Krugman is Not a "Nice Guy"

I posted earlier about how I really don't care if Chris Christie is really a "nice guy" behind the scenes or not. He's messing with my career, pushing policies that are destructive, and denigrating my profession. It doesn't matter what he does in private if that's what he does publicly.

Paul Krugman, surveying the national scene, puts it better than I could:

But the main point is, what are we supposed to have a civil discussion about? The truth is that the two parties have both utterly different goals and utterly different views about how the world works.

It’s not nice to say this (but the truth is rarely nice): whatever they may say, Republicans are not concerned, above all, about the deficit. In fact, it’s not clear that they care about the deficit at all; they’re trying to use deficit concerns to push through their goal of dismantling the Great Society and if possible the New Deal; they have stated explicitly that they want to reduce taxes on high incomes to pre-New-Deal levels. And it’s an article of faith on their part that low taxes have magical effects on the economy.

To paraphrase the good professor:

But the main point is, what are we supposed to have a civil discussion about? The truth is that the two parties have both utterly different goals and utterly different views about how the world works.

It's not nice to say this: whatever he may say, Christie is not concerned, above all, about teacher "effectiveness". In fact, it’s not clear he cares about teaching at all; he's trying to use education concerns to push through his goal of dismantling public worker compensations packages and if possible the NJEA; he has stated explicitly that he wants to reduce taxes on high incomes to pre-New-Deal levels. And it’s an article of faith on his part that low taxes have magical effects on the economy and education.

Wow, that fit very nicely!