The gray lady flubs again

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: You can’t go wrong by reading whatever a New York Times editorial recommends and doing the exact opposite.

They proved themselves again Sunday by quoting Goldman Sachs’ claim that cutting federal government spending will hurt the economy.

“In a recent report, economists at Goldman Sachs estimated that the House cuts would reduce economic growth by 1.5 percentage points to 2 percentage points in the second and third quarters of 2011,” the Times editorial opines. “That would devastate employment. As a rule of thumb, each percentage point drop in growth means a loss of 1.2 million jobs.”

As I pointed out over the weekend, both The Wall Street Journal and Investor’s Business Daily have shot down this flawed projection and pointed out why Goldman Sachs is hardly an unbiased observer.

The Times concludes, “Given the need to placate House Republicans, some cuts are inevitable. Senators can turn to President Obama’s budget for 2012 as a template for cutting while preserving priorities. It’s time for leadership.”

Leadership? Who are they kidding? Obama’s budget increases the deficit.

Vin Suprynowicz has said (and I hope he writes it soon) Obama’s budget sounds like an obese man’s 10-year diet plan. By the 10th year he promises he’ll be running marathons and bench pressing 400 pounds, but in the first two years he plans to sit on the couch, watch TV and eat ice cream.