Wednesday, October 28, 2015

John Kasich has "about had it...

...with these people!"

According to the governor of Ohio, his fellow candidates for the Republican nomination are saying some "crazy" things. And he's right; but so is Kasich.

Recently, an article in CNN reported on Kasich's plan to "balance the federal budget in eight years, while cutting taxes and reforming federal entitlement programs."

Wait; there's more (all emphasis  mine):

In his plan, he promised he would reduce the number of income tax brackets from seven to three and reduce the top rate from 39.6% to 28%. He also calls for eliminating the federal estate tax, dubbed by conservatives as the "death tax," and increasing the earned income tax credit, which helps low-income people.

Kasich would also rely on limits in Medicaid spending to balance the budget, but would put together a panel to examine Social Security reforms. Kasich took heat last week after he said that people who didn't want cuts in their Social Security benefits would have to "get over it."

Oy! Where do you begin? 

How about this? According to Forbes, fully one-third of the 400 richest Americans inherited their wealth. Gov. Kasich doesn't want to just cut the estate tax, he wants to eliminate it altogether!

As for Kasich's plan to balance the budget in eight years, well, there's really nothing magical about a balanced budget. Households? Sure. But not necessarily the federal government. In fact, a balanced budget amendment, which Kasich advocates, could be a really bad idea. Here's what Paul Krugman had to say earlier this year:

In a depressed economy, however, a balanced-budget fetish and a hard-money obsession are deeply irresponsible. Not only do they hurt the economy in the short run, they can — and in Europe, have — inflict long-run harm, damaging the economy’s potential and driving it into a deflationary trap that’s very hard to escape.

So, are the Republican candidates for president saying some "crazy" things? Absolutely. Including John Kasich. 

1 comment:

Ed Crotty said...

All of the Republicans are nuts. This boring old white guy will stick with the Dems.