Reply #29: the Right has learned to embrace fiscal irresponsibility [View All]

[ulTRAX]

In a way you're correct. Who knows what a billion let alone a trillion looks like. The Right takes advantage of these abstractions and confuses the issue with other stats like the deficit/debt's percentage of the GNP. But the absolute deficit numbers SHOULD be used simply because they are the TRUE numbers.

Since Reagan the Right has been using fiscal irresponsibility as a political weapon to strangle government. It's not true to say the public has no understanding of these issues. Gore DID win more votes in 2000 running on a more responsible budget. Even Bush ran pretending to be a fiscally responsible. THAT'S the true bait and switch story here. Just check out this old Bush press release http://romcache.tripod.com/Bush2000PressRelease.pdf If you're running XP SP2 be sure to allow the content to load.

If the Right is targeting the fiscal health of government to bring about its anti-government revolution, then strategically the Democrats MUST counter the Right's Big Lie that tax cuts, no matter how irresponsible, are a free lunch. NOT using the true deficit numbers is surrendering the issue. NOT being creative and making these astronomical number less abstract is also surrendering the issue. Bush should NOT be given a free pass on that 150 BILLION being borrowed from the federal trust funds not should Kerry refuse to use the TRUE deficit numbers if they work to his advantage. If Dems don't use this issue now when it counts the most... when will they? Or are Democrats complicit in hiding the true fiscal health of the nation from the public?