Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Why Government Spending Is Not Out of Control (Reagan/Bush advisor Bruce Bartlett)
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2013/01/25/Why-Government-Spending-Is-Not-Out-of-Control.aspx#page1It is a standard talking point of Republicans and deficit hawks of all political stripes that federal spending is out of control; that major surgery is needed, especially on entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare, to get the budget on a sustainable course.
In fact, our long-term deficit situation is not nearly as severe as even many budget experts believe. The problem is that they are looking at recent history and near-term projections that are overly impacted by one-time factors related to the economic crisis and massive Republican tax cuts that lowered revenues far below normal.
Taking a longer-term view, such as that in a recent Treasury Department report, shows that our longer-term fiscal problem is in fact quite manageable.
As the chart below illustrates, federal spending ballooned in fiscal year 2009 mainly because of what economists call automatic stabilizers programs already in law such as unemployment compensation that rises whenever a recession occurs. Spending rose from 20.7 percent of the gross domestic product in fiscal year 2008 to 25 percent in 2009.
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2013/01/25/~/media/Images/Inline/2013/01/01252013_Spending_Chart.ashx
Republicans would have us believe that all of this resulted from Barack Obamas policies, but this is simply a partisan lie. Fiscal year 2009 actually began on September 1, 2008, and was based on the budget that George W. Bush submitted in January 2008.
. . . more (read it and share it - it's good):
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2013/01/25/Why-Government-Spending-Is-Not-Out-of-Control.aspx#page1
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
5 replies, 1286 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (2)
ReplyReply to this post
5 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Why Government Spending Is Not Out of Control (Reagan/Bush advisor Bruce Bartlett) (Original Post)
swag
Jan 2013
OP
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)1. Wow ...
Bartlett is gonna get kicked out the party!
Wait a minute, nevermind ...
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)2. What do you bet ...
this will NOT be featured on fox or drudge or hannity?
swag
(26,490 posts)3. No cray here. It will not penetrate the RWNJ filter bubble, you're right.
Dawson Leery
(19,348 posts)4. k/r
roseBudd
(8,718 posts)5. If you are on Facebook send Bruce a friend request...
very lively status updates
http://www.facebook.com/bruce.bartlett