Fear not, America, because Matt Yglesias, now executive editor of Ezra Klein’s Vox.com, claims the U.S. debt isn’t that much, and the government can’t run out of money anyway because it can just print more:
https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/448866225272389632
https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/448902356051451904
Hack-tastic!
At the start of the video, a graphic states that the U.S. debt held by the public is $12.5 trillion, however, Yglesias’ voice-over claims “the United States’ national debt is $12.5 trillion.”
Many took issue:
The US national debt is $17.5 trillion, @mattyglesias, not $12.5 trillion. Please correct. http://t.co/Spgi700PCW @iowahawkblog
— Patterico (@Patterico) March 26, 2014
Debt held by the public is $12.5 trillion, @mattyglesias, but you said the U.S. nat'l debt is $12.5 trillion. Wrong. http://t.co/Spgi700PCW
— Patterico (@Patterico) March 26, 2014
https://twitter.com/steveatmguy/status/448953613533343744
@voxdotcom @mattyglesias Seriously? I shouldn't worry about national debt because the Fed can print money? #insanity
— g.v. wilkes iv (@casuist) March 26, 2014
https://twitter.com/RealTallWolf/status/448947905173286912
Awesome lying. RT @mattyglesias: The government can’t run out of money: http://t.co/KlhDE5ZfvQ #pressing”
— The Curve Is Bent. Time to Free Us! (@NolteNC) March 26, 2014
Harvard lad lays down another marker RT @mattyglesias Here’s why you shouldn’t freak out about the national debt: http://t.co/eY8kY8QsD2
— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) March 26, 2014
@ezraklein @mattyglesias: Are you guys going to apologize for lying about the national debt and set the record straight?
— J.G. Alt (@nycconservative) March 26, 2014
Yglesias then danced around criticism from @Patterico:
I know you guys want to really dumb it down here, but you still have to tell the truth. http://t.co/Spgi700PCW @ezraklein @mattyglesias
— Patterico (@Patterico) March 26, 2014
https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/448951170166702083
.@mattyglesias But your *words* were: "The United States’s national debt is 12.5 trillion dollars." That is false. Just admit it, Matt.
— Patterico (@Patterico) March 26, 2014
https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/448954218146430977
Clarifying it by re-cutting and replacing the misleading audio was apparently too much.
I don't need this stuff explained to me with kindergarten graphics. That's why I caught what you were trying to do. @mattyglesias
— Patterico (@Patterico) March 26, 2014
One of Vox.com’s sponsors is General Electric, which is a company that Yglesias and Ezra Klein have lambasted in the past, meaning that turnabout is fair play:
Corporation with billions in government contracts pays @mattyglesias to say that the government should keep spending money.
— jon gabriel (@exjon) March 26, 2014
Times sure have changed.
Even assuming the debt is $12.5 trillion, here’s a good question:
https://twitter.com/Gooms/status/448929167967395840
We’ll wait for an answer.