Paul Kurgman didn't mince any words in his appearance on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos. Krugman spoke a truth too often overlooked in the MSM. Krugman said that the Ryan Budget that candidate Romney has signed on to, is an Emperor without any clothes. That both House Republican Budget Chairman Paul Ryan and Republican nominee Mitt Romney's budget numbers are fiction.

Hat tip to Clem Yeobright and Crooks and Liars for this transcript.



On 'This Week,' Paul Krugman Destroys Romney Surrogate, Calls Ryan Plan a 'Fraud' STEPHANOPOULOS: We created it. It shows the point you're making. KRUGMAN: Yeah, this is real government spending, so it's federal, state and local combined, deflated, you know, adjusted for population growth and inflation, and it is plunging. It's plunging mostly because of cutbacks at the state and local level, because the aid that they were receiving in the stimulus has run out, but also because unemployment benefits have been expiring because Congress won't -- you know, Republicans in Congress won't extend them. So in effect - and, by the way, if you extend that chart backwards, there's been nothing like this since the demobilization after the Korean War. We're actually practicing government austerity on a scale that we haven't seen in 60 years. It's not the president's policy. In effect, we've already got the policies that Republicans say they will impose if they take the election, and yet, of course, it may lead to the defeat of this president.



KRUGMAN: Can I say, the Ryan plan -- and I guess this is what counts as a personal attack -- but it isn't. It's not an attack on the person; it's an attack on the plan. The plan's a fraud. The plan is a big bunch of tax cuts, some specified spending cuts, basically for poor people, and then a huge magic asterisk which is supposed to turn into a deficit reduction plan, but, in fact, if you look what's actually in it, it's a deficit-increasing plan. And so to say that -- just tell the truth that there is really no plan there, neither from Ryan, nor from Governor Romney, is just the truth. That's not -- if that's -- if that's being harsh and partisan, gosh, then I guess the truth is anti-bipartisanship.

Paul Krugman: Paul Ryan Budget That Romney Supports Is a ‘Fraud’ Krugman defended the president’s budget plan when asked by Fehrnstrom if he preferred it over the Ryan plan. “I mean, the president — at least it’s — you know, I don’t approve of everything, but there are no gigantic mystery numbers in his stuff. We do know what he’s talking about. His numbers are — you know, all economic forecasts are wrong, but his are not — are not insane. These are — these are just imaginary,” he said.

I feel fortunate that we will have the opportunity to hear from Paul Krugman in person next week at Netroots Nation when he will be part of the Keynote panel titled Austerity No More: An Economy for the 99%.