Borrow-and-Spend Republicans
The state of our national economy and the return of record deficits
should put
to rest once and for all the long outdated notion that Democrats are our
nation's spendthrifts while Republicans are pillars of fiscal discipline.
The borrow-and-spend Republicans are still trying to sell us their
all-purpose
trickle-down snake oil with promises to grow our economy out of debt and
recession. The facts simply do not back them up.
Reagan's tax cuts and sustained government spending trippled our
national debt.
The economy did turn around under his watch, but that was arguably due to
Keynesian defense spending more than it was due to supply side tax cuts.
Bush Jr. has devoted incredible effort to cutting taxes on the rich
during his
time in office, and he has presided over the worst economic reversal
since at
least Hoover, while turning our budget surpluses into record-breaking
deficits.
He claims that things would be worse had he not passed his billionaire
welfare
program. Notice that this dubious claim is impossible to prove or
disprove.
Clinton, meanwhile, raised the marginal tax rate on the top bracket, and
presided over the longest economic expansion in our history.
Am I suggesting that higher taxes cause economic growth? No. What I am
suggesting is that the relationship between taxes and economic growth is
more
subtle and complex than today's Republican party would have you believe,
and
their current something-for-nothing economic philosophy makes them
dangerous to
America's fiscal security.
11:47:06 AM 
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