I’m amazed at how little has been mentioned about the real reason that our state and federal budgets are where they are. When I am saying that, I’m not talking about the details of spending or revenue, I am talking about one party’s MOTIVATION for keeping the spending and revenue in the general trajectory they have been for the last 30 years.
http://www.democratsforprogress.com/...
the modern practice of out of control deficit spending started with Ronald Reagan, continued under George H. W. Bush, was reversed by President Clinton, and then re-initiated with wild abandon by George W. Bush. President Obama and his fiscal policies are a separate case that I will discuss in future articles, but in the 28-year period between January 1981 and January 2009, all three Republican Presidents were guilty of financial irresponsibility and the one Democratic President was fiscally responsible.
What is it about these Republican Presidents that caused them to act this way? Is there a philosophy and strategy behind it?
The answer is YES. As I talked about in the link below in my appearance today on Peter Lavelle’s CrossTalk show on the Russia Today network, Republicans have been operating under a strategy called “Starve the Beast” since Reagan’s days in office.
Wikipedia defines “Starve the Beast” as:
“…a fiscal-political strategy of some American conservatives to create or increase existing budget deficits via tax cuts to force future reductions in the size of government. The term “beast” refers to the government and the programs it funds, particularly social programs such as welfare, Social Security, Medicare and public schools.”
More at the above link