''"Dumb."
That's what University of California, Berkely economist Robert Reich called the budget deal announced by Senate Budget Committee Chair Patty Murray and House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan late Tuesday.
Why dumb? According to Reich, the "deal doesn't close tax loopholes for wealthy, restore food stamps to poor, or extend unemployment benefits for jobless."
In separate tweets, he added:
New budget deal keeps awful sequester (just delays for 2 years), has no short-term stimulus, and does nothing about long-term deficit. Dumb.
— Robert Reich (@RBReich) December 11, 2013 Budget deal doesn't extend emergency unemployment benefits for 1.3 million jobless. Bad for them, bad for economy. http://t.co/gza80LslCR
— Robert Reich (@RBReich) December 11, 2013 And he's not alone in thinking the negotiated deal—designed to stave off another government shutdown threat by the Republican Party in the New Year—is another example where working people, those suffering unemployment, the poor, and public employees are asked to sacrifice as the nation's corporate barons and wealthiest individuals are once again insulated from scrutiny.
"This deal asks essentially nothing of the richest Americans while placing terrible burdens on the unemployed as well as new federal employees, and continuing the fiscal policy drag on our still-unfinished recovery." –Lawrence Mishel, EPI
Though much of the reporting said that both parties were able to make the deal because their respective sacred cows—cuts to Medicare or Social Security for Democrats and tax increases for Republicans—were left off the table.
"I support reaching an agreement that will end the culture of periodic crises that has driven policy in recent years," said Lawrence Mishel, executive director of the Economic Policy Institute. "However, this deal addresses the wrong set of priorities: namely, deficit reduction ten years out rather than a stronger recovery now, and tweaking domestic spending for a few years as we continue to ignore the public investments our country needs."
He continued: "The worst part of the budget deal by far is what it doesn't address: unemployment insurance for America's four million long-term unemployed workers. This deal asks essentially nothing of the richest Americans while placing terrible burdens on the unemployed as well as new federal employees, and continuing the fiscal policy drag on our still-unfinished recovery."
And according to Michael McAuliff's reporting, the negotiated agreement is going to give Medicare a huge "whack" by increasing cuts to the program's providers.''
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