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Votes that pushed us into the red

There are a few more factors than those 3 votes that pushed us into the red.
 
sure, but wouldn't you say those are the biggest 3 votes of recent history?
 
This is why these analyses are so flawed The article bases the change relative to the CBO forecast in FY2001 which was put out at the top of the Y2K bubble. No f'ing duh. Had irrational exuberance continued for another decade, we would have been in the black and paid off our entire debt. But that didn't happen. We got hit with a bubble burst that many still deny nearly as bad as the more recent one and then 9/11.

It then tries to show a direct effect of the tax cuts as if the cuts don't produce economic output (and more taxes as a result). Most economists that study any tax cut or increase now say the impacts are relatively short (1-2 years) and you see that here because taxes as % GDP moved back to 19%...that magic number.

At least they are using the real debt numbers and not the inflated gross debt numbers tied to the debt ceiling. For some strange reason the media started to use the real better looking numbers a couple of years ago. I wonder why? But with the real numbers you can see that with both the tax cuts in place and war cost there, the debt as % GDP remained roughly constant (oh yea the real numbers mean you can't blame Bush for dramatically increasing debt burden). Real debt only ballooned dramatically with the stimulus, by far the killer.
 
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As best as I can tell, the U.S. has been in "the red" pretty much since its inception. If one wants to have a legitimate debate regarding the fiscal wisdom of recent high-cost expenditures, then the conversation should at least be framed in the correct context.
 
DeacinBama said:
As best as I can tell, the U.S. has been in "the red" pretty much since its inception. If one wants to have a legitimate debate regarding the fiscal wisdom of recent high-cost expenditures, then the conversation should at least be framed in the correct context.
Click to expand...

Good point. There was a good NPR story a few weeks ago about the last time the government was in the black. I forget the details but they decided it was much better to run in the red. Obviously carrying a little debt is fine to a point, but we need do need a long term strategy for debt, something on the line of mortgages and student loans rather than credit cards.
 
DeacinBama said:
As best as I can tell, the U.S. has been in "the red" pretty much since its inception. If one wants to have a legitimate debate regarding the fiscal wisdom of recent high-cost expenditures, then the conversation should at least be framed in the correct context.
Click to expand...

My grandfather always said it'a good to be a little bit in debt because then someone cares when you die.
 
And so it begins. Obama is running against Bush again. I'm sure that will sell.
 
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