If racism can drive people to act out of hate and fear, like when they attacked the Capitol, then they could be driven to act out of hope, as well. If it weren’t for the investments made in communities by New Deal, I doubt we would’ve had the manufacturing capacity needed to win WWII. Thanks to the devastation of those same communities from globalization, fascism has found its way into the same communities who rose up against fascism during the war. That’s why it is more important than ever to reinvest in those rural communities now.
I've been thinking a lot about how we can address the urban-rural divide in Oregon and elsewhere. It's personal, because I straddle that divide myself. And while there are no perfect answers, I think two things help: 1. Going out and holding town halls in rural Oregon and actively listening as a gesture of respect; and 2. Working harder at addressing the economic and social challenges in rural Oregon, and in particular finding new business models for areas where the old industries disappeared.
It's important to note the timing of America's shift from seeing our governments as entities that can help foster growth and make life better for citizens, to the philosophy that "government is the problem:" it obviously occurred when the author of that phrase became our president. Since then it has been the Republican mantra that "the less government, the better" - and there remains a significant portion of our electorate that subscribes to this concept. I am convinced that the bulk of objections to Biden's (and Bernie's) proposals can be traced back to that philosophy.
And so the progressives may have a point when they say that only when we pass important legislation and show how much good government programs can do for our nation will people begin to view governments as once again being portals of positive growth and care for their citizens. But when I look at the ongoing hatred for the ACA, passed more than a decade ago and having helped numerous citizens (while raising costs for many others), I wonder. The biggest problem, I think, with the ACA was that it didn't address the root cause of out health care issues in the US: the outsized influence of corporate greed and the systems in D.C. that maintain it.
I think the best way to foster trust in government once again is not so much investments in our future, important as those investments are. I think the best way to build trust is to get rid of the graft - and that means to effectively deal with the endemic corruption that conspicuously corrodes the ability of governments to solve these myriad problems. And that is one gigantic beast to slay, Mr. Kristof.
Back then government borrowing was minuscule. Now we’re way out of control with debt at 130% of GDP before all of the new spending. With new inflation that debt is going to cripple the economy - it’s already at 10% of our total tax revenue. Let’s try these great ideas after we have something closer to a balanced budget.
You're right that debt has risen, but it's still far lower as a percentage of GDP than it was at the end of WWII. And I think it's important to distinguish between initiatives that are simply spending versus those that are investments that lift the country's productive capacity. The Trump corporate tax cuts added hugely to the deficits but didn't increase corporate investment or stimulate growth. But investments in infrastructure and in children do increase capacity and reduce spending later, and so are worthwhile even when resources are limited. It's the difference between blowing money on a party versus putting money in a savings account.
Nick- I highly respect your opinions, but debt/GDP topped out at 120% after WW2 and then was reduced over the next 30 years down to 30%. We have no such prospects in sight. You seem to agree with Biden that BBB is paid for. I’ll look forward to your future articles explaining why. https://www.thebalance.com/us-deficit-by-year-3306306
This, if it is a problem, would be much less so if we just increased the % of US GDP devoted to public ends via greater taxation to something closer to that of almost ALL other major advanced democratic nations—and perhaps even more so, given that we devote so much more of what relatively paltry public resources we do have to military and space expenditures!
Oh, heavens! What a tired argument! Pay for all this with more taxes on upper income individuals and corporations. I recently looked at OECD data again, and we are still at the very bottom of the list of advanced nations in terms of percentage of GDP devoted to taxation of all kinds at all levels of government—with the taillights of the top 1% fading away in the distance. The non-military public sector in this country has long been starved. It’s not that the rich are bad people, but our tax system is skewed wrong (when I was a kid the top bracket was 90%). It’s not that we can’t afford this; we just won’t understand that we can.
WSJ 11/19/21: “ Keep in mind that CBO this summer projected that annual deficits will already exceed $1 trillion on average through 2030, causing U.S. debt to swell by $12.8 trillion—and that’s before the infrastructure bill or this House bill. When the spending all kicks in, and the rich are all taxed out, the middle class will be hit with a huge tax increase. This is the most dishonest spending bill in American history.”
Quoting the Murdoch-owned WSJ? If that's your source for economic opinion and prognostication, I wonder how you can think about this matter at all. Maybe you can be persuaded by facts: A few years ago, Republicans passed a Trillion-dollar tax cut that basically transferred over over $800 Billion to the wealthiest people in our country WITHOUT PAYING FOR A DIME OF IT! $800 Billion was removed from circulation (at a net increase to the long term debt) and M1, money in circulation took a dive. (There is no such thing as suply-side or trickle down economics! It's a con job.) So now, under Biden's BBB, taxes on incomes over $400K and a few percent of corporate taxes will defray the initial costs and put effectively $1.70 into the economy for every dollar spent of BBB - $1.75 T - increasing M1 by 70% of most of the budgeted expenditures of BBB. The thing almost pays for itself! The net stimulus effect will be astronomical. I know you believe in lower taxes and less government regulation. But Nick Hanauer says that the true source of wealth of corporations in our country is due to spending by individuals - the 99%. Please give us a chance. And read more Paul Krugman and less cheap drivel in WSJ!
I have absolutely no problem whatsoever with borrowing money - especially at near zero rates! - for infrastructure projects that create jobs and also improves our quality of life. For all of us. Those are investments that are absolutely proven to create a multiplier effect that create more tax revenues that pay for the interest and repaying the original debt.
What I will never support is borrowing money for tax cuts for corporations or the wealthy because I no longer believe the lies the Right tells us. Fool us once, shame on us. But fool us twice, three times, endless times? SHAME ON US! And they have been perpetrating this fraud on us since the early 80's! I mean Jesus, how gullible are we? Putting more money in the hands of corporations means more money for them to buy back stock. They have proven over and over they don't use that windfall to invest in plant & equipment or for their employees in the form of higher wages, better health insurance and other benefit plans, etc. And putting more money in the hands of the rich just means more money in their investment accounts. The only trickle down is what they spend on higher fences and thicker walls around the enclaves they build to protect themselves from people who are not part of their class.
I'm not sure how we cleanse ourselves from the harm this epic transfer of wealth has caused our nation. But I do know that howling about the national debt and inflation is not the answer. It is intellectually lazy and ignorant in the extreme. I for one am really fed up with it.
I wish the Dems would shout from the rooftops the benefits to families that BBB would provide. But they sure seem to have a horrible inability to frame and control the narrative about all their accomplishments.
They are "afraid" to rile up opposition votes with enthusiastic commercials that tout big government - not to mention their fear of avid prosecution of the insurrectionists and the coming 3-piece suit insurgency by court trials. Democratic politicians play a wicked game. They have been doing so for 160 years - since the Civil War. You would think that the country is split - but that's just the effect they have wrought. 1/3 of eligible voters don't vote. They have given up the franchise. I bet that there are 60 Million more Democratic voters out there who just do not a give a damn anymore because politics is so odious, politicians are so bought and paid-for.
Nick, I'm so glad to find you! I've been missing your wit and wisdom sorely! I, too, am someone who benefited from the New Deal programs that lifted my Depression-era parents out of financial uncertainty. I hope the folks in Oregon realize what a treasure you are and put you in office to look after their best interests. I'm in Texas, but I'm telling all of my Oregon friends to vote for you! Godspeed and God bless!
If racism can drive people to act out of hate and fear, like when they attacked the Capitol, then they could be driven to act out of hope, as well. If it weren’t for the investments made in communities by New Deal, I doubt we would’ve had the manufacturing capacity needed to win WWII. Thanks to the devastation of those same communities from globalization, fascism has found its way into the same communities who rose up against fascism during the war. That’s why it is more important than ever to reinvest in those rural communities now.
I've been thinking a lot about how we can address the urban-rural divide in Oregon and elsewhere. It's personal, because I straddle that divide myself. And while there are no perfect answers, I think two things help: 1. Going out and holding town halls in rural Oregon and actively listening as a gesture of respect; and 2. Working harder at addressing the economic and social challenges in rural Oregon, and in particular finding new business models for areas where the old industries disappeared.
You seem uniquely suited to this noble task.
It's important to note the timing of America's shift from seeing our governments as entities that can help foster growth and make life better for citizens, to the philosophy that "government is the problem:" it obviously occurred when the author of that phrase became our president. Since then it has been the Republican mantra that "the less government, the better" - and there remains a significant portion of our electorate that subscribes to this concept. I am convinced that the bulk of objections to Biden's (and Bernie's) proposals can be traced back to that philosophy.
And so the progressives may have a point when they say that only when we pass important legislation and show how much good government programs can do for our nation will people begin to view governments as once again being portals of positive growth and care for their citizens. But when I look at the ongoing hatred for the ACA, passed more than a decade ago and having helped numerous citizens (while raising costs for many others), I wonder. The biggest problem, I think, with the ACA was that it didn't address the root cause of out health care issues in the US: the outsized influence of corporate greed and the systems in D.C. that maintain it.
I think the best way to foster trust in government once again is not so much investments in our future, important as those investments are. I think the best way to build trust is to get rid of the graft - and that means to effectively deal with the endemic corruption that conspicuously corrodes the ability of governments to solve these myriad problems. And that is one gigantic beast to slay, Mr. Kristof.
I wish you the greatest success in your efforts.
Amen Nick! I totally agree with you. Investing in our future is a benefit for everyone.
Agree, investment, not expense. The premise that infrastructure spending must be offset seems silly.
Yes, yes, and YES. I miss reading your news articles in The NY Times; this essay would be a great op-ed piece in any newspaper!!
I wish you the best in your campaign!
Back then government borrowing was minuscule. Now we’re way out of control with debt at 130% of GDP before all of the new spending. With new inflation that debt is going to cripple the economy - it’s already at 10% of our total tax revenue. Let’s try these great ideas after we have something closer to a balanced budget.
You're right that debt has risen, but it's still far lower as a percentage of GDP than it was at the end of WWII. And I think it's important to distinguish between initiatives that are simply spending versus those that are investments that lift the country's productive capacity. The Trump corporate tax cuts added hugely to the deficits but didn't increase corporate investment or stimulate growth. But investments in infrastructure and in children do increase capacity and reduce spending later, and so are worthwhile even when resources are limited. It's the difference between blowing money on a party versus putting money in a savings account.
Nick- I highly respect your opinions, but debt/GDP topped out at 120% after WW2 and then was reduced over the next 30 years down to 30%. We have no such prospects in sight. You seem to agree with Biden that BBB is paid for. I’ll look forward to your future articles explaining why. https://www.thebalance.com/us-deficit-by-year-3306306
https://www.longtermtrends.net/us-debt-to-gdp/
This, if it is a problem, would be much less so if we just increased the % of US GDP devoted to public ends via greater taxation to something closer to that of almost ALL other major advanced democratic nations—and perhaps even more so, given that we devote so much more of what relatively paltry public resources we do have to military and space expenditures!
Oh, heavens! What a tired argument! Pay for all this with more taxes on upper income individuals and corporations. I recently looked at OECD data again, and we are still at the very bottom of the list of advanced nations in terms of percentage of GDP devoted to taxation of all kinds at all levels of government—with the taillights of the top 1% fading away in the distance. The non-military public sector in this country has long been starved. It’s not that the rich are bad people, but our tax system is skewed wrong (when I was a kid the top bracket was 90%). It’s not that we can’t afford this; we just won’t understand that we can.
WSJ 11/19/21: “ Keep in mind that CBO this summer projected that annual deficits will already exceed $1 trillion on average through 2030, causing U.S. debt to swell by $12.8 trillion—and that’s before the infrastructure bill or this House bill. When the spending all kicks in, and the rich are all taxed out, the middle class will be hit with a huge tax increase. This is the most dishonest spending bill in American history.”
Quoting the Murdoch-owned WSJ? If that's your source for economic opinion and prognostication, I wonder how you can think about this matter at all. Maybe you can be persuaded by facts: A few years ago, Republicans passed a Trillion-dollar tax cut that basically transferred over over $800 Billion to the wealthiest people in our country WITHOUT PAYING FOR A DIME OF IT! $800 Billion was removed from circulation (at a net increase to the long term debt) and M1, money in circulation took a dive. (There is no such thing as suply-side or trickle down economics! It's a con job.) So now, under Biden's BBB, taxes on incomes over $400K and a few percent of corporate taxes will defray the initial costs and put effectively $1.70 into the economy for every dollar spent of BBB - $1.75 T - increasing M1 by 70% of most of the budgeted expenditures of BBB. The thing almost pays for itself! The net stimulus effect will be astronomical. I know you believe in lower taxes and less government regulation. But Nick Hanauer says that the true source of wealth of corporations in our country is due to spending by individuals - the 99%. Please give us a chance. And read more Paul Krugman and less cheap drivel in WSJ!
I have absolutely no problem whatsoever with borrowing money - especially at near zero rates! - for infrastructure projects that create jobs and also improves our quality of life. For all of us. Those are investments that are absolutely proven to create a multiplier effect that create more tax revenues that pay for the interest and repaying the original debt.
What I will never support is borrowing money for tax cuts for corporations or the wealthy because I no longer believe the lies the Right tells us. Fool us once, shame on us. But fool us twice, three times, endless times? SHAME ON US! And they have been perpetrating this fraud on us since the early 80's! I mean Jesus, how gullible are we? Putting more money in the hands of corporations means more money for them to buy back stock. They have proven over and over they don't use that windfall to invest in plant & equipment or for their employees in the form of higher wages, better health insurance and other benefit plans, etc. And putting more money in the hands of the rich just means more money in their investment accounts. The only trickle down is what they spend on higher fences and thicker walls around the enclaves they build to protect themselves from people who are not part of their class.
I'm not sure how we cleanse ourselves from the harm this epic transfer of wealth has caused our nation. But I do know that howling about the national debt and inflation is not the answer. It is intellectually lazy and ignorant in the extreme. I for one am really fed up with it.
"...and the rich are all taxed out...." That made me LOL. Sounds just like something the WSJ would print.
I wish the Dems would shout from the rooftops the benefits to families that BBB would provide. But they sure seem to have a horrible inability to frame and control the narrative about all their accomplishments.
They are "afraid" to rile up opposition votes with enthusiastic commercials that tout big government - not to mention their fear of avid prosecution of the insurrectionists and the coming 3-piece suit insurgency by court trials. Democratic politicians play a wicked game. They have been doing so for 160 years - since the Civil War. You would think that the country is split - but that's just the effect they have wrought. 1/3 of eligible voters don't vote. They have given up the franchise. I bet that there are 60 Million more Democratic voters out there who just do not a give a damn anymore because politics is so odious, politicians are so bought and paid-for.
They can somehow get onto Faux News or buy billboards or do whatever knowledgeable media people can arrange to get the messages out.
Nick, I'm so glad to find you! I've been missing your wit and wisdom sorely! I, too, am someone who benefited from the New Deal programs that lifted my Depression-era parents out of financial uncertainty. I hope the folks in Oregon realize what a treasure you are and put you in office to look after their best interests. I'm in Texas, but I'm telling all of my Oregon friends to vote for you! Godspeed and God bless!