Robert L. Borosage: The Next Fight

Eliminating waste in government spending is a Good Thing (although if the candidates were serious they'd start with the Pentagon budget, the largest source of waste, fraud and abuse, not the domestic side). But we can't duck the reality: we're headed into a deep recession and we're going to need a healthy dose of deficit spending to get out of it.

The $700 billion bailout of Wall Street isn't enough. Belatedly, Treasury Secretary Paulson has stumbled toward a sensible position on the bailout -- giving taxpayers a stake in the upside while providing banks with new capital. (But NB: he didn't demand the deal that Warren Buffett got from Goldman Sachs. That's not because he isn't a good businessman; it's because he's still conflicted about whether his client is the American taxpayer or the Wall Street club).

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We've got a debate that focuses on what cannot happen -- cutting domestic spending and balancing the budget, and slights what must happen -- a large, bold plan to rebuild America, put people to work, and get the economy going.

Obama clearly gets this, but doesn't want to buck the austerity consensus. He's put forth various programs -- including aid to cities, extended unemployment, investment in energy and infrastructure, and a blister of tax cuts -- that add up to about $150 billion. That is not likely to be enough.

So in the debate tomorrow night, rather than hector candidates about what they'd cut to reduce the deficit, ask how the candidates plan to get us out of the swoon we are in, and what it will take to get the blood moving through this economy once more.

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