"Partisan Finger-Pointing Misses Real Deficit Story" by Christopher Payne at Bloomberg News

[applegrove]

Partisan Finger-Pointing Misses Real Deficit Story

by Christopher Payne at Bloomberg News

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-27/partisan-finger-pointing-misses-real-deficit-story-bgov-insight.html

"SNIP...........................................

The federal deficit is a politically charged and highly partisan issue. Yet too little of the debate is based on what actually caused the budget to go so deeply into the red. Democrats blame the Bush-era tax cuts and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, while Republicans point the finger at stimulus measures and runaway domestic spending.

Both sides miss the mark. A closer analysis of what’s changed in the U.S. fiscal landscape offers a clearer way to think about the deficit and, most importantly, a more practical way to do something about it.

There’s no denying the U.S. government’s fiscal position took a nose dive in the years following the financial crisis of 2008. At the end of fiscal 2007, accumulated federal debt held by the public equaled 36.3 percent of the U.S. economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, or GDP. By fiscal 2011, public debt had almost doubled to 67.7 percent of GDP.

The annual budget deficit, which feeds the debt, averaged 9.3 percent of GDP during the past three fiscal years. Compare this to the three years before the crisis, 2005 through 2007, when deficits averaged 1.9 percent of GDP. The deterioration is stunning: The average annual deficit ballooned by 7.4 percentage points in the years after the crisis.

............................................SNIP"

[applegrove]

1. The Economy is the GOP's fault. They have refused to allow Obama and the Dems

more stimulus spending. They own this recession.