They’re not, no matter what they think, because they refuse to see the problem in context. The anti-abortion far right claims that they’re pro-life. Those substantial cuts will increase unemployment and decrease consumption and production to the extent that some economists have calculated that the result of the GOP proposal, if enacted, would result in greater economic damage than a failure to lift the debt ceiling. Since the GOP plan also insists on no new taxes, even on corporations paying no taxes, the cuts will affect lower-paid Americans, a wide range of non-defense spending and businesses supplying the government.

They’re asking for a 1% percent cut from the fiscal year 2022 budget, and the country is now in FY2023, and the cuts will apply to FY2024 spending, which means that, because of the high inflation over the past two years, a wide range of cuts in both federal employment and spending will be required, because most Social Security and federal retiree programs and medical benefits cannot be cut, nor can most DOD spending. And it doesn’t help that various spin doctors and politicians, and even judges, are trying to distort or misrepresent the context.Ī recent example of misleading political context is the Republican “Debt Ceiling” proposal, where the GOP claims that they’re only asking for a 1% cut in spending. The problem is that, today, in far too many areas, particularly law, economics, and politics, far too many Americans don’t know enough to put headlines, deepfakes, political statements, and economic news in the proper context.

Really, did a magus or wizard win the storied horse race? Of course not, but from that headline alone (and yes, it was a real headline), a few might initially think so, but from the context, most people would fill in the blanks and figure out that a horse named Mage won the race.

The One-Eyed Man: A Fugue, with Winds and Accompaniment.

The Magic Engineer by L.E. Modesitt Jr.