Today, the New York Times’s Paul Krugman has some sound advice for President Obama and congressional Democrats. If, during negotiations over preventing the upcoming budget sequester, Republicans put them in a position where they must agree to large cuts to public investment and social insurance programs like Medicare and Social Security, they should just say no:

Mr. Obama should hang tough, declaring himself willing, if necessary, to hold his ground even at the cost of letting his opponents inflict damage on a still-shaky economy. And this is definitely no time to negotiate a ai???grand bargainai??? on the budget that snatches defeat from the jaws of victory. […]

Itai??i??s worth pointing out that the fiscal cliff isnai??i??t really a cliff. Itai??i??s not like the debt-ceiling confrontation, where terrible things might well have happened right away if the deadline had been missed. This time, nothing very bad will happen to the economy if agreement isnai??i??t reached until a few weeks or even a few months into 2013. So thereai??i??s time to bargain. […]

Most of all, standing up to hostage-taking is the right thing to do for the health of Americaai??i??s political system.

So stand your ground, Mr. President, and donai??i??t give in to threats. No deal is better than a bad deal.

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