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Title: Economic Downturn and Bush Policies Continue to Drive Large Projected Deficits
Source:
CBPP
URL Source: http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3490
Published: May 10, 2011
Author: Kathy Ruffing and James R. Horney
Post Date: 2011-08-09 11:03:00 by lucysmom
Keywords: Bush Tax Cuts
Views: 8986
Comments: 17
Some lawmakers, pundits, and others continue to say that President George W. Bush’s policies did not drive the projected federal deficits of the coming decade — that, instead, it was the policies of President Obama and Congress in 2009 and 2010. But, the fact remains: the economic downturn, President Bush’s tax cuts and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq explain virtually the entire deficit over the next ten years (see Figure 1). The deficit for fiscal year 2009 — which began more than three months before President Obama’s inauguration — was $1.4 trillion and, at 10 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the largest deficit relative to the economy since the end of World War II. At $1.3 trillion and nearly 9 percent of GDP, the deficit in 2010 was only slightly lower. If current policies remain in place, deficits will likely resemble those figures in 2011 and hover near $1 trillion a year for the next decade. The events and policies that pushed deficits to these high levels in the near term were, for the most part, not of President Obama’s making. If not for the Bush tax cuts, the deficit-financed wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the effects of the worst recession since the Great Depression (including the cost of policymakers’ actions to combat it), we would not be facing these huge deficits in the near term. By themselves, in fact, the Bush tax cuts and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will account for almost half of the $20 trillion in debt that, under current policies, the nation will owe by 2019. The stimulus law and financial rescues will account for less than 10 percent of the debt at that time.
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#2. To: lucysmom (#0)
Nearly three years after Barack Obama became president, many liberals still insist that Bush is primarily responsible for running up the national debt. While the federal debt did increase by $4.9 trillion on President George W. Bush’s watch, it did not increase at remotely the same rate it is increasing under President Obama. In fact, borrowing under President Obama is occurring at over 2.5x President Bush’s rate. Yet the left continues to decry Bush’s wars and his tax cuts as the primary culprits of President Obama’s massive national debt increase. If the current President found the tax cuts fiscally irresponsible, why did he sign a bill that extended them during his first two years in office, when Democrats dominated both the legislative and executive branches? It is time to stop pointing a finger at the last President, and start looking for solutions.
What would borrowing be if the Bush tax cuts expired? Do you think there is a cumulative effect of reduced income due to the tax cuts over time?
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#6. To: no gnu taxes (#2)
In fact, borrowing under President Obama is occurring at over 2.5x President Bush’s rate.
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