Gordon Adams via Capital Gains and Games takes a look at the military side of the budget that is being sidestepped by most in the deficit spending whirlwind of claims and political negotiations happening on Capitol hill.

Reposted from New Deal 2.0 with permission from author. Deficit Hawks Down: The Misconstrued “Facts” Behind Their Hype by James K. Galbraith Economist James K. Galbraith attends a Pete Peterson-funded road show. The Fiscal Solutions Tour is the latest Peter G. Peterson Foundation effort to rouse the public against deficits and the national debt — […]

Nearing agreement says NYT An administration official said that in the emerging deal, the “Making Work Pay” credit would be replaced with a one-year reduction in payroll taxes for workers. In addition to a two-year extension of the income tax rates enacted under President George W. Bush, the deal includes a one-year extension of jobless […]

Michael Hudson at New Economic Perspectives points us to the difference between the overall economy and the financial sector: When politicians let the financial sector run the show, their natural preference is to turn the economy into a grab bag. And they usually come out ahead. That’s what the words “foreclosure,” “forfeiture” and “liquidate” mean […]

In Linda’s post on the budget deficit in the comments it was claimed that the budget deficit was Obama’s fault and a chart was cited that showed the deficit in someone’s estimate of real dollars. The standard way of comparing deficits across time and across different countries is to show the deficit — past and […]