More debtphobia

We have talked about this before, but clearly not enough people are reading. Thus, we get yet another letter lamenting our national debt. Tom Moore from Newcastle writes:

Democracy has a major fallacy: It assumes that a responsible electorate — one that chooses leaders by qualifications instead of 'what they can do for me at the expense of others.' It assumes an electorate that goes beyond sound bites and considers the full ramifications of a topic. For instance, not someone who’s lulled into complacency by the sound bite that the federal deficit is going down.

You can see right away why this letter got picked up. Note the subtle "makers vs. takers" jab that he makes at the start.  Mr Moore does have a point, though-- some people ARE voting irresponsibly: those poor or middle class voters who, through propaganda, crazed religious conviction, subtle (or overt) racism, still imagine that a party bent on making the rich much richer at the expense of everyone else is still the best one to support. Mr Moore has missed this, though, and plays the morality card. He also, sadly has bought into the fear-mongering over the national debt. He continues:

This can be compared to a 450-pound man who gains 50 pounds annually, only gaining 40 pounds this year. He will now tip the scales at 490 pounds, yet he can claim an improvement.

OH GREAT. AN ANALOGY. These people are truly so ineloquent that the ONLY WAY THE CAN MAKE A POINT IS THROUGH TIRED, LAME ANALOGIES. It's like if Tom Moore of Newcastle was... no, no. I can just say: he's a bad, lazy, crappy writer. And yet the Oklahoman publishes this stuff because of the message it presents. (It's the plutocracy, stupid!) Can we get more idiocy? Of course:

A $14 trillion national debt that’s increasing annually at $400 plus billion to $1 trillion annually over the next 10 years is out of control. Yet the American people seem to elect leaders (with some exceptions) who won’t face facts and deal with the problem. Since we borrow 40 cents of every dollar we spend, interest will be unmanageable in the near future. Can we survive?

Wait. Why is Mr Moore the judge of what is "out of control" and what isn't?? Let me guess, though: the big numbers scare him, and that plus a bit of right-wing media propaganda has him shaking in his boots. Because the reality is that it's not out of control. Indeed, the US has been running deficits almost since the beginning, and YET WE HAVE SURVIVED. Moreover, the biggest debt-bringers have been things like the Louisiana Purchase, World War II, and a bunch of tax cuts. Not really the "takers" that Mr Moore and right-wing plutocrats imagine (or want YOU to imagine).

It is sad that a major state newspaper is running letters filled with falsehoods making claims based on myth and right-wing propaganda. Sad-- but in the Oklahoman's case, entirely unexpected.