College Wants to Burden Students With Even More Debt, Democratic Senator Wants to Not Merely Cut but Devastate Programs, Pawlenty Has Presidential Qualities . . .

And Other News That Needs Commenting on

The State University of New York, one of the premier educational groups in the country (they are relatively unknown since they tend to put academics ahead of football) is planning on raising tuition 30% over the next five years.  Education officials said they wanted to either increase the amount of debt the graduates have, or else price students completely out of the market and this way they can give students a choice as to which of those two options they would like. 

Senator Kent Conrad (D, N.D.) is saying that cutting only $2 trillion from federal spending (over 10 years) is not enough and he wants $4 trillion.  Since presumably none of this would come from defense spending, Medicare or Social Security, this level of cuts would be devastating to many social programs.  Republicans are ecstatic because they could use the savings to cut taxes on the wealthy by a couple of $ trillion and still blame Democrats for the budget deficits.

Mr. Conrad joins the very large list of politicians of both parties who advocate sharp budget cuts without saying anything about what programs would be cut, or the justification for cutting those programs.  In fact that list is so long that it is easier to name those who actually do identify programs they will cut and the rationale for cutting them.  That list is . . ., Well, as soon as The Dismal Political Economist finds someone who will identify the cuts and provide the rationale he will post that information.

Politico is reporting that two more member of Newt Gingrich’s campaign staff are leaving the campaign .  The Dismal Political Economist was astounded to learn that Mr. Gingrich still had members on his campaign staff.

Republican Presidential Candidate Tim Pawlenty is running ads in Iowa touting his accomplishments as Governor.  When asked about the fact that he left the state with a massive, record level deficit  a spokesperson said “Of course he did.  Haven’t you noticed that this is what Republicans do?  Look at the records of Reagan, Bush I and Bush II, they left their successors a massive, record level deficit.  Obviously this just shows Gov. Pawlenty has Presidential qualities”.

Washington Post Columnist George Will has joined the chorus of Republicans and their allies who are starting to question the policy of military action where U. S. vital interests are not at stake.  He directly confronts Senator John McCain on the issue, leaving The Dismal Political Economist to wonder why anyone is even listening to Senator McCain.

He lost the 2008 election, he has been on the wrong side of military issue for a long time and he has no influence within the Republican party.  No candidate is appealing for his support.  The only people who will listen to him are the media, and it’s time for them to end their love affair with Sen. McCain.  Hey media, he was never that true to you anyway.