(Alt. title: Act like you’ve seen a recession before)
US debt as a percentage of GDP following WWII: About 120%
US debt as a percentage of GDP following the 9/11 wars, Bush tax cuts, and preventing Great Depression II: About 105%
http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/...
What did the US do faced with that deficit following WWII? Spent on the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe and build the interstate highway system.
What does Ryan want to do now with the current deficit? Massively contract the economy.
First off, I am one of those Kossacks who is supremely pissed at the cowardly, gelatinous mass called the elected Democratic officials, for their failure to challenge the messages presented by, and the bullying tactics of, the power-seeking and middle-class hating clan called the elected Republicans.
So when I launch a diatribe about what a come down the present time is from the Greatest Generation period at the end of WWII, I see plenty of blame to go around.
But plain and simple—The US had greater deficits post-WWII, spent like hell, taxed at a marginal tax rate of 90%, and had unparalleled prosperity.
In a recession of any kind, tax revenues go down. So why act like the sky is falling in 2011? Why not challenge the Republican Chicken Littles on their claims that the sky is falling?
American cannot SAVE its way out of the deficit. It can only GROW its way out.
Reducing aggregate demand in the economy by cutting government spending creates a vicious downward circle on tax revenues. That is real simple Economics 101 stuff.
Addressing the deficit on the other side of the economic cycle makes good sense.
I realize that the grown ups in the Democratic Party are looking at long-term budget solutions. So are sane elected Republicans (whom I believe exist in small quantities, and who are careful to disguise themselves lest the Tea Party find them).
But I wish to God that the Dems would slap around these silly-ass Reps for drinking the Ryan Kool-Aid.