Economics Makes My Head Hurt
01/04/07 08:55
I was a flabbergasted yesterday when dubya announced that he would
submit a proposal in February that would balance
the budget by 2012. This guy inherited the
largest surplus in history, promptly turned it
into the largest deficit in history by giving
enormous tax cuts to the wealthy, and now thinks
he should be commended for coming up with a plan
to fix it by cutting government spending. And by
cutting government spending he doesn't mean
military or corporate welfare spending, he means
cutting funding for social programs and
education and infrastructure.
Yeah, he really said that. And now he plans to walk the walk by balancing the budget 3 years after he leaves office. He's so responsible.
Why is it not obvious to everyone that this administration is systematically destroying our government? They have successfully instilled two myths into the minds of the American public. One is the notion that paying taxes is somehow un-American and the other is the ridiculous idea that whatever is good for the rich is by definition good for the country.
I went in search of some numbers and quickly bored myself, but here are a few morsels I've been chewing on. According to the latest data from Citizens for Tax Justice, the total cost of dubya's tax cuts is estimated at 2.4 trillion dollars, and interestingly enough, these treasury figures show that he has added roughly the same amount to the national debt in his 6 years as president. I also learned that the national debt is approaching 9 trillion dollars. The vast majority of our citizens are oblivious to it but every man, woman and child in the US has over $28,000 as their share of that debt. We spend over 400 billion dollars per year just paying the interest. Our government cannot sustain this kind of fiscal irresponsibility forever. There's going to be a lot of anger when the bills start having to be paid.
"We've got to make sure we spend the people's money wisely," the president said in a Rose Garden statement.
Yeah, he really said that. And now he plans to walk the walk by balancing the budget 3 years after he leaves office. He's so responsible.
The White House and Congress need to "keep this economy growing by making tax relief permanent," Bush said
Why is it not obvious to everyone that this administration is systematically destroying our government? They have successfully instilled two myths into the minds of the American public. One is the notion that paying taxes is somehow un-American and the other is the ridiculous idea that whatever is good for the rich is by definition good for the country.
I went in search of some numbers and quickly bored myself, but here are a few morsels I've been chewing on. According to the latest data from Citizens for Tax Justice, the total cost of dubya's tax cuts is estimated at 2.4 trillion dollars, and interestingly enough, these treasury figures show that he has added roughly the same amount to the national debt in his 6 years as president. I also learned that the national debt is approaching 9 trillion dollars. The vast majority of our citizens are oblivious to it but every man, woman and child in the US has over $28,000 as their share of that debt. We spend over 400 billion dollars per year just paying the interest. Our government cannot sustain this kind of fiscal irresponsibility forever. There's going to be a lot of anger when the bills start having to be paid.
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