Comments on: Whose Deficit Is It? http://rationallythinkingoutloud.wordpress.com/2009/06/12/whose-deficit-is-it/ Just one guy thinking out loud on a the issues in religion, atheism, politics & science Sun, 29 Nov 2009 11:27:03 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: J. Jerrald Hayes http://rationallythinkingoutloud.wordpress.com/2009/06/12/whose-deficit-is-it/#comment-185 J. Jerrald Hayes Sat, 13 Jun 2009 14:02:53 +0000 http://rationallythinkingoutloud.wordpress.com/?p=128#comment-185 Dave with regard to the Washington Post graph showing deficits I think it is incredibly misleading. It a comparison of Apples on the left Bushes side against Apples & Oranges on the right Obama's side. Back in February Obama and his administration said they weren't going to play any of the budget accounting tricks that the previous administration employed to make the deficit appear smaller that it really was and they put the costs of the Iraq War (a war of his choosing) and the cost of natural disasters (which he (bush) had no control over) on the books.   Obama and his administration very clearly stood up and took responsibility by making them part of the deficit figure for spending and costs that the Bush administration ran up, hid, and hoped the American public would think were covered. With that move Obama and his administration are taking accountability for the dollars the Bush administration tried to ignore and hid.   As for analyzing Bush’s deficit to see how much of his deficits he “inherited” I am wondering did you not read the Times reporting or look at the chart? When Bush took over he inherited a surplus.   As for Obama choosing to increase spending yes he has but that is part of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keynesian_economics" rel="nofollow"><strong>Keynesian economics</strong></a>. There are three things that drive an economy; spending by business, spending by individual consumers and government spending.   Our economy, the worlds economy, stalled in 2008-2009 and spending from the business and individual sectors all but dried up. It takes a priming and a push to get the economy rolling and started again. The 7 percent of the deficit that comes from the 145 billion dollar stimulus bill in my mind is money well spent. We aren't going to dig ourselves out of this hole with (Republican) tax cuts and reduced government spending (less stimulus) and hoping things (the market) will just take care of themselves. The economy needs a push and enough fuel in the tank to hold things together and get things started to a point where we (American business and markets) can get to our feet and provide the energy and momentum to carry the load again.   If Obama and his administration had cut government spending we would have even greater unemployment, frozen markets, and still be headed downhill in a depression and people would be screaming for action.   Obama's "willfull" spending both by extending some Bush era policies (like the war in Iraq and the patch for the altenative minimum tax) and supporting the Wall Street Bailouts and his own stimulus package make up only around a third of the deficit that the extreme talking heads on the right are ranting about. Dave with regard to the Washington Post graph showing deficits I think it is incredibly misleading. It a comparison of Apples on the left Bushes side against Apples & Oranges on the right Obama’s side. Back in February Obama and his administration said they weren’t going to play any of the budget accounting tricks that the previous administration employed to make the deficit appear smaller that it really was and they put the costs of the Iraq War (a war of his choosing) and the cost of natural disasters (which he (bush) had no control over) on the books.
 
Obama and his administration very clearly stood up and took responsibility by making them part of the deficit figure for spending and costs that the Bush administration ran up, hid, and hoped the American public would think were covered. With that move Obama and his administration are taking accountability for the dollars the Bush administration tried to ignore and hid.
 
As for analyzing Bush’s deficit to see how much of his deficits he “inherited” I am wondering did you not read the Times reporting or look at the chart? When Bush took over he inherited a surplus.
 
As for Obama choosing to increase spending yes he has but that is part of Keynesian economics. There are three things that drive an economy; spending by business, spending by individual consumers and government spending.
 
Our economy, the worlds economy, stalled in 2008-2009 and spending from the business and individual sectors all but dried up. It takes a priming and a push to get the economy rolling and started again. The 7 percent of the deficit that comes from the 145 billion dollar stimulus bill in my mind is money well spent. We aren’t going to dig ourselves out of this hole with (Republican) tax cuts and reduced government spending (less stimulus) and hoping things (the market) will just take care of themselves. The economy needs a push and enough fuel in the tank to hold things together and get things started to a point where we (American business and markets) can get to our feet and provide the energy and momentum to carry the load again.
 
If Obama and his administration had cut government spending we would have even greater unemployment, frozen markets, and still be headed downhill in a depression and people would be screaming for action.
 
Obama’s "willfull" spending both by extending some Bush era policies (like the war in Iraq and the patch for the altenative minimum tax) and supporting the Wall Street Bailouts and his own stimulus package make up only around a third of the deficit that the extreme talking heads on the right are ranting about.

]]> By: Dave http://rationallythinkingoutloud.wordpress.com/2009/06/12/whose-deficit-is-it/#comment-183 Dave Sat, 13 Jun 2009 05:06:13 +0000 http://rationallythinkingoutloud.wordpress.com/?p=128#comment-183 more about defending the Obama administration against the hysterical right wing rants and claims that he/they have “tripled (or quadrupled) the deficit” which is misleading dishonest hyperbole. By your own admission that's true with your posting the Washington Post graph that the deficit has indeed tripled. If Bush was responsible for his budget deficits when he was President, shouldn't Obama be held equally accountable? Why not analyze Bush's deficits and see how much of the deficits are actually his versus what he "inherited"? Of course I think it's all ridiculous and I'm not saying we should see how much of Bush's spending he "inherited" from Clinton. Bush is responsible for his deficits from when he was President just as Obama is equally responsible for his deficits while he is President and there shouldn't be double standards or excuses. Obama willfully decided to spend over and above what he "inherited" when he could have not increased spending just as he could have disinherited himself by not willfully continuing the policies of his predicessor. more about defending the Obama administration against the hysterical right wing rants and claims that he/they have “tripled (or quadrupled) the deficit” which is misleading dishonest hyperbole.

By your own admission that’s true with your posting the Washington Post graph that the deficit has indeed tripled. If Bush was responsible for his budget deficits when he was President, shouldn’t Obama be held equally accountable? Why not analyze Bush’s deficits and see how much of the deficits are actually his versus what he “inherited”? Of course I think it’s all ridiculous and I’m not saying we should see how much of Bush’s spending he “inherited” from Clinton. Bush is responsible for his deficits from when he was President just as Obama is equally responsible for his deficits while he is President and there shouldn’t be double standards or excuses. Obama willfully decided to spend over and above what he “inherited” when he could have not increased spending just as he could have disinherited himself by not willfully continuing the policies of his predicessor.

]]> By: J. Jerrald Hayes http://rationallythinkingoutloud.wordpress.com/2009/06/12/whose-deficit-is-it/#comment-180 J. Jerrald Hayes Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:47:32 +0000 http://rationallythinkingoutloud.wordpress.com/?p=128#comment-180 Dave Obama and his administration have adopted or continued some of Bush's policies and the NY Times article and the chart I think makes that clear but this isn't about placing all the blame on the Bush administration and is more about defending the Obama administration against the hysterical right wing rants and claims that he/they have "tripled (or quadrupled) the deficit" which is misleading dishonest hyperbole. Dave Obama and his administration have adopted or continued some of Bush’s policies and the NY Times article and the chart I think makes that clear but this isn’t about placing all the blame on the Bush administration and is more about defending the Obama administration against the hysterical right wing rants and claims that he/they have “tripled (or quadrupled) the deficit” which is misleading dishonest hyperbole.

]]> By: Dave http://rationallythinkingoutloud.wordpress.com/2009/06/12/whose-deficit-is-it/#comment-178 Dave Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:14:02 +0000 http://rationallythinkingoutloud.wordpress.com/?p=128#comment-178 Last time I checked Obama was President, not Bush. Once you adopt your predecessors policies, they become your policies. Trying to blame the current ongoing profligate spending on some politician who not only is not even President any more but is retired from any political office whatsoever is lame as clearly Bush isn't President now. Last time I checked Obama was President, not Bush. Once you adopt your predecessors policies, they become your policies. Trying to blame the current ongoing profligate spending on some politician who not only is not even President any more but is retired from any political office whatsoever is lame as clearly Bush isn’t President now.

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