Reply #8: This is an old chestnut from the Reagan era. [View All]

[Brian Sweat]

Only they got it wrong. It supposed to be, the deficit is less than the growth in the GDP. The problem is that they can say that this time around, because the deficit is greater than the growth in the GDP. I'll have a rant about this later.

$600 billion is 6 percent of the $10 trillion U.S. gross domestic product. Also, the interest on the $600 billion is more than the increase in federal revenue. In otherwards, even if we hold every other item on the budget to the same actual dollar amount, the increased cost in debt service will excede any growth in revenue. Not only are we spending it faster than we are taking it in, but the disparity is increasing. In three short years, Schleprock has taken us from a surplus, to deficit spending so severe that the country is at stake. The deficit is $2,000 for every man, woman and child in this country.


RANT

I am old enough to remember that in the eighties it was the Democrats who were concerned about what we considered at the time to be a huge deficit. The Republicans constantly dismissed our concernes by saying that the deficit was less than the growth in the GDP.


Fast forward 10 years and they are blaming the Democrats for the debt incurred in the eighties because the Democrats controlled the house. Nevermind that it was the Republicans (with the aid of a handful of blue dog Democrats) who voted for the budgets and debt ceiling increases.