Surprise, surprise: The federal budget deficit is expected to climb back above $400 billion this year. The White House blamed the increase (up from a $309 billion deficit in 2005) mostly on the costs of Katrina, which likely is true. But the White House and Congress still aren’t doing enough to balance the budget — either by cutting more spending or by not cutting taxes. And President Bush’s pledge to cut the deficit in half by 2009 is sounding more and more like an empty political promise.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
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20 Comments
Didn’t the Republicans get reamed by cutting cost? You know! The Democrats said they will be starving people and kicking them out in the streets from the cuts in the proposed increase budget spending from some of these programs?
What about BRAC. If that wasn’t political, then I must be blind. The literally kept more than 3/4’s of the bases slated to close by the DOD. Ending up not saving taxpayers anything, when it was suppose to.
In government, Cuts is a death wish! If you raise taxes, the economy will tank. Take one or the other.
My sincere thanks for your skeptical thoughts, Phillip, but. . . “sounding more and more”? It’s more like “an obvious and inevitable result,” at least to those of us who were old enough and paying attention during the Reagan years. Well, better late than never, dude. Welcome aboard, friend!
How old are you, anyway?
Empty head = empty promise. If we were not in Iraq, the Katrina excuse might go over.
“And President Bush’s pledge to cut the deficit in half by 2009 is sounding more and more like an empty political promise.”
REally? An empty promise FROM BUSH?
I am shocked, SHOCKED.
Previous Bush promises–
“To those who say we didn’t find Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq, they’re wrong. We found them. We found them.”
“There’s a new sheriff in town, one that’s dedicated to fiscal responsibility.” Deficits climbed steadily since Bush took office.
“The vast majority of my tax breaks go to those at the bottom of the economic ladder.”
54 percent of the tax benefits went to the top one percent of income earners.
Just look at practically anything of substance Bush says that can be proven true or false–you can invariably prove it false.
“Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job.”
Well . . . that’s true if by “heck of a job” you mean preventing lives from getting saved and causing needless death.
Well, At least it wasn’t the “war on terrorism” driving-up the deficit. That’s a relief.
Correct, the GOP has failed and is hardly any better than the democratic big spenders. The only difference so far is that they have yet to increase taxes. If and when they do, I bolt!
Over the past several decades the BIG SPENDERS have been the Republicans. Look at the record: deficits UP under Nixon, down a bit under Carter, UP big time under Reagan/Bush/Dole, DOWN big (even surpluses) under Clinton, now WAY UP under Bush 2. No, Marty, the Repubs are not “hardly any better than the democratic big spenders”; they are massively WORSE!
Baby Huie, you do little more than spew your hate on this blog. You idiot, there is a difference between spending increases, the percent of increase and lastly deficits and debts. I certainly conceed that W and the current congress has spent like mad. This has not been the norm of past republicans in congress or the white house. Name the last president to cut the budget. I said budget, not debt or deficit!
What hate Moron Venick? It is YOU who is so hate-filled against anyone who disagrees with you that you are blinded to the fact that Bush has never vetoed anything sent to him by his fellow Republicans in Congress.
Yes, I know there are differences between spending, deficits and debt. I also know that spending has increased more both in total amount and in percentages under the current administration than under the previous administration. Unfortunately, a hate-filled moron like you can’t see that.
Big Baby,
Perhaps you should read my first post on the subject. I don’t disagree with you on Bush and the current congress. You made the point about this being the case with all republicans. I simply pointed out that this was not true. I then asked you a question. But then you you know that don’t you.
Moron Marty,
Republicans control every facet of our current government. They have made a FAR worse mess than Democrats ever dreamed of, both in terms of deficit levels and in terms of spending. They have sky-rocketed under the past several Republican administrations. In terms of % of GDP the actual budget went down under Clinton. But you already knew that didn’t you.
Doc
Marty–take a breath. We all know why you’re confused . . . because no one b**ches and moans about “big government” and “government spending” and “tax and spend liberals” like the Republicans.
Reagan for example hammered Carter in 1980 on this claim: “By 1960 our national debt stood at $284 billion. … Today the debt is $934 billion. … We can leave our children with an unrepayable massive debt and a shattered economy.”
Unfortunately, President Alzheimer’s was playing the same games today’s Republicans do–looking at nominal dollars instead of looking a current dollars adjusted for inflation. Or an even better way of thinking about it is to do as the economists do and look at national debt as a percentage of GDP. Debt/amount the country “earns”
When you look at debt as a percentage of GDP you see–well . . . click this link and look at the graph for yourself.
http://zfacts.com/p/318.html
Republicans run the debt up and Democrats push it down.
Facts don’t lie, but the Republican rhetoric sure does.
BTW, for those too lazy to click on the link, the national debt under Reagan–the national debt he said was “massive debt leading to a shattered economy” when it was Carter’s debt–DOUBLED under Reagan.
Right now, and remember when Reagan got all teary-eyed about our children having to pay almost a trillion dollars in national debt in 1980?
Under President Cuckoo-Bananas that national debt has now reached EIGHT TRILLION DOLLARS.
Republicans aren’t what they think they are, they aren’t what they say they are, they are what THEY DO.
Wow! Here for a while, although I often disagree with you, Proud Liberal, I respected your posts and thought you intellegent. But president Alzeimers. Show some class.
“Sow some class” … like by initiating name-calling.
You’re point is taken. I am sorry. Did not mean to offend, just playing with your ID. A little banter; that’s all. But I did offend – so again Ben, sorry.
accepted … by the way, I think yopu make a good point about escalating medical costs on another thread.
I have to laugh while I sob and suffer.
Hell Bush does not care about the national debt! He and his OWN IT! They get the interest! Do you have any doubt that they will only FURTHER this?
Example? I go buy a car or a house, I get saddled with debt and interest payments. Not so for the bushies. They pay cash and have no debt or interest to answer for.
And so goes the nation. Oh this is an absolutely OUTSTANDING circumstance if you already HAVE money and are invested. Whether America at large wins or loses…..you will be ok, heck you’ll even do better!
And the REAL beauty is that bush and company get to answer to this by cuts in spending…..domestically that is. Yes Medicare, welfare, and social security are nice……..but (sigh) we just can’t afford them anymore!
The rich get richer. The “national debt” is not part of them. They feed on it. Every job sent overseas is more money for them. Every worker for them is forced to take lower and lower pay. Every failure of an American is another opportunity for them to step up the exploitaition and denial of rights.
bush himself said “This is an impressive crowd. The haves and the have mores. I call you my base”
The deficit will only get bigger. The ruling class has done sold America short…..and awaits the dividend.
JR, well said.
When Reagan was asked if he authorized a covert and illegal war in Central America, he said, “I forgot.”
I wasn’t making a joke. It was an observation based on his own testimony: President Alzheimer’s.