New York Times columnist Paul Krugman should know better. Krugman writes each week about one economic argument or another and always comes down on the side of expanding government spending. In fact, Krugman seems always in favor of whatever Congressional Democrats want. More spending is great! More taxes are great! The deficit can be addressed at some point in the future (which will never come).
Today, Krugman is out with his latest column that shows once again that this is a man who is inherently dishonest in his positions. It is so important to Krugman to support the Obamacrats and to oppose the Republicans that he plays fast and loose with the facts. Let me explain:
Krugman's main point today is that Republicans want to take food out of the mouths of children by scaling back the food stamp program. Krugman accuses the GOP of trying to starve the poor children of America. According to Krugman, the Republicans want to cut two million people off food stamps, a move that will cause mass starvation of children.
Now let's look at reality. When president Obama took office, there were 28.2 million Americans recieving food stamps. Today, there are 47.8 folks enrolled in the program. That means that under Obama, an additional 19.6 million people were added to the rolls, and increase of about 70 percent in just four years. Since we are (according to Krugman) in the midst of a recovery which has been continuing since 2009, one has to wonder why the numbers of folks on food stamps is still so high. But never mind that problem, Krugman tells us that these 47.8 million people must continue to receive food stamps or there will be mass starvation of children.
One question that Krugman does not address is how many of the new 19.6 million people on food stamps got there through fraud. Surely, some of the claims are fraudulent; this is, after all, a government program and fraud is ever present. Krugman never considers how many of the people on food stamps really need government help. Are there any who could get along fine without the subsidy from the government? The answer is surely yes.
What all this means is that Krugman assumes that every person on food stamps is a valid legal recipient who can only survive with the government assistance. In other words, Krugman just assumes that the very real problems that the GOP wants to address do not exist. In Krugman's delusional world, there is no fraud, so there is no need to try to prevent fraud. In Krugman's world, everyone on food stamps exists only because the food stamps allow him or her to do so, so there is no need to look for those who do not need the assistance. But these are assumptions by Krugman, not actual facts.
In simplest terms, Krugman first assumes that he is right and then, on that basis, he announces that he is right. The man is delusional.
Today, Krugman is out with his latest column that shows once again that this is a man who is inherently dishonest in his positions. It is so important to Krugman to support the Obamacrats and to oppose the Republicans that he plays fast and loose with the facts. Let me explain:
Krugman's main point today is that Republicans want to take food out of the mouths of children by scaling back the food stamp program. Krugman accuses the GOP of trying to starve the poor children of America. According to Krugman, the Republicans want to cut two million people off food stamps, a move that will cause mass starvation of children.
Now let's look at reality. When president Obama took office, there were 28.2 million Americans recieving food stamps. Today, there are 47.8 folks enrolled in the program. That means that under Obama, an additional 19.6 million people were added to the rolls, and increase of about 70 percent in just four years. Since we are (according to Krugman) in the midst of a recovery which has been continuing since 2009, one has to wonder why the numbers of folks on food stamps is still so high. But never mind that problem, Krugman tells us that these 47.8 million people must continue to receive food stamps or there will be mass starvation of children.
One question that Krugman does not address is how many of the new 19.6 million people on food stamps got there through fraud. Surely, some of the claims are fraudulent; this is, after all, a government program and fraud is ever present. Krugman never considers how many of the people on food stamps really need government help. Are there any who could get along fine without the subsidy from the government? The answer is surely yes.
What all this means is that Krugman assumes that every person on food stamps is a valid legal recipient who can only survive with the government assistance. In other words, Krugman just assumes that the very real problems that the GOP wants to address do not exist. In Krugman's delusional world, there is no fraud, so there is no need to try to prevent fraud. In Krugman's world, everyone on food stamps exists only because the food stamps allow him or her to do so, so there is no need to look for those who do not need the assistance. But these are assumptions by Krugman, not actual facts.
In simplest terms, Krugman first assumes that he is right and then, on that basis, he announces that he is right. The man is delusional.
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