The deficits are important.

[kentuck]

The voters are very concerned about the deficit spending and our huge debt. More than the economy, that is the issue that defeated the Democrats in the last election. That is why the Democrats need to be very cautious about extending the Bush taxcuts because extending the taxcuts is bad for our economy.

Businesses are not hurting for money to invest. They are sitting on about $2 trillion dollars in revenue. They don't need more taxcuts. That is a false argument.

The taxcuts would only increase the deficit. It is the deficits that are the drag on the economy, not the lack of money to invest. It is more important to cut the deficits than to extend taxcuts.

Democrats should make the argument that deficits are a bigger threat to our economy than anything at this time. This is the debate to have in the House and Senate. We must cut the deficits and that is why we cannot extend the taxcuts any longer. They would add $4 trillion dollars to our deficit in the next ten years.

It was a mistake to pass a cap and trade bill because people were very concerned about the huge deficits run up George W Bush and they believed Barack Obama would stop the huge spending and be more rational in regards to bringing the deficits under control. Granted, many things were beyond his control but cap and trade was not one of them. Neither was the healthcare bill that he signed.

More than anything else, people turned against Obama because of the huge spending. That is the issue that created the Tea Party. That is the issue that put the Republicans back in power in the House. That is why we cannot afford to extend the taxcuts. It is bad for the economy because it increases the deficits. It would be a tragic blunder to extend them.

Perhaps, more importantly for the Democrats, it will make Barack Obama a one-term President and put the Democrats in the minority for a long time. This is a life or death decision for our Party.

[TBF]

1. Cut 90% of defense spending - deficit gone. nt

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

4. ...in 20 years.

:(

[Yavin4]

6. We Spend $7 Trillion A Decade on Defense

And who is coming after us? No one. We don't have a defense budget. We have an imperial budget.

[kentuck]

8. Without a doubt...

it could be cut 50% without any harm to our security.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

9. If we reduced it to zero, who would attack?

:think:

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

2. The deficits are not a drag on the economy, right now they ARE the economy

[kentuck]

3. Our deficits are affecting the entire world economy...

including the devaluation of the Euro and the general decline of the dollar. It is more than a drag. It is a dangerous anchor.

[MadHound]

5. I have to agree with you,

We should let all these Bush era tax cuts expire. We could take part of the savings, say one trillion, and create a true WPA style jobs program, which would help out the economy and do more for the people than the tax cuts.

We simply can't continue to run up this kind of debt. Right now our national debt is 100% of our annual GDP, not a good ratio.

[kentuck]

7. Most folks know that the taxcuts do little to grow the economy...

They may get 40 cents return on the dollar. It is very low and not a good way to stimulate the economy. The President knows this. As does almost every Democrat and Republican in Congress.

Yet, they continue to play the political game. There are some folks that need help with the tax cuts. Mostly those that have seen their incomes decline in the last ten years. That would not include those making $250K per year. They are not middle class. They are in the top 5%. That would either make them upper class or lower upper class? But not middle class.