Look, it is easy to jump all over the very dangerous budget proposal put forth by  Republican Paul Ryan–dangerous in what it would mean for any semblance of a decent society. I give a lot of credit to Ryan–he, at least, is clear about the ideology he represents. It’s not hidden. We can’t change the way Republicans think or act–or the clear ideological motives behind the proposal. But, what we can do is understand–and act to change–how too many leaders of the Democratic Party, including the president, have made the basic concepts of the budget even acceptable to talk about.

   No, Republicans and Democrats are not the same–let’s get that out of the way. But, the reason this foolishness even rises to be discussed is that too many Democrats have led the way in buying into the debt/deficit "crisis". We have Democrats, from "conservatives" to "liberals" repeating the rhetoric about the "crisis" we face–which gets reflected back by the public.

   But, there is no deficit or debt "crisis". None. Zero. Zilch. Nada. I’ve written about this at length in "It’s Not Raining, We’re Getting Peed On: the Scam of the Deficit Crisis".

   We have plenty of money in the nation that has been the richest country on the face of the planet since the beginning of human history. The problem is that our elected leaders–too many Democrats–have made a conscious decision not to bother the top one percent of wealth individuals, or the 413 billionaires who are worth a collective $1.5 trillion, or eliminate the health care industry and enact a "Medicare for All" program that would save trillions of dollars in health care costs over the coming decades (and, aside from save people from bankruptcy, also make businesses more competitive).

   We have too many Democrats repeating the idiocy that taxes, especially corporate taxes, are too high. Nonsense. They should be raised, not lowered–and certainly we should not be handing over billions of dollars to big corporations that have socked away profits overseas and now are demanding a tax holiday. Forget cutting the corporate tax rate–the biggest savings we could give to businesses, again, is to make the health care industry a relic of history and enact "Medicare for All". But, we won’t do that, even if it makes economic sense, because of the glory of the "free market".

    Virtually every policy group, and many leaders and “progressive” media organs, on our side—all well-intentioned people—strengthened the narrative of the “crisis”. They did so by putting out their own plans on how to “solve” the “crisis”. Rather than be clear that there is no debt or deficit crisis, many of the people who are viewed as the intellectual and movement leaders advanced the same framing.

    That has been a huge error. Instead of making the argument that there is no crisis and that we need to have a debate about promoting the general welfare of the people and using government as a positive force, we now have a whole swath of people—Democrats and liberals among them—regurgitating pure nonsense about “government over-spending”, “owing the Chinese” and “the crisis in Social Security”. I hear that in casual conversations with people who should no better.

   I believe that is partly due to a bunch of people wanting to still have their invitation to the cocktail party—being accepted among the chattering classes, the media and the foundation world—and also just a fundamental misunderstanding about the roots of our crisis. And, yes, it’s also about access to campaign donors–let me just put in a plug here for full public campaign financing that would, I think, at least bring back into the fold some people who would stand up to the corporate elite.

   But, it has had its effect. We have a foolish obsession about the debt and deficit—and we are putting at risk what is left of a frayed societal network.

   So, we should not insult Paul Ryan. He is pursuing a very clear ideological agenda.

   What we need is a clear ideological response–yes, with language that makes sense to people–that rejects the fundamental premise of Ryan’s budget that we have a debt or deficit crisis.

    But, for that, we need the movement to be clear about our ideological vision–one that is night-and-day from Ryan’s–and demand from people who claim to represent us embrace that clear ideological vision–not a muddled mush of concessions, surrender and capitulation.

     To repeat: there is no deficit or debt "crisis". None. Zero. Zilch. Nada. The facts are here"It’s Not Raining, We’re Getting Peed On: the Scam of the Deficit Crisis".