(continued from the previous post)
Just a couple of points:
- I seem to recall Bush trumpeting his fiscal restraint, but there's a clear disconnect between the impression his speech gave and he CBO's numbers. Thomas Spencer comments, "Since W and the boys are quite adept at media manipulation, I suspect they released this little tidbit on the same day as the SOTU address so that it would go largely unnoticed."
- Some analysts beleive the deficits could be even bigger, up to [Dr. Evil voice] four hundred billion dollars!
While it's arguably good economic policy to run a deficit during a recession, the clear disconnect between Bush's proposals for revenue and expenditure are nothing short of a blueprint for deficits forever
- The problem is, Bush doesn't have any intention of reining in overall government spending--just shifting it to guns, not butter, and slashing taxes all the while--a credit-card conservative. I suspect Bush knows that support for his Iraq adventure would plummet if he presented the American taxpayer with the bill, but it would be perfectly reasonable to propose a tax increase--or even the deferral of a tax cut--to pay for it. It'd be interesting to know where bush's priorities lay if it came down to a choice between tax cuts or his Iraq adventure.
- The truly disingenuous aspect of that attitude is it spotlights the GOP's unwillingness to admit that tax revenue goes for spending the public not only approves of, but demands. They want to project the attitude that taxes are just wasted money, when in fact the public has shown great favor to a number of government programs.
- Of course, eventually a Democratic president will have to take the fiscally responsible position and raise taxes, if for no other reason than to finally pay for Bush's binge. Naturally, the GOP will go ballistic then...but they've forfeited the mantle of the party of fiscal responsibility, and the Democrats shouldn't let them forget it.
(via Interesting Times and History News Network)
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