by Bruce Webb Over at TPM Justin Fox is launching a discussion of his new book The Myth of the Rational Market: A History of Risk, Reward, and Delusion on Wall Street which feeds right into some discussions we have had here at Angry Bear. So I propose to give his set-up here and then […]
by Bruce Webb In comments to his last post A Response to Megan McArdle, Again Cactus put the following up as a summary of the Economic Right’s approach to tax cuts:1. tax cuts mean people are encouraged to work harder 2. people work harder 3, growth Another version of this was posted, without apparent irony, […]
by Bruce Webb The blogosphere is alive with news that Joe implicitly green-lighted an Israeli attack on Iran. Well I had my say here and there. I just want to share a map from Cordesman and Toukan’s Study on a Possible Israeli Strike on Iran’s Nuclear Development Facilities in part because it tells its own […]
by Bruce Webb I haven’t gone through the text or the numbers, make of this what you will. But at least we can start with some actual numbers attached.McClatchy: Kennedy-Dodd unveil cheaper health care bill Bill Text: SHORTTITLE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Affordable Health Choices Act” CBO ScoreExcerpts and updates may be added […]
by Bruce Webb Sanders makes the case I have been thinking of making (bolding mine):Bernie Sanders Demands Democrats Commit To Stopping Health Care Filibuster One of the Senate’s most vocal progressives is demanding that the Democratic Party commit to voting against filibustering health care legislation now that, with the impending arrival of Al Franken, the […]
by Bruce Webb In comments on the last post MG was challenging 2Slugs contention that the real issue was Medicare, while BuffPilot was accusing me of ignoring Obama spending. Well I am on my way out the door and will let the CBO do the talking for me:That near term temporary light blue peak? Obama […]
by Bruce Webb In a previous post I highlighted the chapter of CBO’s Long-Term Budget Outlook that pertained to Social Security. But the Report goes beyond that and in fact focuses on two different possible scenarios outlined in the following Table:The shorthand way of defining ‘extended baseline’ is ‘Bush tax cuts expire on schedule’ while […]
by Bruce Webb Congressional Budget Office Long Term Budget OutlookDiscuss. (Social Security is chapter 3) (Update) Not a lot of meat here. CBO offers two outlooks for Social Security, one which projects a payroll gap of 1.33% (extended baseline) and another 1.54%. (alternative fiscal scenario). The former assumes that the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts […]
Time for our military readers to step up. Various basement bloggers belonging to the 101st Fighting Keyboardists continually tell us the next step is Israel bombing Iran. But can someone explain exactly how this would work in detail? I mean in actual detail including 1) Israeli strike capabilities, 2) Iranian air defense capabilities, 3a) how […]
by Prof Neil Buchanan of GWU Just read the whole thing.The 2009 Social Security Trustees’ Report: Good News Behind the Headlines I could not agree more with Prof. Buchanan’s conclusion. While there is some talk of returning to address Social Security’s finances after we fix healthcare costs, it at least appears likely that we will […]