A Bold Stand from the Journal

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As a wise man once said, you could devote your entire life to debunking inane Wall Street Journal editorials once you let yourself get sucked into their gaping maw. But via Ezra Klein, today’s editorial is a gem, not pretending to even a germ of reason or sanity:

The White House is now floating a bipartisan commission to reduce federal borrowing, and much of the political class is all for it. We only hope Republicans aren’t foolish enough to fall down this trap door….Republicans should respond with their own choice: They’ll agree to a deficit commission only if it takes tax increases off the table….

Yeah, I’m sure Democrats will jump at that deal. And I can’t wait for the Journal’s detailed fiscal plan for cutting federal spending by 30% — especially since they simultaneously seem to think that Medicare should be cut and that it should be preserved as is. Should be a crowd pleaser.

In fairness, plenty of liberals agree with the Journal in a mirror image sort of way: a commission would be nothing but a facade for Pete Peterson to gut Social Security and Medicare and probably throw in a few tax cuts for the rich for good measure. It looks like bipartisanship has as bleak a future in 2010 as it did in 2009.

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DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And we need your support like never before, to fight back against the existential threats American democracy faces. Fundraising for nonprofit media is always a challenge, and we need all hands on deck right now. We have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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