Bring on Some Real Pain!

A group of former chairmen of the Council of Economic Advisers have signed a letter calling for "prompt consideration" of a report from the bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.

In the letter, we are warned by these economists that what needs to be done will be painful, but that cuts in government spending will be necessary "as well as tax increases for all but the most vulnerable".

But please note, these advisers aren't talking about real cuts. They write, for example:

It [the report]recommends cutting discretionary spending substantially, relative to current projections.

All these projections have built in growth. A cut in the increase of growth will be hailed by these characters as successful spending cuts.

That said, the tax increases they are talking about are real.

But, one thing needs to be made clear about the pain they warn about.

 If things are understood through the lens of real cuts, there will be pain, but pain for the government officials who will lose power if they have less money to dole out. And there will be pain for those who share the tax lucre with the government officials. For the rest of us, it will be party time. Real, substantial cuts in government spending will mean lower taxes, which means more money in our pockets.

So it really comes down to minimalist spending cuts of this crew, which will mean higher taxes for all of us, or real spending cuts, which will cause pain for government officials and net-takers from the government. I say we bite the bullet and go for real spending cuts. Bring on the cuts and bring on the pain. Lots of it!