First blame the Bush Tax Cuts for the National Debt. (1,812B)
Then after that blame the Bush Pre-emptive Wars for the National Debt. (1,469B)
Then after that blame the Bush-Paulson Bailout for the National Debt. (773B)
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Then only after those 3 Conservative caveats -- THEN can you blame Obama for the Jobs Stimulus Plan (711B) ... which is working by the way.
-- which is repairing the giant crater left in the economy by the De-regulated Wall Street on Steroids growth plan -- that Bush also left us by the way.
How the Deficit Got This Big
by Teresa Tritch, Editoral, NYTimes -- July 23, 2011
[...]
The second graph shows that under Mr. Bush, tax cuts and war spending were the biggest policy drivers of the swing from projected surpluses to deficits from 2002 to 2009. Budget estimates that didn’t foresee the recessions in 2001 and in 2008 and 2009 also contributed to deficits. Mr. Obama’s policies, taken out to 2017, add to deficits, but not by nearly as much.
A few lessons can be drawn from the numbers. First, the Bush tax cuts have had a huge damaging effect. If all of them expired as scheduled at the end of 2012, future deficits would be cut by about half, to sustainable levels. Second, a healthy budget requires a healthy economy; recessions wreak havoc by reducing tax revenue. Government has to spur demand and create jobs in a deep downturn, even though doing so worsens the deficit in the short run. Third, spending cuts alone will not close the gap. The chronic revenue shortfalls from serial tax cuts are simply too deep to fill with spending cuts alone. Taxes have to go up.
[...]
We've always had, and still do have
a REVENUE problem as a nation --
ever since the Bush Tax Cuts went into effect
-- and then failed to sunset in 10 years ... as Bush guaranteed they would do.
If we want to have "nice things" -- then a some point we have to "pay for them" -- that means the Government needs Revenues, and that usually means more Taxes.
Remember, even according to the CBO, we should FIRST blame the Bush Tax Cuts for the National Debt ...
The Chart That Should Accompany All Discussions of the Debt Ceiling
by James Fallows, The Atlantic -- Jul 25 2011
[...]
It's based on data from the Congressional Budget Office and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Its significance is not partisan (who's "to blame" for the deficit) but intellectual. It demonstrates the utter incoherence of being very concerned about a structural federal deficit but ruling out of consideration the policy that was largest single contributor to that deficit, namely the Bush-era tax cuts.
An additional significance of the chart: it identifies policy changes, the things over which Congress and Administration have some control, as opposed to largely external shocks -- like the repercussions of the 9/11 attacks or the deep worldwide recession following the 2008 financial crisis. Those external events make a big difference in the deficit, and they are the major reason why deficits have increased faster in absolute terms during Obama's first two years than during the last two under Bush. (In a recession, tax revenues plunge, and government spending goes up -- partly because of automatic programs like unemployment insurance, and partly in a deliberate attempt to keep the recession from getting worse.) If you want, you could even put the spending for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in this category: those were policy choices, but right or wrong they came in response to an external shock.
The point is that governments can respond to but not control external shocks. That's why we call them "shocks." Governments can control their policies. And the policy that did the most to magnify future deficits is the Bush-era tax cuts. [...]
let me reiterate that ...
The policy that was largest single contributor to that deficit, namely the Bush-era tax cuts.
...
And the policy that did the most to magnify future deficits is the Bush-era tax cuts.
Hmmmm? And who is fighting to keep those Bush-era tax cuts and make those cuts even DEEPER?
So there you go -- the GOP in a Nutshell:
We can decimate an Economy in only 8 years -- and if you give us another chance we'll make damn sure the middle class decimation is complete:
More Tax cuts for the Job Creators ... and even MORE More Tax cuts for top 1 Percent.
(Mitt's got them covered.)
What Conservatives fail to realize, what Conservatives fail to acknowledge, always -- is that:
We have a REVENUE problem as a nation -- ever since the Bush Tax Cuts went into effect ... and then failed to sunset as originally promised.
Of course that would assume Conservatives actually keep their word, actually face facts, actually live in the Reality-based world that most of us do.
And those are some BIG assumptions -- reality-based assumptions still unmet.
Instead Conservatives always assume someone else will pay for their blunders and misadventures ... and unfortunately, we are the someones, the 99% of Americans, who usually do.