Ezra Klein has a really good interview with Chuck Schumer over at WonkBlog. Schumer is wrong about a lot of thing, of course; but he makes some excellent points. He is clearly a thoughtful guy. It’s too bad he is such a New Democrat. Still, his heart seems to be in the right place (in his chest as opposed to where a Republican keeps it: in a box under ground). And he’s right about a number of things.

Schumer’s main argument is that the Republicans are not being honest when they say that they want to change the tax code in a revenue neutral way. I’ve been long saying this. You just don’t start a discussion of the debt with: let’s make it worse!

He puts this into sharp relief by proposing how Democrats would act if they were similarly disingenuous:

Exactly! What’s more, I think most non-PhD economists ask a reasonable question, “If your marginal rate tax cuts will be revenue neutral, why are you doing it?” There is a reason for this, but I’ve never found it that compelling. The claim is that it will make the tax code fairer and thus increase growth. (This is an issue that involves the wealthy and the really wealthy—it has nothing to do with the middle classes.) But Schumer is certainly right when he speculates:

Even if this was a great idea—and I doubt this—a big problem is that if such a plan started with this idea, it would end with the lower tax rates with none of the deductions cut. Or at best, the deductions would be put back in the years going forward. The main thing is that Republicans only want to do this so they can cut taxes on the wealthy.

Ezra Klein makes an excellent point during the interview:

Which is the whole point! Republicans and, to a lesser but profound extent, Democrats only hear from the rich. Their campaigns are funded by the rich. People on food stamps don’t much matter. Especially when they can manipulated by TV commercials and, if all else fails, simply deprived of the right to vote.

BuzzFeed offers up 8 Mind-Boggling Pieces of Illusionary Makeup Body Art. They are all amazing, but the one below is the best. This is just my little attempt to spice up your Friday Night:

Of course, I could have just offered up Dali at the Age of Six When He Thought He Was a Girl Lifting the Skin of the Water to See the Dog Sleeping in the Shade of the Sea:

Jonathan Chait has noticed something important: the finance fucktards do not understand what the fiscal cliff is—or claim not to anyway. You, dear reader, may be forgiven if you are a little vague on it. So let me explain.

Because of the Republican “debt ceiling” debacle, unless something is done, at the end of the year, $100 billion each will be cut from military and social programs. Also, if nothing is done, there will be a huge tax increase caused by the ending of the “temporary” Bush tax cuts. If this all happens, the country will again be plunged into a recession. This is surprising, because according to conservatives, government doesn’t create jobs. Oh, that’s right: conservatives are either stupid or evil, so we shouldn’t listen to their claims about the economy—or pretty much anything else. So yes, the fiscal cliff will throw the economy into recession.

Because of this, President Obama is in an excellent situation to make a good deal with Republicans. (At least, he is if he wins reelection.) But as Chait points out, people like Jamie Dimon[1] and Lloyd Blankfein are confused about the fiscal cliff. He quotes a letter they wrote that says, “Interest rates could spike significantly if policymakers do not agree to stop the series of automatic tax hikes and spending cuts and replace them with a long-term plan to tame the federal debt.” Chait is blunt: Uh? No!

Economics is hard, but this is easy. All you have to do is remember the history of the last 4 years. Under most circumstances, when the economy is weak, interest rates are low. The fact that these guys don’t understand this very basic bit of economics shows what I often say: the rich are not that smart or knowledgeable.

The big news is not about these two guys, though. The big news is Peter George Peterson. This is the guy who for years has been making so much noise about “entitlement reform.” He claims that if we don’t do something, there will have to be entitlement cuts in the future. His big idea: entitlement cuts now. He is probably the best example of someone who wants to cut Social Security rather than raise (or eliminate) the cap. I suspect the reason that he never talks about this extremely reasonable plan is that it would cost him money, whereas raising the retirement age to 75 would not. (Peterson is 86.)

Peterson hates the idea of the fiscal cliff. But not because it will be bad for the economy. He hates it because it will pretty much balance the federal budget. And if that happens, he will have no reason to call for cutting entitlement programs. I’m not joking!

The real issue with all of these guys is that they want to do what is in their own financial interests. Anything that they say is just a smokescreen for this. What they want to do—what they always want to do—is cut their taxes, raise yours, and cut your benefits. (You also won’t see them calling for an end to corporate welfare—especially Too Big To Fail insurance!)

[1] Dimon is a Democrat. But as we all know, that doesn’t mean much. All it probably means is that he has a brain that functions at a higher level than a troglodyte. The head of JPMorgan Chase is not on the side of the little guy.

I have to go out of town again. Nothing much for the rest of the day. This is a good break down of the debate by Cenk Uygur:

The BBC reports that there is a general strike in Greece over yet more austerity from their Europe Union partners. This stuff tends to be reported in the United States as though the Greek people are a bunch of ill behaved children who don’t want to take their necessary medicine. Most of that is correct—all except the word “necessary.” Greece has been through this many times before over the past two years. And what has it earned them? Nothing other than 25% unemployment.

Dean Baker comments that Greece has a lot more leverage than they have had in the past. He points to Argentina in 2002. They were in a huge amount of debt—more than Greece. So they defaulted. All the Serious People said this was terrible—it would be a catastrophe for Argentina. But it wasn’t. Instead, their economy quickly rebounded—unlike Greece that has taken what all the Serious People claim to be the correct path. So what if Greece defaulted and left the Euro?

Greece’s economy might finally be able to heal itself. And that would be a catastrophe—for the Euro Zone. If leaving the Euro was good for Greece, then Spain—which also has 25% unemployment—would certainly follow. And then perhaps Italy would leave. And Portugal. And Ireland! The whole damn thing could fall apart.

All the pressure on Greece and the other weak economies in the Euro Zone is coming from Germany. But just like the rich in the United States, they haven’t seen that more equity would make they position stronger. Nor have they seen that less equity could greatly harm them. But maybe—just maybe—they are starting to see the reality of their situation.

The Daily Beast reports that Newsweek is going to stop producing its print version. Tina Brown, one of the top generals in the war to destroy our culture, puts a positive spin on this. They, “Are transitioning Newsweek, not saying goodbye to it.”

That is a load off my mind. After all, without Newsweek, where would I turn for Niall Ferguson’s latest passel of lies about the President? Or tripe about Muslim Rage by Ferguson’s wife Ayaan Hirsi Ali? Or the latest news about the afterlife and other drug induced hallucinations? You can imagine my relief!

Newsweek’s problems are not the fault of of Tina Brown. Newsweek has been irrelevant for, I don’t know, my entire life. (But I’ve heard that it totally rocked during the Great Depression!) Brown was just the last desperate gasp of a magazine that has nothing to offer. I can image what the meetings were like. “I know the word ‘news’ is in the title of our magazine, but maybe we could become more pop culture; I know: let’s get that chick from Vanity Fair!”

I’m not clear what this whole thing is about. The truth is that Newsweek already has a digital form. It’s called The Daily Beast and it isn’t bad (probably owing to the fact that the Newsweek folks didn’t create it). So saying that Newsweek is going digital is pretty much the same thing as saying that Newsweek is going away.

To coin a new bumper sticker: if you care that Newsweek is dead, you haven’t been paying attention.

Will sent this to me. It is great and Clinton looks fabulous:

Reading spam comments is like going back in time. There is an underlying theme to them: blogs are new and lucky me that I found a good one. “This is the type of info that are meant to be shared across the net. Shame on Google for now not positioning this submit higher!” You use Good too?! I thought it was my little secret. Now that I know others are using it, I will try to get it to treat my submits higher.

But it’s more than just that. The internet is really a lively place today. “There are such a lot of businesses over the internet these days, yet so much personal information, it actually is demanding to understand what’s actual, and then what women and men solely conjure.” It is amazing, isn’t it? Businesses on the internet! Who would have thought? And so much personal information! And then it lapses into random acts of spamness.

And RSS?! Wow. What will they think of next? “The clearness to your post is simply spectacular and i can suppose you are a professional in this subject. Well along with your permission allow me to grab your RSS feed to keep updated with coming near near post.” With all due humility, however: I am known for my spectacular clearness.

Most of all, I’m really impressed at how community organizers are not just using the internet, but also my site. Is that exciting or what? The next Obama could be reading this article right now! “We’re a bunch of volunteers and opening a new scheme in our community. Your site provided us with useful information to paintings on. You’ve done an impressive task and our whole neighborhood can be grateful to you.” I’m proud to do impressive tasks for people!

Afterword

Spam has gone through the roof the last couple of weeks. It makes it hard to gauge readership. Even though I know my readership is up substantially because of direct links and search results, Alexa downgrades me almost every day. But I do know that at least half of the 1000+ visitors per day are spammers.