Ezra Klein: Deficit Hawks vs. Frauds

Ezra Klein explains the difference in his Washington Post blog.

The Bipartisan Policy Center's debt-reduction commission paired their deficit plan with a proposal for more short-term stimulus. The idea that we can either focus on jobs now or deficits now is "a false choice," they said. That shamed the Simpson-Bowles Commission into adopting their stimulus proposal. There are other examples, too, but those should suffice. There has been a genuine campaign on the part of people who are concerned about the economy to explain that the dangers of debt are longer term, while the pain of joblessness is happening right now.

The deficit hawks, however, often get blamed for the actions and rhetoric of the deficit frauds. The deficit frauds are the folks who use deficits for short-term political gain: This year, they've mainly been Republicans who opposed unemployment benefits because they'd add $56 billion to the deficit but demanded tax cuts that would add $4 trillion to the deficit.

--Ballard Burgher