Things to Remember
There’s nothing novel here. Each of these points have been made many times by many others. Still, as a kind of summer 2011 debt ceiling post-mortem, I would like to note that:
1. Negotiating positions are not policy or legislative positions.
2. Leaks are not facts.
3. Wall Street gets what Wall Street wants.
4. We live in an oligarchy.
5. I dunno if the debt ceiling is more or less important than other summertime distractions, like “death panels” and the “ground zero mosque.”
6. Paul Krugman probably knows the economic steps the government should take to get the economy out of its recession. He knows jack shit about getting those steps done in the given political environment.
7. Now that we have (apropos of thing #1) some short-term policy and legislative positions, we should note that these can also function as negotiating positions.
