Krugman on the Bowles-Simpson Proposal

He exposes it for the fraud that it is:

Destroying Retirement In Order To Save It

Bowles-Simpson, the revision, is out. It has not improved.

I think it is worth pointing out that like so many proposals from that side of the political spectrum — for this is, very much, bipartisanship as a compromise between the center-right and the hard right — this one involves a fundamental piece of strange logic. Namely, it argues that in order to head off the dire prospect of future cuts in Social Security benefits, we must … cut future Social Security benefits.

Also: in response to the point many of us have made about raising the retirement age — that only the affluent have seen life expectancy rise faster than the retirement-age rises already in the law — the plan promises special exemptions for those with physical hardships.

Let’s think about that. Right now we have a retirement system that has the great virtue of not being intrusive: Social Security doesn’t demand that you prove you need it, doesn’t ask about your personal life, doesn’t make you feel like a beggar. And now we’re going to replace that with a system in which large numbers of Americans have to plead for special dispensation, on the grounds that they’re too feeble to work for a living. Freedom!

The above Krugman article makes it very clear that the "logic" on the right is a facade. The agenda is straightforward. The right wants to crush the poor. The same logic is effect when the right claims that the Bush tax cuts for billionaires and millionaires must be kept to protect the economy despite the hole it makes in the budget by adding more debt. These very same people claim that extending unemployment to the out-of-work and down-on-their-luck is budget-busting and unaffordable. But the reality is that the unemployed will immediately spend their money and boost the economy. The rich will bank it or send it overseas as an investment. But the Republicans don't care about facts. They are the waterboys of the rich and plead their case no matter how crazy it may be.