Paul Krugman, "Cheating Our Children": Who Is the Ringleader of Those Dastardly Deficit Scolds?

In his latest New York Times op-ed entitled "Cheating Our Children" (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/29/opinion/krugman-cheating-our-children.html?_r=0), Paul Krugman, in an all too familiar reprise, again rants against those who would rein in federal spending. Krugman concludes:

"And why are we shortchanging the future so dramatically and inexcusably? Blame the deficit scolds, who weep crocodile tears over the supposed burden of debt on the next generation, but whose constant inveighing against the risks of government borrowing, by undercutting political support for public investment and job creation, has done far more to cheat our children than deficits ever did.

Fiscal policy is, indeed, a moral issue, and we should be ashamed of what we’re doing to the next generation’s economic prospects. But our sin involves investing too little, not borrowing too much — and the deficit scolds, for all their claims to have our children’s interests at heart, are actually the bad guys in this story."

Those dastardly "deficit scolds"! Who is their scurrilous ringleader, who is busy weeping crocodile tears over our children? A hint: Obama, who blamed Bush for this debt in July 2008 when it stood at only $9 trillion.

.