Christian Century interviews Stephanie Kelton

The transcript is here. She's a former economic adviser to Bernie Sanders, and is currently advising Rev. Barber's poor people's campaign.

Excerpt:

Daniel: I don’t want to overly psychologize politicians’ motives, but how genuine do you think the concern about the deficit is when there’s so much flip-flopping?

Kelton: It’s not at all and everybody knows it. They do not care. And they are right not to care. What concerns me, honestly, is that the Democrats are going to make their persistent message that Republicans are hypocrites when it comes to the deficit but that they had it right when they were hysterical about it. That is not where I would like to see the party end up. I would much rather see the party go, “You know what? The Republicans have said it’s okay to add $1.5 trillion to the deficit over the next 10 years as long as we’re doing it for a good reason.” Take that. It’s a gift. Take that gift and say, “Look, you’re willing to do $1.5 trillion. We’re willing to do $1.5 trillion. But you’re making your check paid to the order of big wealthy corporations and the richest people in this country. Let me show you how we’re going to write our checks for $1.5 trillion—this is where a moral vision is crucial. Our checks are going to go the poor, the struggling, and the people with no healthcare. We’re going to do this with our $1.5 trillion.”

Someone asked me on Twitter what sound investments Democrats could make with $1.5 trillion. Here’s what we could do: $650 billion for infrastructure, $750 billion to make public colleges and universities tuition free, and $100 billion in aid to Puerto Rico; or cancel all outstanding student loan debt for $1.4 trillion; or expand social security for $1.2 trillion. Put it in front of the American people that Republicans want to do $1.5 trillion in big giveaways to people who don’t need any more money.

People don’t wake up angry in the morning because of the national debt. They’re angry because they’ve lost wage mobility, they're worried about their own retirement, and they're worried about putting their kids through school. If Democrats think that worrying about the deficit is the way to win back Trump voters or get people to the polls, it’s not.