July 23, 2011
In a front page editorial, the Washington Post warned about the “nation’s runaway debt,” which is projected to rise to near its 1946 level by 2021. At that point the debt will still be less than half as large relative to GDP as Japan’s is today. Japan can still sell long-term debt in private financial markets at interest rates of less than 1.5 percent, but the Post obviously feels strongly about this point.
The editorial also insisted the issues that separate President Obama and the Republicans are philosophical in nature telling readers that:
“the speaker concluded that the philosophical gulf between Republicans and the White House could not be bridged.”
The view that the differences are philosophical in nature is rather peculiar since none of the main actors in this dispute — President Obama, Speaker Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid or House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi — are known for their philosophical writing. All of them got into their positions as a result of being effective politicians. They managed to gain the support of powerful interest groups and used this to achieve high political positions. It is not clear why the Post thinks that they are philosophers.
The Post also referred to “significant changes” to Medicare and Social Security, when it meant cuts. “Changes” is a euphemism that politicians like to use to hide the fact that they want to cut these popular programs. Serious newspapers try to convey information to readers, not assist politicians in concealing their agenda.
The editorial also inaccurately referred to Social Security as one of the “biggest drivers of future borrowing.” This is not true. Under the law, Social Security can only spend the money that is in its trust fund and not a penny more. This means that the government can never borrow to pay Social Security benefits, all of the benefits must be paid from revenue raised through designated Social Security taxes or the interest and principle on past tax revenue.
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