Dear Commons Community,

For the past year or more, we have been bombarded by proposals from the left, the right, the Democrats, the Republicans, the Tea Party, to solve our country’s fiscal problems.  Every proposal has its supporters, detractors and rationales for why it will work – cut the deficit, create jobs, spur the economy, etc.   We wonder how all of  these proposals, many of which contradict one another can justify their claims.  In referring to the latest proposal by the House Republicans, Paul Krugman, in his column today, comments on the Heritage Foundation.

“When the proposal was released, it was praised as a “wonk-approved” plan that had been run by the experts. But the “experts” in question, it turned out, were at the Heritage Foundation, and few people outside the hard right found their conclusions credible. In the words of the consulting firm Macroeconomic Advisers — which makes its living telling businesses what they need to know, not telling politicians what they want to hear — the Heritage analysis was “both flawed and contrived.” Basically, Heritage went all in on the much-refuted claim that cutting taxes on the wealthy produces miraculous economic results, including a surge in revenue that actually reduces the deficit. “

Krugman further comments:

“By the way, Heritage is always like this. Whenever there’s something the G.O.P. doesn’t like — say, environmental protection — Heritage can be counted on to produce a report, based on no economic model anyone else recognizes, claiming that this policy would cause huge job losses. Correspondingly, whenever there’s something Republicans want, like tax cuts for the wealthy or for corporations, Heritage can be counted on to claim that this policy would yield immense economic benefits. “

Thank you again, Dr. Krugman!

Tony