Why is spending only bad for republicans when it is helping the nation rebuild or helping the needy? When republicans do it it changes into something oddly different. Hypocrite, thy name is republican.
'Deficit Hypocrites'
"Before considering what exactly is wrong with the conservative critique of deficits, it is first useful to see just how hypocritical many of them are about this topic. In reality, most conservative politicians dont care nearly as much about deficits as they claim. Consider the evidence: most Republicans in Congress did not become deficit hawks until after President Obama was elected. During the previous administration they were busy helping President Bush turn the budget surpluses of the Clinton era into large deficits. Most conservatives did not see this rapid increase in the national debt as a problem at all. Vice-President Cheney blithely dismissed those issues at the time by saying, Reagan proved deficits dont matter.
So clearly many Republicans think deficits are just fine when they are spending the publics money on their own political priorities. It didnt bother them to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan by massive deficit spending. And they were all too glad to add hundreds of billions to the national debt by passing several enormous tax cuts money that went largely to the wealthy. The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities has estimated that those wars and tax cuts will eventually contribute a whopping $7 trillion to federal deficits by 2019." Government is Good - The Deficit Scare: Myth vs. Reality
"Percentage of the current U.S. debt that was accumulated during Republican presidential terms: 71
Portion of debt-ceiling elevations since 1960 that have been signed into law by Republican presidents : 2/3
Percentage of profits American corporations paid in taxes in 1961 : 40.6 Today: 10.5
Portion of the increase in U.S. corporate profit margins since 2001 that come from depressed wages: 3/4
Percentage of Americans who say they did not have money to buy food at all times last year: 18.2
Percentage change in the median household wealth of white families since 2005 : -16 Of Hispanic families: -66 "
October 2011, page 15 (Harper's Magazine Index)
'Deficit Hypocrites'
"Before considering what exactly is wrong with the conservative critique of deficits, it is first useful to see just how hypocritical many of them are about this topic. In reality, most conservative politicians dont care nearly as much about deficits as they claim. Consider the evidence: most Republicans in Congress did not become deficit hawks until after President Obama was elected. During the previous administration they were busy helping President Bush turn the budget surpluses of the Clinton era into large deficits. Most conservatives did not see this rapid increase in the national debt as a problem at all. Vice-President Cheney blithely dismissed those issues at the time by saying, Reagan proved deficits dont matter.
So clearly many Republicans think deficits are just fine when they are spending the publics money on their own political priorities. It didnt bother them to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan by massive deficit spending. And they were all too glad to add hundreds of billions to the national debt by passing several enormous tax cuts money that went largely to the wealthy. The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities has estimated that those wars and tax cuts will eventually contribute a whopping $7 trillion to federal deficits by 2019." Government is Good - The Deficit Scare: Myth vs. Reality
"Percentage of the current U.S. debt that was accumulated during Republican presidential terms: 71
Portion of debt-ceiling elevations since 1960 that have been signed into law by Republican presidents : 2/3
Percentage of profits American corporations paid in taxes in 1961 : 40.6 Today: 10.5
Portion of the increase in U.S. corporate profit margins since 2001 that come from depressed wages: 3/4
Percentage of Americans who say they did not have money to buy food at all times last year: 18.2
Percentage change in the median household wealth of white families since 2005 : -16 Of Hispanic families: -66 "
October 2011, page 15 (Harper's Magazine Index)