I like Truthout well enough, even if they do take Eugene Robinson seriously. But this from William Rivers Pitt is just foolishness, Beltway Progressivism at its wanky and misdirecting best. Pitt writes:

To wit: every available scrap of poll data indicates that a large majority of Americans are stoutly opposed to the Ryan plan that seeks to end Medicare...and every scrap of poll data also indicates that a majority of Americans are dead-set against raising the debt-limit ceiling.

Who the what the where the when the why the hell is that? ... The mixed polling signals coming from the electorate are as unhinged as the politicians who listen to them, and that spells bad trouble for everyone.

Well, let's accept the bankster-driven and Randroid ZOMG! The debt!! frame for a moment, just like Pitt and the rest of the Beltway does. Even so, Pitt's full of it. There are stone obvious policy choices available that even progressives could advocate for that will both preserve Medicare and solve the debt problem. (Caveats that I'm ignoring our history of far higher debt and the operational realities to which MMT points, and accepting that ZOMG!!! The debt!!!! is just wrong, instead of being "not even wrong".) To wit:

The 12-word platform.

1. Medicare for All. That saves, conservatively, $350 billion a year. Use that money to pay down the debt (caveats as above) and save a lot of lives while you're at it, if you care about that sort of thing.

Now check this chart, and now keep reading.

2. End the wars. As the chart shows, a big chunk of ZOMG!!! The debt!!!! is from Afghanistan, Iraq, and the bloated imperial war machine generally. So stop throwing money down that rat hole, and use that money to pay down the debt (caveats as above)

3. Tax the rich. As the chart shows, another huge chunk of ZOMG!!! The debt!!!! is from Bush's tax cuts, which Obama managed to avoid clawing back, though no doubt in his heart of hearts, if any, he r-e-e-a-l-l-y wanted to. So stop throwing money at the rich. They only take it to the track and piss it away on the ponies anyhow. Use that money to pay down the debt (caveats as above).

4. Jobs for All. Implement an MMT-style Jobs Guarantee program. Put America back to work, solve your aggregate demand problem, get tax revenue growing again, and use that money to pay down the debt (caveats as above).

Note that these policies are moderate and centrist. The 12-word platform is asking for Medicare for All, not the National Health Service. That would be Socialism! We're asking to end the wars, not disarm America. We're asking to tax the rich, not eat them. And we're asking for jobs for all in a depression, just like FDR's WPA and CCC, not "from each according to their abilities, to each according to their needs."

Ya know, I thought progressives were supposed to be the smart ones. I mean, that's what they tell us all the time. The public isn't sending "mixed signals" at all. The public is specifying outcomes that are reasonable giving the right policy mix. And a GENIUS like your average progressive should be able to devise and propagate that policy mix. So why aren't they?