The Fiscal Legacy of GW Bush

[BDBoop]

Bruce Bartlett: The Fiscal Legacy of George W. Bush - NYTimes.com

The author;

Bruce Bartlett held senior policy roles in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations and served on the staffs of Representatives Jack Kemp and Ron Paul. He is the author of “The Benefit and the Burden: Tax Reform – Why We Need It and What It Will Take.”

The article;

Republicans would have us believe that somehow we could have avoided the recession and balanced the budget since 2009 if only they had been in charge. This would be a neat trick considering that the recession began in December 2007, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research.

They would also have us believe that all of the increase in debt resulted solely from higher spending, nothing from lower revenues caused by tax cuts. And they continually imply that one of the least popular spending increases of recent years, the Troubled Asset Relief Program, was an Obama administration program, when in fact it was a Bush administration initiative proposed by the Treasury Department that was signed into law by Mr. Bush on Oct. 3, 2008.

Lastly, Republicans continue to insist that tax cuts are highly stimulative, often saying that they add nothing to the debt, when this is obviously ridiculous.

Conversely, they are adamant that tax increases must not be part of any deficit-reduction package because they never reduce deficits and instead are spent. This is also ridiculous, as the experience of the Clinton administration clearly shows. The new C.B.O. data confirm these facts.

 

[Warrior102]

Is this the mess that Obama said he would clear up and failed on that promise too?

 

[BDBoop]

Dude, there is no way that you read the article.

 

[Oddball]

 

[Warrior102]

I read your executive summary.

 

[PredFan]

Bruce Bartlett: The Fiscal Legacy of George W. Bush - NYTimes.com

The author;

Bruce Bartlett held senior policy roles in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations and served on the staffs of Representatives Jack Kemp and Ron Paul. He is the author of “The Benefit and the Burden: Tax Reform – Why We Need It and What It Will Take.”

The article;

Republicans would have us believe that somehow we could have avoided the recession and balanced the budget since 2009 if only they had been in charge. This would be a neat trick considering that the recession began in December 2007, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research.

They would also have us believe that all of the increase in debt resulted solely from higher spending, nothing from lower revenues caused by tax cuts. And they continually imply that one of the least popular spending increases of recent years, the Troubled Asset Relief Program, was an Obama administration program, when in fact it was a Bush administration initiative proposed by the Treasury Department that was signed into law by Mr. Bush on Oct. 3, 2008.

Lastly, Republicans continue to insist that tax cuts are highly stimulative, often saying that they add nothing to the debt, when this is obviously ridiculous.

Conversely, they are adamant that tax increases must not be part of any deficit-reduction package because they never reduce deficits and instead are spent. This is also ridiculous, as the experience of the Clinton administration clearly shows. The new C.B.O. data confirm these facts.

1. Nothing there backs up the BS story that Bush caused any of that.

2. No mention of the fact that Bush tried 5 times to rein in Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac.

3. Tax cuts have been shown to increase revenue. he and the progs don't like that but it is true.

4. It's funny how a Republican is a complete and utter moron in the eyes of the left until said republican loses his mind and goes off the rail, then he's a genius.

 

[BDBoop]

The CBO doesn't count then, huh?

CBO | Changes in CBO's Baseline Projections Since January 2001

 

[BDBoop]

From the OP:

The 2001 tax cut did nothing to stimulate the economy, yet Republicans pushed for additional tax cuts in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2008. The economy continued to languish even as the Treasury hemorrhaged revenue, which fell to 17.5 percent of the gross domestic product in 2008 from 20.6 percent in 2000. Republicans abolished Paygo in 2002, and spending rose to 20.7 percent of G.D.P. in 2008 from 18.2 percent in 2001.

According to the C.B.O., by the end of the Bush administration, legislated tax cuts reduced revenues and increased the national debt by $1.6 trillion. Slower-than-expected growth further reduced revenues by $1.4 trillion.

 

[Oddball]

1. Nothing there backs up the BS story that Bush caused any of that.

2. No mention of the fact that Bush tried 5 times to rein in Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac.

3. Tax cuts have been shown to increase revenue. he and the progs don't like that but it is true.

4. It's funny how a Republican is a complete and utter moron in the eyes of the left until said republican loses his mind and goes off the rail, then he's a genius.

5. Spending -which Chimpola did far too much of- causes debt, not tax cuts.