Everything Comes Clear February 22, 2013February 21, 2013 You gotta watch, you gotta watch, you gotta watch. That’s not three separate things you gotta watch, just one; I’m trying to give it extra emphasis. What you’ll see (after a 15-second ad) are two gripping tales of almost unimaginable heroism (by government workers!) followed by the kind of eye-opening big-picture charts and logic that make everything come clear. And that also happen to reinforce, at least tangentially, yesterday’s post, which spoke of private versus public consumption. One of you actually pulled that item and sent it to his list. I know because I am on that list. And so . . . because I read all the stuff you send (and often find it more interesting than my own — I should be paying you) . . . I read it. And you know what? It was pretty good! Here it is again (how self-indulgent is that?): SEQUESTRATION The thing is — having shifted sharply in the other direction for the last three decades — we need to shift the emphasis from personal consumption back a bit (just a bit) to public consumption for a decade or two. Bigger houses and more TV’s are nice; faster power boats and granite counter tops are nice. But so are bridges and highways that work . . . waterways that are deep enough . . . subways that are comfortable . . . levees that withstand storms . . . sewage systems that handle the load . . . great public schools and universities . . . groundbreaking research that make lives better and keep our economy competitive . . . clean air and water . . . energy efficiency . . . and things like these are largely public expenditures, funded not by credit cards at Home Depot but by checks mailed in to the IRS. Our Republican friends are determined NOT to put people back to work doing the work that so badly needs doing to keep our nation strong and get our economy humming again: that would require tax revenue (because public spending is paid for with tax revenue or bond issues serviced by tax revenue). Instead, they are working hard to “cut the deficit.” But that will cause a recession, and a recession will increase the deficit. And bridges that may cost X to repair now will cost 20X to rebuild after they’ve collapsed (a number I’ve pulled out of thin air, that may or may not include the cost of millions of hours wasted in the months or years of detours and traffic jams that will result). Write your Republican congressperson and make this point? And, as I say: find nine minutes to watch the tales of heroism and the big-picture charts. It all comes clear.