Heads or tails, we lose

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/MK19Dj03.html

It is no great surprise that with only days to go, the congressional "super committee", given the Herculean task of carving an additional US$1.2 trillion out of the federal budget, has failed to reach agreement. Why should six Republicans and six Democrats with diametrically opposed views agree in a few weeks, when congress couldn't shake hands on it after months of wrangling, despite the guillotine blade of a federal default hanging over their heads?

Whether the super committee reaches agreement or not, however, the deficit hawks win. If they agree, either $1.2 trillion gets cut from the budget or taxes go up by that amount; and the


committee co-chair has categorically stated taxes are not going up, so that means the budget will be cut.

If agreement is not reached, $1.2 trillion in cuts automatically kick in, split evenly between domestic and military spending. Either way, the economy will wind up with $1.2 trillion less in the way of purchasing power. The result will be to reduce demand, kill jobs, and put more people on the streets.

For the deficit hawks, however, it all seems to be going according to plan. The super committee is characterized as an emergency measure that was rushed through to avoid an arbitrarily imposed August deadline for freezing the debt ceiling, but it has actually been in the works for years.

They are playing into the hands of the 99% .

You know, the old "we must keep our industrial base available to build war toys."

:mad:

nt

People who won't be getting food stamps might like to know.