Naomi Klein: On the same day that he allocated the first $125 billion to the banks, Secretary Paulson announced the largest federal budget deficit in U.S. history. Buried in his statement was a preview of the next phase of the financial disaster. The deficit numbers, he declared, reinforce the need to "pursue policies that promote economic growth and fiscal responsibility, and address entitlement reform." He was referring to Americans who feel entitled to receive Social Security in their old age and Medicaid when they are sick. Those programs, Paulson implied, might not be able to survive the budget crisis he is currently creating for the next administration.
From Tom Friedman, in 2005: Are Americans suffering from an undue sense of entitlement? Somebody said to me the other day that the entitlement we need to get rid of is our sense of entitlement.
From last month: "We need this to be clean and quick," Paulson told ABC.
The New Trough | 
