Alan Simpson: Paul Krugman's Work 'Borders On Hysteria' (VIDEO)

Former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.).

Alan Simpson, the former Republican senator from Wyoming who co-chaired President Barack Obama's debt commission in 2010, took a swipe at one of his most fervent critics on Tuesday, saying that economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman's work often "borders on hysteria."

During an interview with Bloomberg TV, Simpson was asked what he thought of Krugman's argument that more U.S. government spending would help lift the economy.

"Paul Krugman is a great economist, but he ain't the best in the world," Simpson said. "I love to read his stuff because it borders on hysteria. He talks about the lost souls of the past, and he is in there, too."

Krugman, a Nobel Prize winner, accused Simpson of "blood lust" in 2010 for his affinity for spending cuts.

Simpson also commented on debt commission reforms he proposed with co-chairman Erskine Bowles, a Democrat. The initial Simpson-Bowles plan, which proposed for bringing the top tax rate down by repealing a number of tax cuts and credits, was ignored by lawmakers. A bipartisan budget modeled after their report was also rejected by the House this year. Simpson said he remains optimistic about his recommendations.

"It's like a stink bomb in a garden party, it ain't going away," Simpson, who is known for his colorful turns of phrase, said. "Buckle up your guts."

Simpson also relayed some advice to lawmakers on how to sell his plan to the American public. According to Simpson, it is essential to push the idea of a "shared sacrifice" to get the country out of debt.

"Everybody will get hit," he said. "If you tell people that and be honest with them, and let them bitch and roar and snort, you can make it through there."

Look through more of Simpson's history of colorful statements below:

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• 'Cow With 310 Million Tits'

  "I've made some plenty smart cracks about people on Social Security who milk it to the last degree. You know 'em too ... We've reached a point now where it's like a milk cow with 310 million tits!" -- Simpson on Social Security <strong>Source: <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/24/alan_simpson_social_security_n_693277.html" target="_hplink">The Huffington Post</a></strong>

• 'Blood Sweat And Eyeballs'

  "A lot of blood, hair and eyeballs have to lay on the floor before we finish." -- Simpson on fixing the budget deficit <strong>Source: <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232/?video=1421510966&play=1" target="_hplink">CNBC</a></strong>

• 'Snoopy Snoopy Poop Dogg'

  "This is a fakery. If they care at all about their children or grandchildren, and sometimes I doubt that -- I think, you know, grandchildren now don't write a thank-you for the Christmas presents, they're walking on their pants with the cap on backwards listening to the enema man and Snoopy Snoopy Poop Dogg, and they don't like them!" -- Simpson on young people and their grandparents <strong>Source: <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/07/alan-simpson-snoopy-poop-dogg_n_832626.html" target="_hplink">The Huffington Post</a></strong>

• 'The Lesser People'

  "We're trying to take care of the lesser people in society." -- Simpson on Social Security <strong>Source: <a href="http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/7698698" target="_hplink">Ustream</a></strong>

• 'Just Let Them Sink'

  "We have the ability, and I hope the trust of each other, to adjust and put together a package. And if the American people and the Congress don't like it, then just let them sink." -- Simpson on the budget deficit <strong>Source: <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,591463,00.html" target="_hplink">Fox News</a></strong>

• 'Picking With The Chickens'

  "You'll be picking with the chickens yourself when you're 65." -- Simpson on Social Security <strong>Source: <a href="http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/7698698" target="_hplink">Ustream</a></strong>

• "When I Make A Mistake 'It's A Doozy'"

  "Over the last 40 years, I have had my size 15 feet in my mouth a time or two. To quote my old friend and colleague, Senator Lloyd Bentsen, when I make a mistake, 'It's a doozy!'" -- Simpson on Social Security <strong>Source: <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/24/alan_simpson_social_security_n_693277.html" target="_hplink">The Huffington Post</a></strong>

• 'Sparrow Belch'

  "We're going to get rid of all earmarks, all waste, fraud and abuse, all foreign aid, Air Force One, all congressional pensions. That's just sparrow belch in the midst of the typhoon. That's about 6, 8, 10 percent of where we are. So, I'm waiting for the politician to get up and say, there's only one way to do this: you dig into the big four, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and defense. And anybody giving you anything different than that, you want to walk out the door, stick your finger down your throat, and give them the green weenie." -- Simpson on Social Security <strong>Source: <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/24/alan_simpson_social_security_n_693277.html" target="_hplink">The Huffington Post</a></strong>

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Comments

[Siebenstein]

11:02 PM on 05/28/2012

Simpson is an overrated, quacking fo*l.

[rdmcabee]

08:56 PM on 05/22/2012

Simpson World View: People who aren't millionaires are parasites and not even people.
After accepting bribes his entire life he comfortable looks back and calls himself a 'self made man.'

[Sam Bark]

02:14 AM on 05/29/2012

rdmcabee - either put up a proof or shut up...

[Bill928]

10:49 AM on 05/18/2012

Have to wonder what tit Alan is milking?

[Radx28]

11:02 AM on 05/17/2012

It would have helped if a few people spoke out when Hitler used lies, hate, fear, greed, jealousy, bigotry, and a need for personal vengeance to lead the world to disaster. Krugman is simply speaking out factually to fight a return to the politics of division, and the policies of isolation and disenfranchisement of helpless minorities advocated by the 'master race' branch of the Republican party.

[SisterAnn]

06:04 AM on 05/17/2012

Don't let them forget that Social Security isn't theirs to cut. It is our benefits earned and paid for while working, plus we have that 2.8 trillion saved in US Treasury Bonds, the safest investment in the world.

[hvogel]

10:19 AM on 05/17/2012

But, since the US Treasury Bonds held by Social Security cannot be sold to anyone except the US government, the bonds are actually a debt liability to the government. Money used to redeem the $2.8 trillion cannot be spent on other government projects. In other words, the treasury bonds are nothing more than an IOU from the government to itself.

Imagine if you decided to sell SisterAnn bonds to yourself. You take $10,000 out of a savings account and buy $10,000 worth of SisterAnn bonds. Then you spend the $10,000 you "earned" selling bonds to yourself. Would you still claim you still had the $10,000 because of the bonds you held or would you recognize that the only way to "redeem" your bonds would be to cut $10,000 out of your day-to-day budget. If you chose the first option, you have a future in government accountancy. If you chose the second option, you now understand why the bonds held by Social Security are a debt held by the US government, not the asset the government tries to claim they are.

[SisterAnn]

12:47 PM on 05/17/2012

You are so wrong.

The Social Security bonds are no different than any government bond in our 401ks, IRAs or personal savings. If I buy a govenment bond I don't think the government owes the money to itself, because it doesn't. It owes it to me.

I think Bush claimed the bonds were an asset, not Obama. Bush didn't count them as debt but Obama does, which is one reason the debt went up under Obama.

The government can do anything they want with the money as long as they pay it back as it is needed. They can sell other bonds to pay Social Security bonds back, etc.

The Social Security bonds are safer since they are not put on the open market.

The government can spend the money that Social Security paid for those US Treasury Bonds, but as the retirees need the money and cash in the bonds, then they have to pay the money back.

[Puller58]

02:45 AM on 05/17/2012

Just a grumpy old man...

[Manhattanite]

07:19 PM on 05/16/2012

Simpson is no economist and it shows. In addition, his fragile ego cannot take criticism.

[rigmoten]

05:34 PM on 05/16/2012

Alan Simpson thinks taxes are for the poor and working class. In his America if you have, take more.

[ideasmatter]

05:25 PM on 05/16/2012

Well, a reasonable person can disagree with Prof. Krugman, that is fine. But when it comes to economics Prof. Krugman does have more impressive credentials than Sen. Simpson, and, what's more, his predictions have turned out to be right almost all the time, unlike those of Sen. Simpson. Folksy speech does not compensate for lack of intellectual rigor.

[westend1]

07:07 PM on 05/16/2012

The gargoyle of Nassau street, Paul krugman rarely has been correct, accurate or prescient

Take his work in Portugal for example

Currently Pauls lazy work matches hypothesis to outcomes is of very poor quality

Very surprised you think otherwise

[dustyoh]

07:17 PM on 05/16/2012

Have to disagree with you, Krugman is more on than off if you look at the entire body of his work and predictions.

[Brant Kelsey]

12:34 AM on 05/17/2012

All you need do is look to Europe: Austerity is not the answer: Public works and an infusion of make work projects is the answer. And it is time that our infrastructure me tended to. Barely wriggled out of the throes of a Depression, as WE are this is not the time to be fiddling about: There may be Neocon's who believe that the putsch they've long designed is at hand, to corral the will of the masses and make them acquiescent to the Rule and to the will of the Few. But if this is to be the case then there will be a price to pay: And that price and that path WILL invariably, just as in Europe, lead multitudes into the street: And you may scoff at this, but unlike Europe, Americans ARE ARMED, and Americans have been pushed to the breaking point. And the idea of being ruled by a King, or the courtesans of a Ruling Class is abhorrent to any Freedom Loving American. Remember this. All forward progress of this Democracy has come from the Street. Whether it is the struggle for a fair wage, whether it is the struggle for civil rights, or the ending of a War.it is bottom up. It has never been top down. We see the writing on the wall, and we've turned from the shadows and now recognize the faces lighting the fire. There is a recoil, a push back, to the reed hard pressed.

[DarkandStormyNight]

03:37 PM on 05/18/2012

Bingo.

[SisterAnn]

04:58 PM on 05/16/2012

Simpson said:

"I can't wait for the blood bath in April....When debt limit time comes, they're going to look around and say, 'What in the hell do we do now? We've got guys who will not approve the debt limit extension unless we give 'em a piece of meat, real meat,' " meaning spending cuts. "And boy, the blood bath will be extraordinary," he continued.

Simpson is another reason for demanding Obama quit appointing Republicans.

There are other programs they can cut besides Social Security and Medicare. Cut the almost free medical care for our elected officials, plus making them wait until our retirement age to start drawing benefits. Divide their government income by 30 years, like they do worker's wages when they figure Social Security benefits. There is no need of them drawing earlier benefits and drawing more for the mess they have created in this country.

They all leave rich. That should tell us something.

[skylark]

05:25 PM on 05/16/2012

Simpson's language is interesting. You can tell he is relishing the pain and misery he anticipates inflicting - "the blood bath will be extraordinary". One can imagine him chuckling and drooling with pleasure.

[sryan5597]

09:20 PM on 05/16/2012

The cuts that you suggest are a very good idea, but to compare that boondoggle with vast programs like Social Security and Medicare does not help much. There will have to be painful changes to both programs.

[SisterAnn]

05:53 AM on 05/17/2012

The old adage, 'A penny saved is a penny earned' and 'Take care of your pennies and your dollars will take care of themselves' still are true.

As an example you can cut a few dollars here and there on your home budget and pretty soon you have saved a hundred dollars.

Even though our elected leaders don't have as many in their programs as we do in Social Security and Medicare they need to control their expenses and live by the rules they put on us.

The ex presidents have bodyguards and a big retirement check for expenses plus half a million dollar benefit check each year. Retired presidents get over a half million. Whack Bill Clinton's and George Bush's retirement checks. Whack the rest of the president's checks, too.

Next go down the line cutting benefits and means test Bowles and Simpson, better known as BS.

Medicare found that it was overpaying Advantage plans and so will now save a lot of money by not overpaying them.

If we cut the waste and theft in the military and find the money Bush and Cheney lost, that would help.

[Brant Kelsey]

04:41 PM on 05/16/2012

What I don't need to see: Another GOP/TP sponsored ad with Greta and Sarah: Another GOP/TP ad with INhannity with Carl Rove or Dick Morris, or a nother "panel" with the casterated Juan. I don't need another shout down from Bill'O, Nor do I see the incessant parade of Santorum, Newt, Perry, Pizza Dude, or the insane Corporate gopher who seems to have a public forum every night lately, Wisconsin's Walker. Fox amounts to little more than the incessant drone of that which is worst amongst us. And oh yeah, Alan Simpson get's his little Soap box frequently.

I tune in frequently, until I can't stand it usually, just to get a dose of what is the worst amongst us, to understand the power and the breadth of their Great Deception. That they take what we would find reprehensible, package it, sell it, and pound it into the skulls of their adherents, will will regurgitate it, defend it, and do so invariably to their own detriment is beyond the pale of decency. And is one of the saddest and tragic events of the day, every day with incessant efficacy............I hate them.

[SisterAnn]

04:34 PM on 05/16/2012

A message went across the bottom of the screen that Obama said he will not sacrifice unless the Republicans do too. What can they sacrifice? Pay higher taxe rates, but give them hidden breaks?

They can pay a lot more taxes without it hurting them, but those who depend on Social Security and Medicare can't take a cut.

Obama is the man that chose Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles to run the fiscal committee. He knew that Eskine was a pretend democrat and Alan hated Social Security. If he didn't, he should have known.

Wouldn't it be something if Obama had chosen people like Krugman and other democrats instead of the Bush rejects?

The American people deserve better than what we are getting from our government.

[Brant Kelsey]

05:23 PM on 05/16/2012

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''The American people deserve better than what we are getting from our government.""""""""""""

The first deception is that it is they who are the government, when it is WE. Corporate America is jut that. A storefront for Global Cabals of Trade and Banking. They are unseen and unelected and not restrained by our laws. What we do see are those morally bankrupt individuals that seem to thrive and are elected in the illusion of our democracy: Irrespective of their stripe, with only a few exceptions they are bought and paid for and fulfill the will of the unseen: Our elected officials, both sides of the aisle are little more than the middlemen who construct, and sell policy that favors their masters: The elephant in the room is THE MONEY. The whole system of elections is now purposed to ensure that only those with the Corporate Interests at heart are available to the electorate. Which is why we are forever extended choices that are not choices: or rendered to the lessor of two evils: But nonetheless Evil to free thinking men desiring to live Free. The elimination of the Money, Is the only Answer. And the Demand for that elimination will never come from Above. It will come from the streets, like every other constructive advancement in our Society.

[skylark]

05:26 PM on 05/16/2012

Completely agree with you, as usual.

[Skygazer]

03:54 PM on 05/16/2012

I used to like old folks in their, but I don't what's happening to many of them these days...they're just GOtO-er whack-a-doo...

I think it's got to be the constant diet of fear they get fed by both the GOTP and Faux and such...

[Brant Kelsey]

04:21 PM on 05/16/2012

I think our only hope is that the "torch will be passed to a New generation of Americans".

Who understand that the Declaration of Independence and the US constitution were not established to free us from the rule of oligarchs and plutocrats, but rather to free this country from those of the "old world". While ensuring that this country would be Ruled by our own Home Spun variety.

But we can agree on this: FOX is the most divisive, coercive, subversive element on the scene today. That this is predicated through the use of outright Lies, lies of omission, Fear, doctored video tape, and a coterie of shills that are little more fear mongers clothed in the legitimacy "being on TV". This IS the most insidious force in our country today. Hands down. That they control ALL aspects, print, radio, Television in certain Markets, and mold and infect their captives is simply treasonous and reprehensible.

Finally, when they brought to court, and held to answer for some event or crime they have incited they fall on the shield that they are and "Entertainment" Network.

They should, if allowed to remain, advertise themselves publicly as such. Much as they are required to do in Canada. They have done more harm to this Country than a thousand Bin Laden's.

[SisterAnn]

04:26 PM on 05/16/2012

Fox is a well paid advertisement for the Republican party. They close their eyes when a republican is like Bush. but they are super critical of the democratic Obama.

[skylark]

05:27 PM on 05/16/2012

Fanned and faved.

[Brant Kelsey]

03:49 PM on 05/16/2012

"""""He continues to support the Fox Infotainment""""""""'

All MSM are contemptible mouthpieces that foment the illusion that this is a two party system: They play off one another in an obvious example of Hegelian Theory.
THESIS=ANTITHESIS=SYNTHESIS. Ask this, with a government patently purchased, where more often than not the "made man" the candidate with the deepest pockets wins: Who really wins? The underlying factor in our Politic is Money: Billions, will be spent in this election cycle. Where will it go? It will go to ply the coffers of Media of every Ilk.
To purchase Air, to purchase print.

Our choices invariably merely one alternative form of the "capo regime" made men, foot soldiers for those who treat Nations as Storefronts, where policy is purchased and implemented by the "capo": And the Men who own the storefront, possess more money than Nations, are not constrained by their electorate or their laws. While we are plyed with shadows, much like the Shadows of the Allegory of Plato's cave, polarized and bickering about the shadows that are flickering. Dancing at the behest of the freest press Money can buy.

[ajax2]

03:40 PM on 05/16/2012

Alan Simpson has tried to steal that $12,000 a year Social Security pension from the elderly most of his adult life. If there ever was someone suckling on the teat for too long Alan would be the first
s u c k e r.

[Brant Kelsey]

03:51 PM on 05/16/2012

Sucking from the teat would then render him a mother sucker.