The National Debt   
      
    Defense budget cuts: The split within the GOP   
      
    Best Column   
      
    Did Obama 'trap' Republicans on Social Security? The president   
    has been criticized for failing to cut entitlement spending in   
    his new budget, says Glenn Thrush at Politico, but it may have   
    been a smart political move...   
      
    www.tinyurl.com/4goj6r4   
      
      
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       Financial Times FT.com   
      
     Goldman sees danger in US budget cuts   
      
    By James Politi and Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington   
      
    Published: February 23 2011 18:08 | Last updated: February 23   
    2011 18:08   
      
    The Republican plan to slash government spending by $61bn in   
    2011 could reduce US economic growth by 1.5 to 2 percentage   
    points in the second and third quarters of the year, a Goldman   
    Sachs economist has warned.   
    ...   
      
    Chuck Schumer, the Democratic senator from New York, said:   
    "This nonpartisan study proves that the House Republicans'   
    proposal is a recipe for a double-dip recession. Just as the   
    economy is beginning to pick up a little steam, the Republican   
    budget would snuff out any chance of recovery. This analysis   
    puts a dagger through the heart of their 'cut-and-grow'   
    fantasy".   
    ...   
    Goldman, which is currently forecasting US gross domestic   
    product growth of 4 per cent in the second and third quarters   
    of 2011, also pegged the cost of a government shutdown to the US   
    economy at $8bn in reduced spending per week, based on the   
    experience of the federal closures of 1995 and 1996.   
   ...   
    www.tinyurl.com/4qval8x   
      
      
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    Washington's Deficit-Hawk Pretenders   
      
    We are live at The Week: Even if Republicans outdo Obama's   
    spending cuts, they'll fritter it away on tax cuts and   
    repealing health care reform:   
      
    The Obama administration's proposed spending freeze promises to   
    reduce certain categories of government spending over the next   
    decade by $400 billion. This is a bad idea. It will cut not   
      
    ...   
      
    The Obama proposal looks to reduce debt 10 years from now, by   
    $400 million billion. This theoretical House Republican   
    proposal looks to increase the debt 10 years from now, by $150   
    billion.   
      
    And over the past 30 years, Democratic budget proposals have by   
    and large delivered what they promised. Republican proposals,   
    by contrast, have all turned out to produce much bigger   
    deficits than were pledged at the start.   
    ...   
    www.tinyurl.com/4l9eml9   
      
      
      
    www.tinyurl.com/6djqqkm   
      
   BOB KLAHN bob.klahn@sev.org   http://home.toltbbs.com/bobklahn   
      
   ... The Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed.   
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