Groups Sound Warning on Large Budget Deficits

[papau]

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=3527570
Groups Sound Warning on Large Budget Deficits
Mon September 29, 2003 05:59 PM ET

By Tim Ahmann
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Large and mounting budget deficits represent a threat to the health of the U.S. economy that urgently requires the attention of policymakers, three watchdog groups said on Monday.
"The coming decade is likely to rank as the most fiscally irresponsible in our nation's history," said Robert Bixby, executive director of the non-partisan Concord Coalition. The coalition, along with the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the business-backed Committee for Economic Development, said that official budget projections mask the extent to which the fiscal outlook has deteriorated. While the Congressional Budget Office forecasts deficits totaling $1.4 trillion over the next 10 years, the groups projected a $5 trillion toll. They said their projection better reflected likely policies, such as the possibility recent tax cuts would be made permanent. <snip>

The Bush administration has said it makes sense to run budget deficits in the near-term to give a jolt to a sluggish economy. Administration officials maintain they can cut the annual deficit in half in four to five years by restraining spending growth as a stronger economy generates more revenue. The budget groups, however, disabused that notion. "We're not talking about something that's going to go away when the economy recovers," Bixby said. "Hard choices are going to have to be made on tax and spending policies."

[Snellius]

1. On C-SPAN NOW: 9:56 P.M. Monday

.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

2. G DUHbya's reelection theme song.

"Don't Worry. Be Happy."

[Nottingham]

3. Whats really scary is Bush has put us in a Depression and

is spending money like water but not creating any new jobs just giving Bribes and payoffs to crooks all over the world! :bounce:

[Festivito]

4. Tax and Spend costs us less than Borrow and Blame.

Receive a tax cut and end up with LESS money after higher fees, higher health care, saving for higher future health care, higher energy costs, higher debt incurred, higher amount of personal retirement needed by each of us, higher insurance and higher protection costs.

[Avalon Sparks]

5. And I'll add~

Higher interest on the National Debt.

Interest is already the second largest expenditure of the budget, right under defense. Last I checked it was something like 230 billion a year, and that was over a year ago.

That interest our tax dollars are paying costs a lot more that the mythical welfare queens.

As someone who rarely doesn't pay her entire credit card bill charges monthly, the interest on the National Debt is appalling to me.

[Rex]

6. The U.S. economy is a deadman walking

Hard to threaten someone that's already DOA. I understand the reasons for not wanting to start a panic...but when will economist come clean and tell it like it is?

Here's some simple math for them to look at:

4 moreyearsofBush= (-)gazillionreturnrateonlife.

[Resistance Is Futile]

7. Telling it like it is

Krugman has been yelling this from the rooftops for a long time. He's the most prominent voice but he's by no means alone.


You do realize, of course, that when the bought-and-paid for Republican press gets a hold of this story, it will be framed as 'we must kill social security to save America?' This was their plan all along.