and a disgrace that we did not extend unemployment insurance. Every single member who voted "No" yesterday should be ashamed of themselves. People are suffering! I ask my Republican colleagues, can't you hear? Can't you feel? Can't you see? Where is your heart?
I think the Wizard of Oz has it. It's right next to Michael Steele's brain. Folks, it sucks, it sucks, but we cannot extend benefits, it'll add like a quarter of one percent to the national debt. Someone agree with me, please.
Unidentified guest on Fox News, 6/24/2010: If we don't keep our own fiscal house in order, we could look like Greece sooner than you think.
REP. GLENN THOMPSON (R-PA, 6/29/2010): America really has a choice between becoming Greece or New Jersey.
We can become Greece, or greasier.
Look, no politician likes being seen screwing the unemployed, but there are decisions to be made.
SEN. SCOTT BROWN (R-MA, 6/30/2010): No one's disputing the value of these very important programs, but we also have to have tough choices, and we also need to live within our means.
Thank you Scott Brown. When you are starving, that is the best time to go on a diet. You're already used to no food. And, Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman agrees. He said this last week.
We are now speeding down the road of wasteful spending and debt, and unless we can escape, we will be smashed in inflation.
I'm sorry, that's not Krugman last week. That's Herbert Hoover during the Great Depression.
Well, what did Krugman say? Do we...? Fuck it, I'll just ask him. Please welcome Paul Krugman.
(Heh, a mini-Marshall McLuhan moment?)
Colbert: Paul, thanks so much for coming back on. OK, now listen, I want to apologize right off the top for not being as angry at you as I would like to. I just don't have the strength.
Krugman: It's all right.
C: OK, so what did you say about unemployment benefits? Why do we need them? Is it going to kill us? The debt's going to kill us?
K: No, the debt's not... I mean, gosh, this guy just a minute ago made a pretty good argument. Actually, you know, it won't add nearly a quarter of a percent to our debt. It's a tiny amount of money which is desperately needed. I mean, first of all, these people are hurting...
C: But how does it... I know it's hurting, but try to make your argument without appealing to our humanity.
K: Ah, all right, I can do that, I'm an economist. The other thing is, what's the problem with our economy right now?
C: We're in the toilet. Obama killed it. The stimulus killed it.
K: There's not enough demand. The people are not spending enough, businesses are not spending enough. Right now, the only party that's really in a position to sustain spending, to keep some demand up there so that jobs are available, is the federal government. One of the most effective ways...
C: The federal government can't create one job. "They cannot create one job," Ronald Reagan. Other than Ronald Reagan's job.
K: The Great Depression was ended by a large public works program known as World War II. That created a whole lot of jobs.
C: Are you suggesting World War III?
K: No...
C: Is Paul Krugman calling for World War III?
K: No, although I would like to be able to use that Hitler video if I could. But the federal government can do a lot... and particularly, what the federal government can do right now, one of the most effective ways of getting spending power out there into the economy during this distressed time is to put money in the hands of people who desperately need the money and are going to spend it.
C: Well, why not tax cuts, though? If you want to put money back in people's hands, go to tax cuts. That's trickle down. You want to trickle up. And I'm here to tell you, as a sick person, nothing trickles up. [back-and-forth banter] So how does it help to get money to these poor people?
K: So if you give money to someone who's well off... give money to me, or you, we're probably going to save a lot of it, because we're not living hand to mouth. So that's not going to help the economy. If you give money to somebody who's on the edge, who's been unemployed for 30 weeks and is really desperate, that person is going to spend it. So actually, this is a way of putting money... the government actually doesn't have to spend it, the government just has to provide it to people, and it's a very fast, very effective way of creating jobs when you're in this kind of crisis.
C: So you're not worried about the debt at all? I mean, we're in deep financial problems. I mean, we have no money, we're way in debt, and you just want to blow $34 billion? Where are we supposed to get that money?
K: We can get that money by, at the moment, borrowing it...
C: From the Chinese. You want us all to work for the Chinese as opposed to...
K: The U.S. government is able to borrow money long-term at less than 3% interest. Aside from the fact that that means this is not a big problem to borrow right now, it's also saying that the financial markets, people with actual money on the line, are giving a vote of confidence. They believe that the federal government can spend money, deficits now...
C: What about the Europeans? They don't have a vote of confidence in your ideas, because Obama went up to the G-20, and he got faced by the European politicians. They're the spenders, they're the socialist people, and they're the ones who gave you your Nobel Prize. Shouldn't you have to return your Nobel Prize now for going against the Europeans?
K: The Swedes are happy. I was in Germany last month, and I felt I was a little bit lucky to get out without being arrested by the austerity police.
C: Is that part of the Hitler meme?
K: There you go. But the Europeans... this is European politicians. European investors are perfectly happy, so this is a political thing. There's nothing forcing the U.S. government to penny-pinch the way that the Republicans want it to.
C: So we can just keep spending?
K: As a wise man said just a few minutes ago, but going on a diet when you're starving is not a good idea.
C: Makes it easier to tighten your belt.
K: This is true.
We need to push this out there to counter the right-wing groups and media that say tax cuts are the only solution, because frankly, I don't see enough of it out there. Too often you'll see some Republican say "tax cut", and the Democrat doesn't respond effectively because they've been hit so hard over the head for years that opposing "tax cuts" is political suicide, they can't even talk about a different approach without first acquiescing and paying penance to the Tax Cut God first.
Enough.
Watch the interview, think about what Krugman is saying, and spread that message far and wide. Especially to family and friends that still have the tax cut wool over their eyes.