Good God all-Friday; that was depressing to hear from Howard Dean.  Guess he won't be leading any resistance movement, will he?  He let Holtz-Eakin get away with such dangerous nonsense.  I'd forgotten he's on the financial crisis inquiry commission; guess that's why so many words and terms have been disallowed, according to Brooksley Born.  Words like 'fraud'.

The Blyth videos were great; we need to get them posted around.  He simplifies things, and he delivers it all well. 

Next will come Too Big to Save, according to Simon Johnson, and I think Joseph Stiglitz.  Dean isn't really that much of a moron, is he, to think that there aren't fantastic uses for government spending that actually have decent returns?  Or that investments that provide jobs widen the tax base?

And for God's sake, why isn't Doctor Dean countering 'cuts in Medicare' talk by speaking of controling health care costs, and advocating for Medicare for all?  I don't get it.

It surprises you that Howard Dean is a deficit hawk!? You slept through his run for president? Can I remind you that many early "Deaniacs" liked him precisely because he offered a fiscally conservative alternative to other Democrats?

I'm much more conservative with money than Bush is

The president of the United States can't balance a budget. We've not had one Republican president in 34 years balance the budget. You can't trust right-wing Republicans with your money. You ought to hire somebody who has balanced a budget. I'm much more conservative with money than George Bush is.

Source: Democratic 2004 Primary Debate at St. Anselm College Jan 22, 2004

Balance budget, even if unpopular

Q: As president, what would be the least popular, most right thing you would do?

DEAN: As governor, I'm an expert in doing things that sometimes people don't like. I actually had the pleasure of serving through both Bush recessions, not one of them. And I had to balance the budget during very difficult conditions. We have to balance the budget. That means we have to make unpopular choices. That's why we think we ought to repeal the entire Bush tax cut so we can, in fact, have health care programs.

Source: Debate at Pace University in Lower Manhattan Sep 25, 2003

Social justice with fiscal responsibility

In the long run, we can not have social justice without a responsible fiscal policy.

Our country is headed in the wrong economic direction, principally because President Bush has returned to the Republican "Borrow and Spend" policies of the 1980s. The deficit, which is approaching $200 billion per year, is the direct result of the reckless $1.6 trillion tax cuts of the President's first year in office.

As a result of these cuts, states will receive 30 percent less next year from the federal highway fund, putting 150,000 American construction jobs on the line. These tax cuts are not a stimulus package. Just the opposite. The deficits are once again soaking up capital, diverting money from the private sector and making the economic situation worse.

Source: Campaign web site, DeanForAmerica.com, "On the Issues" Nov 30, 2002

Fiscally to the right of "borrow-and-spend" Bush

How is the Democratic governor of the 49th-largest state going to beat George Bush? George W. Bush is a borrow-and-spend liberal, and I tell people that I'm going to beat George W. Bush by running to his right

Source: Charles P. Pierce, Boston Globe Nov 24, 2002

Many more examples @

http://www.ontheissues.org/2004/Howard_Dean_Budget_+_Economy.htm