Bush Tax Cuts, Wars Account For Nearly Half Of Public Debt [View All]

[sabrina 1]

Yet, both the Tax Cuts and the Wars continue while the American people are asked to 'share the sacrifice'!

Our leaders are of the opinion that those responsible for the debt should be rewarded while the elderly and the disabled and dependent children, and America's workers should be put on 'Austerity' programs to help keep them going.

We never hear 'something has to be done about the Wars and the Bush Tax Cuts' in relation to the debt.

We DO hear a lot about 'Entitlement Programs going broke'.

There IS a connection between the two, but NOT the one they are hoping we will make.

They have raided the SS fund to pay their debts and they do not want to pay it back. Because that would mean making the Wealthy 'share the sacrifice'.

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Off The Charts

As we’ve noted, my colleagues Kathy Ruffing and Jim Horney have updated CBPP’s analysis showing that the economic downturn, President Bush’s tax cuts, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq explain virtually the entire federal budget deficit over the next ten years. So, what about the public debt, which is basically the sum of annual budget deficits, minus annual surpluses, over the nation’s entire history?

The complementary chart, below, shows that the Bush-era tax cuts and the Iraq and Afghanistan wars — including their associated interest costs — account for almost half of the projected public debt in 2019 (measured as a share of the economy) if we continue current policies.

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As Kathy and Jim note, simply letting the Bush tax cuts expire on schedule (or paying for any portions that policymakers decide to extend) would stabilize the debt-to-GDP ratio for the next decade. While we’d have to do much more to keep the debt stable over the longer run, that would be a huge accomplishment.

It makes zero sense for them to be 'looking at Entitlement programs' to try to reduce the debt. Unless they want to keep the SS surplus stable so they can continue to pay for the wars and keep taxes low for themselves.

They have already cut SS benefits by not paying the yearly inflation rate.

Imho, they should:

* Increase SS benefits to help stimulate the economy.
* Lift or raise the cap on SS
* Hold an emergency session of Congress to end the Bush Cuts now.
* Corps who outsource jobs should pay higher taxes.
* End the wars as quickly as possible
* Cut the Pentagon budget in half at least.
* Don't even think about cutting SS, Medicare or Medicaid.

I'm sure there's more that can be done, I am not an economist, math gives me a headache. But it's clear we are being lied to that cutting 'entitlement programs' would even make a dent in the deficit. All it would do is to encourage them to keep the wars going and keep taxes low for those who need it least.

Hands off SS, Medicare and Medicaid! Tax the Wealthy and Democrats should be all over the airwaves blaming Republicans, accusing them of being on the side of Wall St. not Main St. And let them whine all the want about it.

Whicheve Party takes a stand on this issue, will win in 2012 imo.