PBS has an interview Paul Krugman: Hasty Fiscal Fix to the Deficit Would Cause ‘Austerity Bomb’.

Well, what’s happening is that we are scheduled, unless something is done, basically to do to ourselves gratuitously what has been happening to some of the European economies.

We’re going to have substantial spending cuts, substantial tax increases at a time when the economy is still very weak. And, of course, that’s a recipe for sliding back into recession.

So, we set ourselves up with the land mine in the road in front of our economy, which is not based on anything real. It’s just based on our political mess.

I find the following exchange typical of many interviews you hear from the so called news media.

GWEN IFILL: Among the critics of his plan are those who say that it doesn’t do anything or speak at all to the question of entitlement reform or at least cutting the costs of entitlement.

PAUL KRUGMAN: That’s a very weird thing. It does, in fact. It actually cut a substantial amount from Medicare spending.

It actually — of course, the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, does a lot to curb the long-run growth of Medicare costs.

So, there’s actually a lot in there. He’s actually done more to bring down the cost curve for Medicare than anyone has ever done before.

But in Washington, that is considered not serious because he’s not actually taking benefits away from people who need them. So, it’s a really weird thing. It’s only considered serious if you inflict pain on vulnerable people.

Obama is actually very serious in the real sense. It’s just the notion he hasn’t done anything on entitlement reform is totally unfair. He’s done more than anyone has ever done before.

GWEN IFILL: Well, talk about one part of the Republican, if you want to put air quotes around it, plan, as you replied, and that’s the idea of raising the eligibility age for Medicare. Why isn’t that something that might actually be a big first step?

Gwen Ifill’s follow-up question seems to indicate that she didn’t pay attention to a thing that Paul Krugman said in his previous answer. Krugman just got through telling Ifill about the first big steps to rein in Medicare costs that is in Obamacare. Then Ifill asks why a minor step of raising the eligibility age for Medicare might not be a big first step. What part of “He’s done more than anyone has ever done before” did Ifill not understand?