It has been said on this blog and in the corridors of the RNC that "We do not have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem." These silly words are uttered as we have brought in 14.9%/GDP the last two years. So - for those who genuinely believe there is no problem with receipts, please let me show you revenues the last fiscal year of each of the following presidents:
Roosevelt/1945 - 20.4%
Truman/1953 - 18.7%
Eisenhower/1961 - 17.8%
Kennedy/1963 - 17.8%
Johnson/1969 - 19.7% (Surplus)
Nixon/1974 - 18.3%
Ford/1977 - 18.0%
Carter/1981 - 19.6%
Reagan/1989 - 18.4%
Bush/1993 - 17.5%
Clinton/2001 - 19.5% (Surplus)
Bush/2009 - 14.9%
To answer the question with which my GOP friends struggle, the last time we had a surplus with 15%/GDP revenues was 1949, 62 years ago, as WWII was over and the Korean conflict had yet to begin. Medicare and Medicaid did not exist. Social Security enjoyed 16.5 workers per recipient rather than today's 3.2.
Spending has NEVER been below 17%/GDP since 1956, 55 years ago, when it was 16.5%.
Now - I challenge any honest person to tell me how 15%/GDP is not a revenue problem by definition. Don't just stubbornly parrot what you hear on Fox News, please tell us how 15%/GDP is all we need to operate our government and pay down the debt.
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5 comments:
Because you deem to deal with percentages and not absolute numbers, you distort. If you look at the previous post with absolute numbers, both the budget is increasing dramatically.
Now, as you turn away from MSNBC for a moment, it has often been argued that cutting marginal tax rates will increase revenue.
However, yes the Conservative position (As told to me by Rush) is...cut spending first! Quit attacking the job creators second.
BTW, how is that low employment rate created by the stimulus going?
Percentages don't distort, Doc, it's just the opposite. They clearly compare apples to apples. Such comparisons over sixty-five years expose the big lie, "We don't have a revenue problem."
Our economy is doing far, far better than it was just two years ago. Last month we gained 244,000 private sector jobs, while we lost 598,000 in January, 2009. That is a swing of 842,000 jobs.
Clinton era brought 22,000,000+ jobs on net, GWB zero, Obama nearly 2,000,000.
Thanks for asking.
Rich..If we are doing better than we were a couple of years ago then why do we still have 9% unemployment, which as you know real unemployment is around 15-18%...just a numbers game with the Department of labor to get it to 9%...China, Japan, Russia dumping the dollar as fast as they can and buying other assets with the deflated dollar...I am sure one reason is they feel it will go much lower. and we are still printing money...Congress spent over 500B in the last 2-3 months, so our debt continues to grow...now we are up against the wall to a degree with the Debt Ceiling, and the answer is to print more money or raise the ceiling..how does that fix the problem. these people on both sides of the aisle think they struck it rich when the reduced the debt by 60 billion, that is mice nuts. If they stop the QE 3 which is just another word or slogan for PRINT MORE MONEY, then inflation takes off like a rocket...look at where commody prices are today in sugar, corn gas, oil, beef, etc vs a year ago...why because the dollar is so much weaker. To my knowledge there has never been a country that has bailed themselves out by printing and devaluating their currency...I do not know the total solution but having bigger government and more taxes on the rich or middle class or everyone is not going to fix the problem...hang onto your hat as we are going to wake up one morning and be in for a very rough ride
Complainers will always complain, Al. Obama inherited an economy that was shrinking 6%+ per annum and losing 600K jobs a month. Now, we're growing jobs as well as the economy. Not enough for you? Fine - still far better than inherited from the man you voted for - President GW Bush.
Get used to him, Al. He is going to be there 6 more years.
We already know who was right in Bush/Gore and Bush/Kerry elections - it wasn't Dubya. He delivered this mess.
Proud to say I never voted for Bush. Those that did owe the rest of us an apology.
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