[lbo-talk] NYT: Party Gridlock in Washington Feeds Fear of a Debt Crisis

[Max Sawicky]

I have to object whenever somebody says the U.S. welfare state has
been shrunken ("is now tinier").  It's an anumerical claim.  I've
hashed out the numbers here in the past; you can look it up.  And as
the otherwise execrable D. Moynihan said about Social Security, if you
think it's already gone you are not likely to defend it.

Going forward, we are certainly looking at a dangerous situation,
though some of us thought our goose was cooked when G. Bush enjoyed
majorities in both the House and Senate, and instead of smashing the
welfare state he expanded it (Reagan oversaw a new entitlement as
well, though he cut other stuff).

I do take the point that the welfare state was in more danger under
Clinton (and perhaps Obama) than either Bush.

On Wed, Feb 17, 2010 at 4:16 PM, Eric Beck <ersatzdog at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Wed, Feb 17, 2010 at 2:57 PM, Max Sawicky <sawicky at verizon.net> wrote:
>> Arithmetic, look into it.
>
> I thought you were the deficit dove. Have we reached some tipping
> point you failed to forsee?
>
> But you are right: if only there were some sort of mechanism whereby
> it were possible to take money from people who make lots and lots of
> it and apply that money to social services and the like. A sort of
> service that could redistribute internal revenue.
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