Professor Krugman is annoyed with the commentariat:

People like me don’t say that the Ryan plan is too radical; we say that it’s a fraud. The spending cuts are largely fake, either because they’re just magic asterisks or because they wouldn’t survive politically; the revenue estimates are fake, because they combine huge tax cuts with vague assurances that extra revenue will be found by closing loopholes. There’s no there there — except for big tax cuts for the rich and pain for the poor.

Unlike the media some of us can do the math involved with balancing a checkbook, even without a calculator. When the amount of the deposits is less than the amount of the checks, your account is overdrawn. There is nothing serious or courageous about repeating the failed concept that reducing the top tax rates will increase revenues. That delusion was rolled out under Reagan, and it is still a failure.

The only way that messing around with Social Security and Medicare will have a noticeable effect on the deficit is if the government defaults on the bonds in the Trust Fund, and that seems to be what they have in mind to avoid having to pay it back. Of course, doing that destroys the value of all government bonds.

The BBC reports that UK and Netherlands to sue Iceland over lost deposits

The UK and Dutch governments are preparing court action against Iceland to recover 4bn euros (£3.5bn) lost when the country’s bank system collapsed.

It follows a referendum in Iceland which rejected a repayment plan.
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The UK and the Netherlands say they are owed the money following the collapse of Icelandic savings bank Icesave. British and Dutch depositors were bailed out by their governments, which are now demanding their money back.

The reality is that unlike Ireland, Iceland did not involve the government in the failure of their banks. The government made good on the deposits lost by its citizens, but gave no guarantees regarding other losses.

The banks went bankrupt and are in receivership, so their assets are being liquidated. The banks’ creditors will be paid from those sales.

I don’t quite understand the basis of the lawsuit. How can the UK and the Netherlands obligate the funds of Iceland? The people of Iceland aren’t buying the logic, and don’t want to be responsible for losses when they didn’t share in the profits. If the depositors weren’t insured by the government of Iceland, I don’t understand how Iceland becomes responsible for the losses.

The CBC reports that the date of a national candidates debate may change:

Bloq Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe wants Thursday’s French-language debate moved up a day to avoid a conflict with Montreal’s first-round NHL playoff game against Boston.
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The two-hour French debate is scheduled to start Thursday at 7 p.m. ET. The Montreal Canadiens kick off their round one playoff series aganst the Boston Bruins that night in Boston. Duceppe said he knows where Quebeckers TV’s will be tuned.

Politics is all well and good, but not if it is going to interfere with hockey. You have to have your priorities straight.

Please note that major national candidates and party leaders in Canada have to be fluent in both English and French. In the US we have a hard time finding people who can actually speak understandable English.

I would note that no one schedules candidate debates in the US during the World Series, and special sessions in Florida have to accommodate football games.