| akuma587 said: Government increasing its share of GDP during a recession is normal, and during a recession such as this one necessary. But yes, I totally agree with you, waging war on the national debt by raising taxes alone is not enough. Nor is waging war on the national debt by cutting spending enough. We have to do both. That includes comprehensive reform of all our entitlement programs, all government spending, all government subsidies, and getting rid of sacred budget cows in both parties (like farm subsidies, which now go to corporations rather than farmers). Obama's biggest weakness at this point is whether or not he will take this issue on. Although I have to admit that the effect it will have on him politically is questionable. Americans have an extremely short memory and don't ever seem to worry about the debt unless we are in a recession. Hell, Reagan, Bush Sr., AND Bush W. got elected by Republicans running a deficit EVERY SINGLE YEAR they were in office. All at the same time claiming they were fiscally conservative. To the Republican Party, fiscally conservative means cutting taxes, not addressing the national debt. I would like to see that change in BOTH parties as I think Democrats and Republicans have dropped the ball on this issue. |
I have nothing against government spending in a recession. I do however think the way you spend matters. Giving large corporations billions is not the answer, employing people to do government project are however. (Improve roads, IT systems, Police stations, whatever).
But what Obama is doing is not trying to spend money during a Recession. He is trying to pass a spending bill that will obligate us beyond out tax collecting capabilities indefinitely. It’s not a short term expense. It’s a long term one.
So we agree on this text I quoted here. Being that we both thing taxing more and spending less is needed, are you for his 3.6 trillion dollar budget that will spend, long term, more than twice what we would spend without it?
