MISH'S 10-Point Credibility Scale

Rating the Obama, Reid, and Boehner Deficit Reduction Plans on Mish's 10-Point Credibility Scale

“ $4 trillion sounds like a lot but it is only $400 billion a year, while the deficit is $1.4 trillion. Thus it's tough to give that plan a rating higher than Jello, and impossible to give it a rating higher than fudge.  ” “ 10-Point Credibility Scale Golden Rock Solid Fudge Jello Marshmallow Cream Puff Nauseous Gaseous Imaginary Delusional Scoring the Proposals Given a $1.4 trillion deficit, the latest plan from Boehner to cut a minuscule $85 billion a year (and back-loaded at that) is somewhere between nauseous and gaseous. It's no wonder that various Tea-Party members will not vote for it. Obama's plan is imaginary or delusional depending on whether or not the President actually believes he has a plan, when he doesn't. Parts of Senator Reid's plan are gaseous and the rest is clearly imaginary. In contrast, the gang-of-six $4 trillion deficit cutting plan has something of the consistency of Jello, fudge, or marshmallow depending on details that were never disclosed. ” There you have it. Boehner has proposed a $850 billion reduction over 10 years, a minuscule $85 billion a year on a deficit of $1.4 trillion. Bear in mind it is far worse than it looks because it is heavily back-loaded. The 2012 reduction is only $4 billion. Marc Miller