Lordy, this kind of shoddy journalism about the fiscal cliff really irritates me:
What is the fiscal cliff?"Huge" spending cuts? Let's remember: of the $600bn comprising the fiscal cliff, only $110bn is spending cuts. This is a little under 3% of the $3.8tn 2012 federal budget. These are not "huge" spending cuts. The $490bn of tax rises is a lot more "huge", but for some reason is not described as such in the article.
On 1 January 2013, tax increases and huge spending cuts are due to come into force - the so-called fiscal cliff
The BBC journalist who wrote this crap (Zoe Conway is implied, though not definitively) should be beaten with a stick until they show evidence of a) being able to understand relative sizes of big numbers and b) no longer wilfully dissembling to advance their personal prejudices on taxation and spending.
Its all about progressive speak:
ReplyDelete1. If I promise you £100 next year and only give you £50, in progressive speak you have had a 50% cut. Extending the principle...
2. I regularly give you a budget of £50 with a promise of increasing it to £100 next next time. I then change my mind because I've run short of money and only give you £75. In planet real world you've had a 50% increase but, in progressive speak that's a 50% cut.
Add that to an attitude of "all money belongs to the (courageous) State" and the progressives can have a field day.