didnt try to connect anything, just reading about past negotiations. and conclude that during that administration deficit spending seemed ok, for the sake of national security.
In the past the debt wasn't nearly as high as a percentage of GDP. That is what really matters, and what needs to be controlled.
Kind of like a football team that always leans on a high powered O until one day they actually need a D. Always a tipping point. The problem is that both parties have kicked the can long enough and we are running out of road.
revenues have increased because the unemployment rate has gone from 9.8% to 7.7% in that same time frame. not saying that spending cuts didn't play some small part in that because the government could use some trimming; never said anything different. however, your deduction that as you cut spending somehow equated to increased revenues in a direct manner is incorrect. regarding the specifics of the spending cuts, the republicans have made spending cuts their mission but they can't detail what they would cut? give me a freaking break, Pride. even you know better than that. here's the deal, they want the President to be the one who first suggests the details of spending cuts so they can pin cuts to medicare on democrats during the next two elections. it's funny to me that the republicans have been running on spending cuts for the past 4 years yet they cannot detail what they would like to cut. This would be equivalent to Republicans capitulating on taxes only for the Dems to turn around and say "We don't know whose taxes to raise nor how much to raise them!" It's pure politics and it's blatantly obvious.
thing is, right now they have reached an agreement on tax increases that, depending upon the source, will be in the 1.3 to 1.5 trillion range and likely at 1.4 trillion. this will be achieved by closing loopholes and deductions and raising the top marginal rates from 35% to 37.6%, a compromise from the initially proposed 39.6%. what is holding up the entire process now is that neither the dems or repubs want to be the first to suggest which entitlements to cut for fear of the political ramifications over the next four years. If Obama puts entitlement cuts on the table first then repubs will hammer dems in 2014 and 2016 over entitlement cuts and if Boehner puts entitlement cuts on the table first then the exact opposite happens. Both sides know exactly what needs to be done they are just both lacking the testicles to do so. I guess if you were going to assign some culpability for this one it would go to the repubs because spending cuts are supposed to be their cup of tea but I also understand their desire to be painted as the medicare slashers in the coming elections. they just need to hold a joint news conference and agree like school children to say it at the same time, "We are cutting defense, medicare and medicaid to balance the budget. We agree this is the only way."
right after WW2 our debt to gdp ration was actually worse than it is now. the difference is that the politicians of that day swiftly passed legislation to cut spending and raise taxes temporarily until the debt was under control and the budget was balanced. oh how times have changed.
No, culpability belongs to Obama. Stop blaming republicans for everything. This is his plan to save the economy. That is what he ran on. Not "re-elect me and we can let the republicans make the hard choices." It was easy for him to identify tax increases. He doesn't want to cut spending.
I'm not blaming Republicans for everything but it's not like spending cuts are Obama's issue. Obama campaigned on raising tax revenue; the Republicans campaigned on spending cuts. Anyone who is serious about addressing the issue has to admit that both are required; spending cuts more so than tax revenue and I've been very clear on TF about my stance on the budget agreement. It should be about 2/3 spending cuts and 1/3 tax revenue and eventually we will get there. But doesn't it raise any alarms with you that the Republicans campaigned on something that they cannot give us details about? I'm not giving the dems or Obama a pass on this one because they should be proposing spending cuts also but the dems didn't run on cutting spending, the dems didn't hold the country hostage over raising the debt limit unless "we have dollar for dollar spending cuts," so please spare me the idea that the Republicans bear no culpability because the lion share is on them.
