I keep hearing Republicans say that Obama has increased nondefense discretionary spending by 80 percent; it’s one of those “facts” that apparently everyone on the right knows. So where does that come from?
Well, it turns out that Politifact is on the case — but gets it wrong, too, although not as wrong as the Republicans.
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I would have rated this article higher had I understood it. Krugman’s five-paragraph opinion piece certainly tries to put readers straight about the meaning yet another right-wing accusation of Obama. Mainly, Obama is guilty of another heinous act: increasing “nondefense discretionary spending” by 80%. Not exactly the most earthshaking article out there, but interesting if for no other reason it’s another example of just how obscurely far the right wing is willing to go in its never-ending search for criticisms of the president.
Stick with me here. Evidently it means Obama is guilty of taking “nondefense discretionary spending” (monies for education, etc.) and adding the entire nondiscretionary amount to the stimulus. Except the stimulus Obama is supposedly adding all that “nondefense discretionary spending to, already contains those all those “nondefense discretionary” amounts. The meaning of all this gobblely gook? Right wingers are counting the same spending over and over. If you’re not ... More »
It's insightful, informative, and much too short. It really should have additional detail, or show the table cited, or something to support its conclusions. Thgis almost looks like a preview or a longer article.
Politifact says that this is misleading because not all of the stimulus funds were spent in 2010. But it’s much worse than that: stimulus spending is already in those ... More »
Krugman is absolutely right; following the link to Politifact, then following the link there to the CBO where the graph is, we find the following sentence: " It also includes the impact of the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (referred to in this report as the 2010 tax act), enacted in December, which provides a short-term boost to the economy by reducing some taxes, extending unemployment benefits, and delaying an increase in taxes that would otherwise have occurred in 2011. " i.e., stimulus spending is already in those discretionary spending numbers.Just like the man said.
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