Former Council of Economic Advisors Chair Romer sounds the jobs alarm

 From Politico via Brad DeLong:

"Official" unemployment still at nearly 9%

President Obama’s former top economic advisor sharply criticized the federal government for failing to take more aggressive action against unemployment.

“I frankly don’t understand why policy makers aren’t more worried about the suffering of real families,” former Council of Economic Advisors Chair Christina Romer, who left the Administration last fall, said during a discussion at Vanderbilt University in Nashville Tuesday. “I think there are tools we have that we can use, and I think it’s shameful that we’re not using them.”

The cowardice and phony "conservatism" of the GOP

(Via "Economist's View")

Bruce Bartlett, a conservative economist who has had it with the phony "deficit hawks" of the GOP who believe that cutting taxes in the face of budget shortfalls is "fiscal conservatism" rather than fiscal (and ideological) profligacy,  reports that Republican leaders have predictably caved to the "Tax Cuts Uber Alles" extremists in positioning themselves for the budget fight:

Americans for Tax Reform president Grover Norquist has received assurances from Republican leaders in Congress that under no circumstances will they vote for any tax increase, either as part of deficit reduction or tax reform. Apparently, the only permissable deficit reduction is spending cuts and the only permissable tax reform is tax cuts.