What Would Our Debt Be If We Hadn't Extended The Bush Tax Cuts?

ChoppinBroccoli

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Mon Jul-18-11 02:33 PM
Original message

What Would Our Debt Be If We Hadn't Extended The Bush Tax Cuts?

This chart proves conclusively that if everyone actually paid his/her fair share, we wouldn't have this "debt crisis" we're facing right now. Notice how the blue line actually goes DOWN for the next 15 years or so? You know what that means? That means the debt would be getting paid DOWN during those years (in other words, we'd be running a SURPLUS).

And that's without cutting a single dime of spending.

So when you show this chart to righties, and they start to whine and cry about raising taxes, just know that what they're saying is, "Oh, I'm extremely concerned about the national debt and all...........but............I don't WANNA pay my fair share!!!"

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Ozymanithrax

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Mon Jul-18-11 02:39 PM
Response to Original message

1. That is a bit misleading.

Edited on Mon Jul-18-11 02:39 PM by Ozymanithrax

because it assumes that all other things would remain the same.

Would Gore have pursued Bush's ownership initiative that created the housing bubble? Would Gore have gone to war with Iraq (I assume that Gore would not have stopped 9/11).

The economic policies of the Bush years to fight unfunded wars, and his domestic economic policies to create bubbles to fake economic well being are probably as big a driver as the stupid tax cuts.

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MrDiaz

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Mon Jul-18-11 03:54 PM
Response to Reply #1

4. in response to

"Bush's ownership initiative that created the housing bubble?"

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/did-clinton-cause-the-banking-crisis.aspx

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Mon Jul-18-11 04:05 PM
Response to Reply #1

5. Gore may not have been able to stop 9/11, but

you can be sure there would have been a more effective response to it and we might still have our towers.

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polmaven

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Mon Jul-18-11 02:41 PM
Response to Original message

2. And how many millions

of unemployed would now be homeless, without a dime to our names, which would actually prolong the economic downturn, thereby preventing a surplus?

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hfojvt

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Mon Jul-18-11 02:52 PM
Response to Original message

3. actually we would not be running a surplus

it works like this (taking the percentage from the chart) and assuming 3% growth in GDP after 2011 and debt grows by, say, 2% (not an actual estimate, but just a for example to show how the debt can increase but still decrease as a share of GDP)

year ** debt **** gdp *** debt as share
2010 ** 11.50 ** 14.50 ** 80%
2011 ** 11.73 ** 14.94 ** 78.5%
2012 ** 11.97 ** 15.39 ** 77.8%
2013 ** 12.21 ** 15.85 ** 77.03%

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