Bush Era Policies Responsible for Record Budget Deficits
Posted by Cloe on December 16, 2009 at 02:05 PM
Republicans have been railing against President Obama and Congressional Democrats for months, falsely claiming that our federal deficits are a result of the policies Democrats have pursued. Today, a new analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities determined that the nation’s current budget deficits are largely a consequence of Bush-era policies. According to the Center, the Bush-era tax cuts, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the economic downturn account for almost the entire deficit over the next 10 years:
"…If not for the tax cuts enacted during the Presidency of George W. Bush that Congress did not pay for, the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that began during that period, and the effects of the worst economic slump since the Great Depression (including the cost of steps necessary to combat it), we would not be facing these huge deficits in the near term…"
The Center concluded that the Bush tax cuts and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan accounted for “$500 billion of the deficit in 2009 and $7.1 trillion in 2009 through 2019…” Absent the current economic downturn and the fiscal policies of the Bush Administration, the budget would have balanced over the next decade.
Why is this important? Commentary from the Washington Monthly:
"...It's important for the public to realize who's responsible, in large part because it's important for the public to weigh policymakers' credibility. If GOP lawmakers embraced policies that are almost entirely responsible for the deficit those same lawmakers are now complaining about, it's a relevant detail."
Food for thought.
Comments (6) «
Of course we know that the Bush 43 Administration caused this horrible recession and the reduction of revenue. The trick is going to be to keep reminding the sheeple of such through the mid-term elections.
Hey Bob! Yes, how soon they forget. It's amazing that some people forget that Bush took us to the verge of another GREAT DEPRESSION. Because of Obama's leadership, we avoided a global depression.
We had to bail out the banks or the world would have tanked. What some are missing is that if you have money, a lot of it, you can buy everything up. So the rich get richer.
This brings us to the real difference in Dem/Rep economic policy. With Democrats, the middle class grows, more are lifted from the lower class, and the upper class does well too. With Republicans, the middle class shrinks, more enter poverty, and the upper class shrink, but the super-wealthy do better. President Clinton lifted people out of poverty, grew the middle-class, and the upper-class did good too.
So Reagan's trickle-down theory is a lie. Bush 41 and 43 proved it too. In reality, it's a trickle-up economy. The lower-class spends money, and this creates jobs and opportunity. The rich take the money off-shore, and hide it.
It's not rocket science. Democrats are for the working class. Republicans will do anything to protect gross corporate profits, including selling out workers, investors, and Americans.
Hello Democrats! How has everybody been, Pam, Dobbie, Bob, Essi, and Mary?
How about our GREAT President? Isn't it nice to have a President who receives respected INTERNATIONAL awards? What a CHANGE!
Isn't it nice to watch our President speak clearly, and not butcher the English language? I was so proud to see him speak after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.
What a complete fool that Dick Cheney is. When is someone going to call him out? As if Cheney has ANY credibility. And who is going to call out the Republicans who ran up the debt with the war and unfunded tax cuts? These people are crazy. All they want to do is obstruct progress.
The only scientists who question global warming and climate change due to man-made factors are hacks working for the fossil fuel industry. btw, if they didn't lie, they would be fired, or never hired in the first place. The vast majority of scientists agree we need action NOW.
What kind of a low-life, America-hating idiot would not protect our Country and future generations of Americans? These people are not patriots. They are selling out America for a fast buck. They make me sick. I suppose they forget that the Pentagon calls global warming an issue of National Security?
We need to take a page from the Republican Playbook and label this puppy. No Democrat should ever speak of the recession without calling it the "Republican Recession."
SenorVP on December 17, 2009 at 11:42 AM
Agreed! The Republican Recession of 2008.
Hola yo soy un demócrata I love America
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