The Republican Party is famous, or rather infamous, for creating a vast majority of the national debt, and yet they keep on acting as if the Democratic Party are the villains in this regard!
George H. W. Bush, competing for the GOP Presidential nomination in 1980, attacked candidate Ronald Reagan’s claim that tax cuts would NOT cause an increase in the national debt! Bush called it “voodoo economics”! Of course, that is exactly what happened under Reagan, with a tripling of the national debt from one to three trillion dollars!
The first President Bush was more cautious on tax cuts, and actually increased taxes and was bitterly criticized by conservatives, which helped to cause his defeat in 1992!
His son, George W. Bush, managed to almost double the national debt from 5 to 10 trillion dollars, meaning just Reagan and the second Bush created nearly a 7 trillion dollar increase in the debt, much of it because of Reaganomics and Bushonomics, meaning tax cuts for the wealthy who had no need for it, as many themselves would admit!
Meanwhile, the national debt went up much more slowly under Jimmy Carter, often considered stingy in his desire to cut government spending and avoid major tax cuts! Under Bill Clinton, there was also a rise in taxes on the wealthy, and a more careful handling of the budget so as to add far less debt!
So under the first Bush, Carter and Clinton, only about 2 trillion dollars was added to the national debt, which was one trillion when Carter left office!
So the two Democratic Presidents were better at managing the national budget and avoiding major debt growth, while the two Republican Presidents added most of it, and father Bush added more than Carter and Clinton, but also kept the idea of “voodoo economics” in mind during his Presidency!
But now, in the midst of propaganda that giving the unemployed extra months of compensation in the worst economic climate since the 1930s will bust the budget and add to the debt, leading conservatives in the GOP argue that major tax cuts must continue to the wealthy!
Are these Republicans living in the real world, or are they just so lacking in concern about what they claim to be a major problem only when it affects average Americans? 🙁
Is this country to be run for the top two or three percent, or for the American people at large? 🙁
This is what Americans must consider as they go and vote this November in the midterm elections! Will they vote out of ignorance and fear, and allow name calling to determine their decision; or out of reality, common sense, and realization that they are being fed propaganda to manipulate them?
The future of this country, and getting out of this economic mess we call the Great Recession, is up for grabs, a terrifying scenario! 🙁
If George W. Bush had not made such massive tax cuts a staple of his policymaking, maybe there would be more funds available for the Federal Government to use for more important areas, such as social services, unemployment benefits and education. It seems like Republicans want to slash taxes left and right with no regard for the impending effects. Tax cuts take away from Federal funds and as you said, generally benefit the wealthy. It’s a practice aimed at appeasing Republican supporting, contributors in various sectors of the economy. Republicans complain about Federal Spending and a the size of the Federal Government, yet they gave us the Department of Homeland Security,which has yet to prove its worth and quiet the debate on its effect on National Security. Republicans have no problem spending tax payer money for Defense and contracts that favor their supporters. What if we cut the Defense Budget from $800 billion to $500 billion, and then change the way we do things in Afghanistan and Iraq. The focus on military spending and less emphasis on education, health care, and other social services is a similar practice to some of the more militarized, third world nations we protest against. The United States seems to still be living in the age of the Cold War, and while Defense is important, don’t you wonder whether or not we embellish the severity of the threats to our National Security?
You are absolutely correct, Jonathan, in your analysis!
Unfortunately, the Military Industrial Complex that President Eisenhower complained about in his Farewell Address in January, 1961, is a reality even today in the age of Terrorism, as it was in the age of Communism! 🙁
Our government is, indeed, reacting more like a third world nation in some respects, and undermining our prosperity, and promoting the rich becoming richer and the poor becoming poorer, and the middle class slipping into poverty! 🙁 Barack Obama is trying to change that, but has tremendous opposition from the “Haves” in our society who benefit from the military spending and tax cuts on the wealthy! 🙁
Do we embellish the severity of the threats to our national security? Hard to say, obviously, but it is always easy to promote fear and insecurity, in order to gain the budget desired for defense! Meanwhile, somehow, our domestic needs are made to be insignificant, against the rich avoiding taxation! A sad state of affairs, indeed! 🙂