júlí 22, 2003

Bandarískt vonleysi

Áhugaverð grein hjá Nicholas Kristof: Going Home, to Red Ink and Blues
Hann skrifar um heimafylki sitt, Oregon, og hvernig málin standa þar. Hvernig útgjöld til löggæslu í Portland hafi verið skorið niður um fjögur ár í röð af íhaldsmönnum og glæpir hafa að sama skapi aukist um tugi prósenta.
Will this fury be directed at President Bush in the next election? I'm not sure. People here complain vigorously about state or local officials, but Mr. Bush seems an afterthought. Still, when the topic comes up, many people are scathing about the Bush administration's spending $4 billion a month in Iraq while letting small towns beg for scraps.

[...]

President Bush is not primarily to blame for this fiscal crisis. The causes include overly enthusiastic spending during the boom years as well as the popping of the tech bubble. But Mr. Bush is making things worse with his fiscal recklessness and his practice of forcing states and school districts to spend money on new programs without helping to pay the bill. Washington should be lending a hand, not adding to the local burden — showing all the compassion of Marie Antoinette.
Það er stundum ekkert grín þegar voodoo-hagfræðin er praktiseruð af stjórnvöldum af miklum móð.

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Paul Krugman skrifar leiðaragrein í dag, Who's Unpatriotic Now?, þar sem hann heldur áfram að fjalla um hve rotið leyniþjónustukerfi stjórnvalda og yfirhilmingin í kringum það er.
Agust skrifaði 22.07.03 22:17

Flokkun: Meðmæli , Stjórnmál