Dad2three
Gold Member
And ironically we keep running up government debt by not taxing enough to pay our bills,
No, we keep running up government debt by spending more than we can afford.
We can leave our children with an unrepayable massive debt and a shattered economy, or we can leave them liberty in a land where every individual has the opportunity to be whatever God intended us to be. All it takes is a little common sense and recognition of our own ability. Together we can forge a new beginning for America."
- Ronald Reagan: Address to the Nation on the Economy, Feb. 5, 1981
The irony of this speech is that the national debt was not out of control at all in 1981, in fact the national debt was at the lowest point it has ever been since World War II in 1980. In the speech Reagan cited national debt figures in raw dollar amounts, unadjusted for inflation and not tied to GDP. Those figures are essentially worthless and no economist would ever use them as a measure of the national debt. But presenting the national debt as a problem was a means of justifying significant cuts in domestic spending, which he framed as "redistribution".
How Reagan Sowed the Seeds of America s Demise
"Starving the beast" is a political strategy employed by American conservatives in order to limit government spending by cutting taxes in order to deprive the government of revenue in a deliberate effort to force the federal government to reduce spending.
Before his election as President, then-candidate Ronald Reagan foreshadowed the strategy during the 1980 US Presidential debates, saying "John Anderson tells us that first we've got to reduce spending before we can reduce taxes. Well, if you've got a kid that's extravagant, you can lecture him all you want to about his extravagance. Or you can cut his allowance and achieve the same end much quicker."
Starve the beast - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia
Do you remember 2001 when we had a budget surplus. Alan Greenspan testified before Congress in favor of the Bush tax cuts,"we are in danger of paying down the debt too fast". How absurd is that statement today! By the way, not a single GOPer voted for the 93 reconciliation act that led to the balanced budget and eventual surplus.
The Republicans would not pay down the debt when times were much better. Now they want to focus on deficits.
Historical Source of Revenue as Share of GDP