When Raygun, Bush I and Bush II were in office, conservatives said that "deficits don't matter"

[rox63]

Now that a Dem is president, they are all in a lather about the deficit. WTF?

[madokie]

1. Thats the way they work

by moving the goal post are they ever to win an election otherwise they wouldn't exist today as they are.

[pinboy3niner]

2. And it's not just the issue of deficit levels

How about "up or down vote," civilian court trials for terrorism suspects, even the President addressing schoolchildren? The list is long, indeed. Having a very selective memory seems to be a requirement for GOP membership.

[fasttense]

3. As Thom Hartmann says, it's the 2 Santa Clause theory.

Spend like a Republican's widow while in office, claim that deficits don't matter, boost the economy with the federal spending, make all your fat cronies rich - the 1st Santa Clause.

Then when Democrats are in office, yell and scream about the deficit, make your opponent justify every cent spent on social programs, claim the sky is falling if we don't immediately reduce the deficit by cutting ALL social programs - the 2nd Santa Clause.

It's a deliberate strategy that many here constantly fall for.

The truth is deficits don't matter, not for a sovereign country. It's only when you give up your sovereignty to corporations, another country or in trade agreements that a deficit really matters.

[dkf]

4. Clinton said deficits do matter and I agree with him.

Now we democrats are trying to say deficits don't matter too? Or is that just this board?

Deficits don't matter until the people loaning you money to live decide they do. Then they have you by the balls and can demand you cut all sorts of things. Will the Chinese be happy funding a retirement when their average citizen has no safety net? What will they ask of us when we go begging to them asking not to cut our access to funds?

[MurrayDelph]

5. They say a lot of shit they don't really mean

I remember being admonished that one had to be respectful of the office, even if you didn't like the person in charge.

[TampaAnimus2010]

6. Both sides spend like drunken sailors...

We need to stop the wars, bring all the boys home, AND get control on some social programs before we end up like Greece.

[rox63]

7. The repubs left a huge deficit when they left the WH

Even though they inherited a surplus from Clinton. They also left Obama with an economy that was in ruins. This budget nightmare started way before 1/21/2009.

[TampaAnimus2010]

8. Actually, the real climb was the early 1970s...

http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/noll.publicdebt

Right about the same time we came off what was left of the gold standard. That was the last barrier to runaway spending, and when it fell -- politicians had free reign to spend us into oblivion.