The New York Times


May 4, 2011, 5:19 pm

Moment of Falsehood

Well, remember how the Ryan budget was supposed to mark our national moment of truth, forcing us into a serious discussion of fiscal choices? Neither do I.

For now that the budget has turned out to be both cruel and ludicrous, Republicans have taken to defending it by … lying about it.

Jonathan Cohn catches Marco Rubio declaring that the Ryan plan doesn’t cut Medicare funding — when the Medicare cuts were precisely what supposedly made the plan “serious”. (We were supposed to focus on that, not on the huge tax cuts or the plan’s reliance on assuming that discretionary spending could be reduced to Calvin Coolidge levels).

So we’re now completely in black-is-white territory. The moment of truth has turned into (yet another) moment of falsehood.


About Paul Krugman

Paul Krugman is an Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times.

Recent Columns

Fears and Failure
By PAUL KRUGMAN

Washington looks for trouble in all the wrong places while the unemployed are left to suffer.

Springtime for Bankers
By PAUL KRUGMAN

Republicans are ensuring that bailouts will be bigger, costlier and more frequent.

The Intimidated Fed
By PAUL KRUGMAN

Instead of addressing the dismal unemployment picture during Wednesday’s press conference, Ben Bernanke bent to the inflationistas.

Let’s Take a Hike
By PAUL KRUGMAN

If the federal budget and national deficit situation is so serious, shouldn’t we be raising taxes, not cutting them?

Patients Are Not Consumers
By PAUL KRUGMAN

Politicians will have you believe that receiving health care is the same as a commercial transaction.

Archive

Recent Posts

May 05

The Republican Descent Into Economic Darkness

Sudden and swift.

May 05

Flashing Yellow

Bad economic indicators.

May 05

Madmen In Authority: An Update

Voices in the air, without the scribblers.

May 05

New Keynesian Misconceptions (Wonkish and Trivial)

Aggregate demand disorder.

May 05

Moment of Falsehood, the Music

When the "moment of truth" is found to be lies.

From the Opinion Blogs

Opinionator
Fostering a Team Approach to Drug Cures

A group's method for researching a cure for multiple sclerosis could be a model for others fighting diseases.

Opinionator
How a Map Divided Virginia

What role did the U.S. Coast Survey play in West Virginia's decision to stick with the Union?