It's possible both to be against the government debts & deficit spending, and to be against an austerity agenda. For example, one way to reduce the deficit and

It's possible both to be against the government debts & deficit spending, and to be against an austerity agenda. For example, one way to reduce the deficit and debt with minimal pain and austerity is to reduce discretionary military spending (which, for the US, is arguably what most of it is, in the form of overseas adventures and bases, and astronomically expensive weapon systems), and to increase taxes and/or otherwise close loopholes & exemptions for the rich and large corporations. Niall has argued for gutting and privatizing social safety net programs, and for abolishing income tax, inheritance taxes and gift taxes, and replacing them with a national sales tax. Any objective economist will tell you that over time that will lead to a society where there is an even larger plutocratic aristocracy -- which, coupled with "one dollar, one vote" mechanisms (like the Citizens United decision) that have been getting stronger in the US recently -- would further distort democracy away from the best interests of the young or poor working class and the 99%, and toward the best interests of the wealthiest 1%.