Deficit reduction as the rightwing's means, not its true end

Mark Thoma (economist's view) notes his own and Krugman's eloquent reminders that the right is exploiting the deficit (mostly created by their own policies,including preemptive war, unfunded tax cuts for the wealthy, and corporate largesse through the tax system) as a tool to end social safety net programs.  Well worth remembering as we move into the holiday season and the post holiday rush to nominate a GOP candidate for President.

"In Washington, House Republicans are arguing with each other over how small of a temporary tax cut to give the middle class. Out on the primary trail, the Republican presidential candidates are arguing over how huge of a permanent tax cut to give the wealthy."

..... [In fact, T]he GOP is not now, and never has been (at least not since the 1970s) concerned about the deficit. All the fiscal posturing of the last couple of years has been about using the deficit as a club to smash the welfare state, with the secondary goal of frustrating any efforts on the part of the Obama administration to help the struggling economy. Krugman, They Don't Care About the Deficit, New York Times, Dec. 13, 2011 (quoting, at the beginning and first paragraph here, Ezra Klein)