Fareed Zakaria Shows He Is Still A Dishonest Liberal Tool [CDR M]

Last week over at Clarion Advisory, I talked about Zakaria and his post on why Ryan's plan won't work. I thought at the time that I couldn't wait to see how he would respond to what Obama was going to say at his speech. Well, Fareed has responded and I'm not surprised. He loves it. Or at least he loves Obama. Shockingly (sarc) Fareed does not say that Obama's plan won't work like he did with Ryan.

This last feature may be the most important specific proposal in Obama’s plan, and a sign of its credibility, because it addresses the glaring flaw in almost every budget proposal: magical assumptions about economic growth, tax revenue, efficiencies and cost reductions. On paper, of course, these assumptions show the deficit falling drastically. A fail-safe ensures that if the assumptions don’t work out — which is highly likely — and the deficit expands, Congress is forced to act.

Um, why aren't you slamming Obama's proposal because it IS full of flaws in regard to magical assumptions about economic growth, tax revenue, efficiencies and cost reductions? Hasn't EVERYTHING he has predicted budget and economic wise been WAY off the mark? Heck, this is the second time Obama has strayed from the standard 10 year outlook to stretch the data to fit his statements. His new proposal goes out to 12 years vice Ryan's 10. Shouldn't that make you question the proposal and the validity of its assumptions? I assume the only reason why you like this is because of this magical failsafe but as Keith Hennessey points out, that is nothing more than a tax being levied at taxpayers who itemize their deductions which is a very small percentage of taxpayers. Worse, this failsafe only applies to 10% of the federal budget. 90% of spending would be EXEMPT from across the board cuts. If we are in dire straits and a trigger is enacted to raise taxes, shouldn't ALL spending be affected? Why is it acceptable to have elected officials fail at balancing the budget in your eyes and instead rely on the taxpayers who itemize to pay for their egregious dereliction of duty? It really is pathetic of you Fareed to go after Republicans and then take a pass with Democrats when they absolutely fail to address things in the budget that you say are important. This failsafe is a JOKE and you are a joke for endorsing it. Where IS the incentive for lawmakers to address budget shortfalls if the ONLY penalty is to raise taxes on a select group of taxpayers and only cut spending in 10% of the budget???

As you have stated before, Ryan's budget was a SERIOUS attempt at righting our sinking budget. Can you really the say the same with Obama's proposal? If anything, it reads like a short term gain for political reasons, like say maybe for the 2012 election. It has NOTHING to do with the long term financial health of the United States. Surely, a man with your supposed education could see through that. Keith Hennessey did.

The President made his budget strategy clear.

• Try for a small short-term bipartisan deficit reduction deal this year – tweaks to Medicare, Medicaid, and other entitlements, maybe combined with some defense cuts. Save maybe $100 – $400 B over 10 years, roughly an entitlement parallel to the recent appropriations deal. Use the new VP-led negotiating process to steer those negotiations. See if you can split off a few Senate Republicans from the pack.


• Push for tax increases as part of this short-term deal, but abandon them as needed to get to a deficit reduction signing ceremony.


• Get a signing ceremony for this bill to demonstrate the President can work with “reasonable Republicans.” The photo op of the President signing a bill with Republicans standing next to him is critical for the 2012 campaign. Frame the bill as a demonstration of good faith and a first step toward a long-term solution.


• Use the photo, combined with claimed but unsubstantiated deficit reduction from yesterday’s speech, to build credibility with independents for November 2012.


• Blast away at Republicans on the big spending issues. Take long-term entitlement reform off the table, reassuring his base. Demagogue on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.


• Pick a fight over the top tax rates, exciting your political base. Try to restore the Clinton 90s framing of “Medicare and Medicaid vs. tax cuts for the rich.”

The President’s new strategy guarantees two more years of fiscal stalemate and poisons the well on the most important economic policy question facing American policymakers: how to permanently solve the long-term fiscal problem caused by the unsustainable growth of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

Nice try Fareed. You said Ryan's plan wouldn't work. I think you could easily say the same about Obama's proposal but you won't. You don't have the stones to challenge Teh One.

Cross posted over at Clarion Advisory.

posted by Open Blogger at 11:06 AM

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