I was at a training session for my job the other day and one of the illustrations just jumped out at me. The presenter did not mention the obvious about where things were going with the budget (he did not need to and it would not have been appropriate in the venue).
I've been thinking about it and thought I'd recreate the graph from the latest statistics for your pleasure. The raw numerical data comes from the Congresional Budget Office and is found in the PDF file at http://www.cbo.gov/... Table 12 titled "Standardized-Budget Deficit or Surplus and Related Series, 1962 to 2005."
It shows clearly over time which party is the more fiscally reponsible (as defined by the President's party and the size of the deficit or surplus).
See the graph under the cut.
Standardized-Budget Deficit or Surplus and Related Series, 1962 to 2005
Revenues - Outlays = Surplus or (Deficit)
When the Democrats regain the White House, will they be able to rein in the deficits? It will be difficult and politically tricky.
The first step must be to reverse the tax cuts imposed during the Bush II administration and to deal with the fiscal problems of entitlement programs (without eliminating or gutting the programs).
I also think that if we are truly fighting a war, we should be taxed extra to pay for it: a specific line-item on the Form 1040: the "War on Terror Supplemental Tax." This would be in addition to the base military budget. This might give our hawks an idea of the cost of this war in terms they understand (as opposed to lives lost and destroyed which they don't seem to understand at all).
Please let me know what you think and how we can regain fiscal solvency without causing a political meltdown as the "Tax and Spend" party.