Bush's mischief is the gift that keeps on raising the debt

[Octafish]

A letter to the editor from a smart person in Kalamazoo:



Bush's mischief is the gift that keeps on raising the debt

MLive.com Published: Thursday, July 28, 2011, 8:45 AM Updated: Thursday, July 28, 2011, 1:25 PM

The writer of the letter, "Increasing the debt ceiling is irresponsible," fails to indicate why "during Barack Obama's first two years in office, the U.S. government added more to the U.S. national debt then the first 100 U.S. Congresses combined."

The writer is unwilling to accept the fact that the effects of Bush's mischief did not stop when he left office. It carried over to this day and will continue to do so well into the future.

I refer the letter writer and readers to the New York Times piece: How the debt got this big. Click on the graphic at the bottom of each chart to obtain a full page easily readable view of the chart.

Notice in the "Policy changes under two presidents" chart that the largest "new costs" under Bush was Bush tax cuts of $1.812 trillion - larger than the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and defense spending.

And you know who benefited from these wars the most - the people making more than $250,000 each year with benefits accruing progressively more to the wealthiest.

So another letter writer's statement, "the current debt was a result of bad choices by George Bush and his friends," was indeed correct when unbiased people "deal in cold, hard facts rather than emotional hatred."

In the New York Times' "Budget projections and realities" chart, the projections issued in 2009 show ongoing deficits but the narrative states: that it is based on continuing Mr. Bush's policies (one of which is the Bush tax cuts).

Notice that had it not been for Bush's poor policies, Jan. 2001 projections show that the surplus Bush received from the Clinton years would have continued
to increase substantially. By continuing Bush's tax cuts on top of the debt incurred through the Bush years, Jan. 2009 projections show deficits will continue to grow.

So let's recover those past $1.812 trillion tax cuts through a net worth tax.

Paul H./Kalamazoo

SOURCE: http://www.mlive.com/opinion/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2011/07/bushs_mischief_is_the_gift_tha.html#incart_hbx

Testify.

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

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[Octafish]

3. Good point. War is a welfare program for the rich and makes a big impact on the red ink.

It was Bush who said "Money trumps peace.

Welcome to DU, CupFullOfTruth!

[formercia]

2. It's the only thing that Junior ever did right.

...if his intent was to destroy the Economy.

[Octafish]

4. Their Family Thing

Know your BFEE: Olympic Games Show Who’s Best Friends Forever with Authoritarians and Dictators

Must get tiresome to be such monsters. Everything they touch, they destroy.

[BNJMN]

5. They shuffled him off the stage pretty quickly.

I think, but have absolutely ZERO proof, that they knew McCain (or anyone they put up) would lose, so just let the economy nosedive (or helped it along? Or is that too far?) knowing it would take whoever we put into the WH at least 4 years of FT work to patch THAT mess up. Kind of an 'Atalanta's Golden Balls' type trick.

Anyways, thanks for the post and pic.

'+1'

[Octafish]

6. Certainly haven't heard much from the little turd from Crawford...

...and never anything good, for that matter.

Know your BFEE: Goldmine Sacked or The Best Way to Rob a Bank Is to Own One

PS: Welcome to DU, BNJMN!

[BNJMN]

7. Thanks, and I love good links as well, so thanks for that, too! [nt]

[swilton]

8. This article doesn't explain what happened since 2008 -

the Obama Administration whisked into office with the largest mandate and Democratic majorities in both houses was supposed to bring in a change in direction....While it would be overly optimistic to resolve the crises existing when Obama was inaugurated, turning away from the approaching precipice would have been possible...Rather than turning away, the policies are perpetuated....