Brief history of budgets and deficits since the 80-s

[eridani]

http://www.truth-out.org/did-the-rich-cause-the-deficit65278

Washington is inundated with deficit commissions. The country has piled up a huge debt because we cut taxes for the wealthy and borrowed to make up the difference. But everyone says we can't fix the problem by raising taxes on the rich in a recession because taxes "take money out of the economy." Is there a factual basis for this idea, or is it just one more corporate/conservative-generated piece of "conventional wisdom" bamboozlement?

A brief budget history since the 80's: We cut taxes, increased military spending and cut investment in our infrastructure, and the result was huge budget deficits and slower economic growth. Then in the 90's we raised taxes on the rich and increased investment in the country and we had big budget surpluses and the economy was growing at a good clip. Then in the 00's we again cut taxes on the rich and raised military spending and cut back on investing in the country, and went back to huge deficits ("incredibly positive news'') and feeble economic growth culminating in the financial crash.

So now, to address the Reagan/Bush deficits the DC elites -- the "serious people" -- are proposing ... wait for it ... not raising taxes on the rich, not cutting military spending and not investing in the country. Instead they want to cut back more on the safety net and on services for the middle class. There really is a brain disease loose in DC.

The justification for DC's refusal to fix a problem caused by tax cuts on the rich by restoring taxes on the rich is that you can't raise taxes on the rich during a recession. The oft-repeated idea that taxes "take money out of the economy" has become so ingrained that there is no discussion at all, it is just accepted as a given. It is "conventional wisdom." It certainly is a convenient conventional wisdom for the wealthy, but it is a fact?

[Hannah Bell]

1. kr

[Kablooie]

2. Why don't people just come out and say that supply side economics is a damn LIE!

It's a scam perpetrated by the rich to grab all of the country's wealth for themselves.
It's not a valid economic theory.

It's a god damned scamming lie and it's destroying the lives of millions to satisfy the filthy greed of a few fat pigs.

[Sherman A1]

3. Precisely

it was always a lie

[dkf]

4. If we are in a budget deficit because of tax cuts to the wealthy

Why do the "middle class tax cuts" cost us $3.2 trillion and the "tax cuts for the rich" cost us $700 billion?

[billlll]

5. wealth "Stuck at the top" is put back in the economy with taxes

Enters the economy as gov repairs the cuts we have all seen

Gov hires back the 30% of cops that GOP cut

Fixes potholes GOP neglected

Fixes bridges

Food inspectors

Rehires clerks in all agencies to end GOP-era long waits

Fixes water mains, schools, state asylums
-------------------------
Also consider-------
The private sector is moving to India -- with any cash it can hold onto.

[billlll]

6. "government pays wages - that's the CENTER of the economy"

A good short reply to the RW lie in the OP.

Add if you wish

"Wages to
Cops
Firefighters
Teachers
VA hospitals
Pothole repair
Bridge repair
Food inspectors
All cut by the republicans. We need more of each"