Are the Bush Tax Cuts the source of deficit?

tax cuts is not spending

like my wife saying, "I saved us $25" ..truth is she spend $150 to do it. the government spent the money they assumed they were getting.
 
Economics is pretty complicated and there were a lot of things holding back economic growth. I do think there were policies that would have cost less than the Bush tax cuts that would have been more stiulative impact for the economy. I think it wrong that Republicans require their candidates to believe as an article of faith that tax cuts stimulate economic growth and the resulting growth more than offsets lost revenue. As our place in the world economy becomes less dominant we have to understand that seizing opportunities for economic growth will require creativity by government and private business -- and I don't mean creativity in passing blame.
 
I would say yes. We had a surplus and then the tax cuts and then we have had deficits nearly every year since then. We have seen 2 economic upturns come to an end during their tenure.
 
Really? It is a spending problem, not a revenue problem. The US Government's marginal propensity to spend far exceeds 1.0. The ignorance of the American public is overwhelming...
 
So, revenue has risen ~20% in the past 11 years, while spending has increased by ~110% over the same time period, but it's the revenue that's the problem?
 
Obviously they are part of the problem. Of course they are not the whole problem. Yet the R's refuse to acknowledge this at all. Ending these cuts would help a hell of a lot.
 
I read that historically the US Federal brings in revenues of about 18%-19% of GDP. The current administration spends 25% of GDP which is the highest level since right after WW2. So it looks to me that whether it is Bush or Obama the problem is spending.
 
What would the world look like today if we had a Balanced Budget Amendment 25 years ago? Why are democrats against a BBA? I do not understand how anybody could be against this?
 
Whether or not one thinks it was a good idea to invade Iraq, we could not have done it as quickly as we did had we not been able to do it with borrowed money. Should the U.S. government have a multi-trillion rainy day fund--enough to fight a war or pay for emergencies? A balance budget amendment would likely result in constitutionally-required tax increases from time-to-time.

I heard one conservative radio commentator say he would be against a balanced budget amendment because it would be so full of exceptions to handle emergencies that it would be worthless.

We should just be smart enough to keep our spending under control and taxes high enough that we have the effect of a balanced budget amendment with the loss of flexibility.
 
You can't spend exorbitantly and cut taxes while the economy is wobbling. That's what Bush did. The Wars belong to us. The state of life in America belongs to us. These are collective responsibilities.
 
let's call it what it is, raising taxes to the pre-bush era will not make a dent in the 1.5 trillion deficit we are going to run up this year alone so how can this be the cause of our debt crisis? this is why our country will eventually collapse, many intelligent people are living in fantasy land.
 
I think golf meant that the wife saving $25 while spending $150, was that she bought things that were on sale. However, she didn't need to spend the $150 in the first place.
 
Obama's rhetoric has aimed at suggesting that the middle class could not absorb the tax hike that would've been involved in chloroforming the BTCs at that point. I would say that he intended to make the wealthier pay more all along. One thing at a time.
 
No more needs to be said:

Where is your analysis? Obviously, if you owned a mature business, you would go bankrupt. Hey, isn't that what is happening to the US? Really, the fact that this is up for debate is startling.
 
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