New York Times columnist Paul Krugman takes positive glee in attacking Republicans on almost a daily basis.
In a piece published Monday entitled "Hunger Games, USA," Krugman disgracefully said the GOP "takes positive glee in inflicting further suffering on the already miserable":
Something terrible has happened to the soul of the Republican Party. We’ve gone beyond bad economic doctrine. We’ve even gone beyond selfishness and special interests. At this point we’re talking about a state of mind that takes positive glee in inflicting further suffering on the already miserable.
What's Krugman's beef now?
Cutting food stamps out of the farm bill:
Somehow, one of our nation’s two great parties has become infected by an almost pathological meanspiritedness, a contempt for what CNBC’s Rick Santelli, in the famous rant that launched the Tea Party, called “losers.” If you’re an American, and you’re down on your luck, these people don’t want to help; they want to give you an extra kick. I don’t fully understand it, but it’s a terrible thing to behold.
No. As Forbes contributor Nadia Arumugam observed Saturday, it's about trying to balance a budget which of course is no concern to Krugman:
The cost of the pared-down bill is $196 billion. Had food stamp programs been included, the bill would have totaled a gargantuan $940 billion. This exclusion then is no trivial thing.
Republicans argue that the linkage of food stamps and farming policy is an illogical one, and nutrition programs ought to be considered separately. This is especially the case as Conservatives seek an overhaul of the program that would result in substantial cuts. And they mean substantial.
Arumugam correctly observed that despite declines in unemployment, food stamp usage continues to rise to where almost 50 million Americans - more than one in seven - receive them.
Krugman countered that "there’s normally some lag in the relationship" between food stamp usage and unemployment.
However, unemployment peaked in October 2009. We're almost four years hence and food stamp usage continues to rise likely indicating there are many receiving benefits who shouldn't.
Irrespective of Krugman's total disregard for budget deficits when a Democrat is in the White House, America does need to address its exploding debt or eventually become Greece.
This most certainly has to include finding waste in the burgeoning entitlement programs which include food stamps.
I guess my desire to avoid America's looming insolvency means I take positive glee in inflicting further suffering on the already miserable too.
That said, what the House did last week by no means declared an end to food stamps. A Democrat-controlled Senate and Barack Obama would never agree to that.
Instead, the Senate will now work on a bill of its own that will likely have little resemblance to the House version.
Then the negotiating begins.
And this is how our political system works.
Sadly, Krugman is about as knowlegeable of civics as he is economics.
