CBO (very quietly): Austerity Has Harmed Economy

From the we-could-have-told-you-this-would-happen department, via Brian Beutler of TPM:

Here’s the buried lede from the Congressional Budget Office, which on Tuesday released its Budget and Economic Outlook for the coming decade: D.C.’s deficit obsession has been quite effective at cutting deficits at the expense of the still-struggling economy.

“[E]conomic activity will expand slowly this year, with real GDP growing by just 1.4 percent,” according to CBO’s projections. “That slow growth reflects a combination of ongoing improvement in underlying economic factors and fiscal tightening that has already begun or is scheduled to occur-including the expiration of a 2 percentage-point cut in the Social Security payroll tax, an increase in tax rates on income above certain thresholds, and scheduled automatic reductions in federal spending. That subdued economic growth will limit businesses’ need to hire additional workers, thereby causing the unemployment rate to stay near 8 percent this year, CBO projects.”

...

In other words, the Rethugs are winning and America's economy is being sent straight to hell by austerity measures never really intended to benefit the real economy... except for the very rich.

Aside: I'd write more, but I have a lot else on my mind as I enter the real physical therapy period before my prosthesis is complete, which precedes a probably even more intense period of rehab after I receive the prosthesis in about a month. If I post even less than before, please don't give up on me. (Oh, and the big bills are starting to arrive... just remember, "we have the greatest health care system in the world... some conditions may apply... mumble mumble you pay out the wazoo... you are screwed... U!S!A! U!S!A! ..." [/snark])