Ok, so, the conclusion from the last post was that we should be very worried about what the deficit and debt are going to do to the Obama reform agenda. Health care, the environment, job creation, investment in education will all be affected by the need to control the terrible situation the US has got itself into.
That said, the one thing that the debt should not do is convince Americans to support the Republican party, which is why I find the budget-terror rhetoric coming from the town hall Republican base rather ironic.
Despite their consistent harping on about the virtues of small government, the Republican record on controlling budgets since World War Two has been appalling, though as you'll see from the following chart Eisenhower and Nixon - essentially traditional Republicans - had a much stronger record than the New Right leaders, Reagan and Bush. Since 1980, every Republican term of office has seen a growth in the national debt as a percentage of the size of the economy. (The chart is of the average annual change in national debt as a percentage of GDP; so, the lower the percentage the better.)
Part of the reason for this is that the Democrats also have a stronger record on job creation. Why? Job creation helps increase trade and hence the total size of the economy, thus reducing debt proportionately. This chart shows the average annual change in the number of jobs during each administration. As you'll see, the red team's record - even under the old style Republican administrations - doesn't compare.
So, argue that the United States needs to acquire economic prudence as it pushes on with its reform ambitions, and that uncosted measures cannot be acceptable. Fine. I agree. Just don't claim in the same breath that the Republicans should have any right to talk about the economy.
(Source data: Wikipedia)
Think Of the Children
50 minutes ago
