Weekend Editorial Roundup

Here are the highlights from this weekend’s editorials on fiscal and budget policy:

The Wall Street Journal noted the lessons that the United States could learn from Greece and their debt crisis.  They noted how the US's debt held by the public was projected to reach 90% in ten years, close to the 113% level Greece is at now.  According to them, "Greece's predicament...is signaling loud and clear that the spend-and-tax economic model has hit the wall."

The Washington Post argued that even if President Obama's Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform fails to provide bipartisan recommendations, it might have some benefits.  They thought that if the Commission fails to agree on recommendations, they may try a more modest goal, such as Social Security reform, or they may offer up competing plans that would be the framework for future debate on the subject.  However, The Post thought that both spending cuts and tax increases were needed in order to reduce future deficits.

The Boston Globe urged the Senate to pass a temporary unemployment benefits extension quickly.  They noted the concerns over the cost (and lack of financing) of the bill but said that unemployment benefits were too crucial to the 200,000 unemployed people who have been out of work for more than six months.  They said that cutting off these benefits is not the way to take a stand on spending.

The New York Times praised a bill that would close the oil royalties loophole in the Gulf of Mexico.  They said that the bill would be a good complement to the plan to allow some offshore drilling.  They said closing the loophole would raise about $2 billion per year, and would eliminate a subsidy that they believe is unnecessary when the price of oil is relatively high.