Laffer says "...reduced state revenues by $23.3 billion in 2012 alone". So, for his points to make sense, he has to disavow the Laffer curve for sales taxes and argue that if taxes were increased by $23.3 billion, there would be no reduction in actual purchases. Second, as Mitchell says, he would have to believe that the increased sales tax revenue would result in lower income taxes. Over any period of time, that is unlikely and the $23.3 billion would be treated as "found money" and used for additional spending. Just like Parkinson's law, government spending expands to fit the available revenue stream.

Sovereign immunity lets government creeps get away with stuff like this. Eliminate sovereign immunity and you will get a lot more common sense in government.

Actually, sixer, Krugman has not been right. That is his problem. But his acolytes keep praising him, so he keeps going on. It would be really nice if the NYT would reinstitution their pay wall for columnists. We waste way too much time showing that Krugman and Keynesians are dismal failures.

"We didn't do enough" is actually their excuse for why their policies didn't work. Notice how that neatly tries to turn the failure back onto those who do not subscribe to their policies. Think about it though, how great would it be to articulate a policy, and when it fails. blame someone else for not doing enough of the failed policy. It is a guarantee of never being wrong.

Notice, too, the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is a creation of the Dodd-Frank bill and resides in the Fed. It is outside the purview of the legislature. Thank Dodd and Frank for that piece of idiocy.,

There is a large contingent of elected Republicans who see themselves as "Democrat Lite". In other words, the are in favor of their perqs and spending to get reelected as long as they can get credit for talking about fiscal responsibility. Of course, the people are afraid to lose their "good deal". The Republican establishment wants to coopt the TEA Party movement so they can continue to do the same things, but claim fealty to TEA Party ideas. However, that drives TEA Party members away. If the Republican Party does not embrace the TEA Party, we a re likely to see a third party that will eventually destroy the Republican party and with it the Republican establishment. I don't think the establishment "gets it", yet.

It is really strange to me that Krugman gets away with not only rewriting history, but offering lies as facts. His comment section is filled with sycophants. When writing for the NYT, Krugman is not and economist, But rather, Goebells. For years, I have wondered why Princeton puts up with propaganda masquerading as economics.

Yes, it does seem there is really something rotten in Denmark with the US gold supply and the status of its holding of foreign gold. It would not surprise me at all to find that much of that gold has been leased for the purpose of selling into the open market to keep the market price of gold down.

That is exactly my point, too. Bernanke has made it impossible for people to live off the earnings of their savings and is forcing them to eat their "seed corn". I maintain Rick Perry was right: Ben Bernanke is guilty of treason.

In one short column Peter Schiff manages to destroy MMT (Modern Monetary Theory) and the Fed's plan to keep printing until unemployment is reduced. Both those only work by impoverishing the country. Both are Keynesianism on steroids.

Ooops, That is Grep Sargent at Plum Line, not Greg Plum. However, either way he is still wrong. No veto power means no enforcement.