Can we for once stop conceding ground to the idiots?

How about some simple language we can use on a routine basis to build well-deserved ridicule for deficit hawks in a time of near-depression?

• Cutting back on spending now will throw millions more out of work

• That's unbelievably stupid because millions more out of work and not paying taxes will only make the long-term deficit worse

• Refusing to spend now to put people back to work and re-build a thriving economy is like refusing to go on a job interview because you will have to spend money on transportation

Right now, these people get a free pass, even from the ever-conciliatory Obama and his absurd concession to sophomoric right-wing dogma that government has to “live within its means just as families do.” Is it so impossible for policy-makers to understand that the worst contributors to current deficits and long-term national debt (besides the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and the unfunded Medicare drug coverage) are the massive revenue shortfalls due to a putrid economy and giving tax cuts primarily to the wealthy in the early 2000s?

OK, you understand that? Then how the hell can any fool say the biggest immediate problem we face is growing deficits and long-term national debt – that the most important thing we can do is throw more people out of work? Maybe they aren't fools, because mass unemployment brings many benefits for those already holding the economic cards – like shutting up those knocking on the door for a fair share of the national product and a seat at the table where things are decided.

But they do count on the rest of us being fools. In the case of reporters and editors for the national press, who routinely ascribe Solomonic stature to deficit crusaders like the fantastically wealthy Pete Petersen always recommending economic hair shirts for the little people – which means anyone making less than, oh, $500 K per year or so -- that has been a fantastic bet.