Quote Of The Day

Dean Baker, in a post entitled "Robert Samuelson: 'What Frustrates Constructive Debate is Muddled Pundit Opinion'", reacting to the opinion of the Washington Post's alleged economics expert:

Okay, that’s not exactly what Robert Samuelson said, but pretty close. He actually told readers:

What frustrates constructive debate is muddled public opinion.

I just thought I would make a small change in the interest of accuracy.

Robert Samuelson: “What Frustrates Constructive Debate is Muddled Pundit Opinion”

Baker's version is much closer to the truth than Samuelson's. Samuelson is part of the Pete Peterson/Simpson-Bowles crowd who regularly conflate Social Security with the government's budget deficit. That we need to punish the people who crashed the economy never occurs to these people. Instead, the promote the fiction that we "can't afford" to provide a safety net in America.

Baker provides some of the reasoning behind why Samuelson is his usual thoroughly wrong self in that link. It's not long, and worth the time if you're not sure why I'd write "conflate Social Security with the government's budget deficit".