One source of frustration for dirty bloggers is the inability of Democrats to articulate a counter-narrative to the dominant Republican narrative. It feels like lately the tide has really turned. We are now hearing that Social Security cuts and Medicare cuts are off the table and the Senate Democrats deficit reduction plan has moved to the left of President Obama’s plan. Now we are seeing that news services (other than Politifact and similar sites) are doing actual fact-checking on claims by Republicans. Bloomberg did actual fact-checking on the following claims by John Boehner:
Boehner said in his May 9 speech to the Economic Club of New York that government borrowing was crowding out private investment, the 2009 economic-stimulus package hurt job creation, and a Republican plan to privatize Medicare will give future recipients the “same kinds of options” lawmakers have.
Bloomberg talked to actual economists and looked at actual charts and data. An economist discusses Boehner’s assertion that government spending is preventing private investment.
“Look at interest rates. Look at capital spending,” said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist of IHS Inc., a research firm based in Englewood, Colorado. “It’s very hard to come to a conclusion that there’s any kind of crowding out.”
The cost of borrowing is low by historical standards. Yields on 10-year Treasury notes were 3.21 percent and yields on 2-year Treasury notes were 0.59 percent at 5 p.m. in New York yesterday, according to Bloomberg Data. Average spreads on investment-grade corporate bonds have narrowed from 1.64 a year ago to 1.39 on May 9, according to Barclays Capital.
The TED spread, the difference between what banks and the U.S. government pay to borrow for three months, fell 2.2 basis points since May 9, the biggest drop since April 5. A narrowing spread means banks are more willing to lend. The 23.87-point spread is just below the two-year average.
The article also points out that Boehner’s rhetoric on the Medicare proposal is just plain wrong. The article also discusses taxes (and the Clinton prosperity) and Boehner’s assertion that Fannie and Freddie caused the mortgage crisis.
These claims aren’t just wrong; they’re ridiculous. It has nothing to do with Democrats vs. Republicans, or left vs. right. This is Boehner vs. reality.
At an almost instinctual level, the political establishment tends to strongly resist this. I more or less understandable why — considering Boehner’s rhetoric at face value, and assuming he means what he says, is almost terrifying to think Boehner is so painfully confused.
But here we are. We’re left with the discomforting fact that it appears the Speaker of the House, Congress’ most powerful official, when dealing with the nation’s most important issue, is functionally illiterate, bringing the sophistication of a slow child to the debate.
Exactly. The establishment media wants to believe it’s just “politics.” I remember how much Paul Krugman was ridiculed for pointing out that Bush’s governing vision was rather radical, a conclusion he came to by actually reading Bush’s proposals. A lot of times I wish the media would ignore the politics (who’s winning and who’s losing) to discuss the merits of proposals. I guess that seems too partisan since it’s the left that is proposing actual ideas that could work (like balancing the budget with actual cuts and tax increases) but it is uncomfortable for the media to say so. They need to get over this fear, fast.