Those Darned Fear Mongering Tea Partiers

Erskine Bowles, co-chair of Barack Obama's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform

Leftist vocabulary loves the term "fear mongering." Anything the right does, says, or implies seems to be fear mongering of one sort or another (or bigotry, racism, or wingnut, but I digress). However, is it fear mongering to warn of the consequences of reckless actions, like government's deficit spending and monumentally increasing national debt?

Recently, President Obama's co-chair of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform had this to say about the direction of government spending:



The leftist response to such warnings (i.e., fear mongering) should be to inform us why such a statement is fear mongering, why it isn't true, and what grand plan Congress has to correct and allay the uncomfortable fiscal situation in which we find ourselves. Instead, here's a snippet from the left-leaning Slate:

Wonkish, crotchety, and mostly bald, the co-chairs of President Obama's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform want you to care about the deficit the way cable television wants you to care about pedophiles.

Thank you, Slate, for your contribution to the question of fiscal responsibility. Even the Republicans in Congress at least pretend that the current fiscal irresponsibility, deficit, and debt should be addressed. (And which, I have no doubt, will royally mess up again.) As it is, all I've heard from the left regarding the current financial fiasco is, "Stay the Course" - parroting George H.W. Bush's ill-fated catch phrase from the Ghost of Governments Past.

That and spreading fear about anyone who dares to speak up in favor of fiscal responsibility.