Obama, The Deficit Hawk

From Matthew Yglesias...

There’s a lot of political concern in Washington about public anxiety about budget deficits. Substantively, the public’s concerns don’t really make sense, as deficit-reduction amidst a severe recession will only make the recession more severe. But Stan Collender, whose deficit hawk credentials should not be in question, observes that the political problem is largely a mirage as well:

If you look beyond the very short-term, the deficit situation will begin to turnaround next year, that is, before the election. Under current forecasts, the deficit will fall by a record amount from 2009 to 2010. It will still be high by virtually anyone’s standards — probably around $1 trillion or so. But the big change in the right direction will give the White House the breathing room it needs and alter the politics substantially. Anyone want to bet that there will be a cover story somewhere next year calling Obama the deficit killer?

This will, of course, not be a substantive fix for anything. But the nominal deficit reduction will, indeed, be huge. As the economy recovers, tax revenues will rise, social safety net outlays will fall, and stimulus measures will begin to tamp down. If we can assume further growth in 2011, the complete expiry of Recovery Act provisions, and the winding down of the Iraq War, that’ll be further deficit reduction.

Stop Spending Like There's No Tomorrow

Here is a great commercial about our national debt from Scott Kleeb, Democratic candidate for Senate in Nebraska.

Thank your Children for your Economic Stimulus Check

Make sure to thank your children for your economic stimulus check because they will be the ones that will be paying it back.

Whichever way you look at it, both the U.S. and U.K. governments are handing their citizens cash that was borrowed—and the citizens themselves are liable for the debt. If my bank manager arranged a surprise loan in my name and handed me the cash, I might feel pampered or put-upon, depending on whether I was planning to take out the loan myself anyway. Either way, doubt I would feel any richer. ...

Who will be the fall guy? We don't know for sure because we can't say whom a future government will tax. But an obvious candidate would be today's teenagers, very few of whom pay income tax today but most of whom will pay income tax in the next few years. Their best hope is that their grandparents add the tax windfall to their bequests rather than blowing the money on a weekend in the sun.

As Economy Tanks, Bush Gives Himself an A on Economic Policy

Forget about the $9 trillion national debt, or the fact that every person owes over $29,000 on that debt, or the US dollar trading even with the Canadian dollar for the first time since 1976.

Bush says he is doing a great job being fiscally responsible and the economy is just great.

I got an A, however, in keeping taxes low and being fiscally responsible with the people's money.

h/t Andrew Sullivan

National Debt: Who do you owe money to?

Here is who you owe money to...


Here is how much money you owe on the National Debt.

Vilsack's Speech at the DNC Winter Meetings

On Saturday, Tom Vilsack spoke at the DNC Winter Meetings. I caught most of the speech on CSPAN and thought Vilsack did very well. Radio Iowa has a very good writeup on the speech.

Vilsack's theme was pushing for real change. Vilsack spoke against No Child Left Behind and the need to teach creative thinking.

Let me be clear: I'm not talking about small change. I'm not talking about incremental change. I'm talking about bold and courageous change. Let me give you a few examples: adding a few dollars and tweaking a reauthorized No Child Behind is not real change. Ending No Child Left Behind as we know it is real change and replacing it with a real, true commitment to the children of this country. In this competitive world we live in we cannot be afford to be a nation of great, standardized test-takers. We must be a nation of creative and innovative thinkers and that's what our education policy should be.

Vilsack gained huge points with me when he discussed the birth tax by saying...

Balancing budgets, making real choices and eliminating what I call the birth tax is real change. Think about it. That's what the deficit is. That's what the deficit is. It's a tax on our children and we need to eliminate that tax.

I will admit that I have not been a huge fan of Vilsack when he was governor or when he announced he was running for President. However, if Vilsack keeps using the word "birth tax" and taking a strong stance against the Iraq War, I might have to reconsider his candidacy.

Rinse, Wash, Repeat

Not Extending Temporary Tax Cuts is NOT Increasing Taxes

There's a story yesterday on MyDD and Chris also wrote about, but it is worth repeating. Not extending Bush's temporary handouts to the most wealthy is not increasing taxes. I'd give back my couple hundred dollar tax break on my federal income taxes to get my property taxes, college tuition and loan payments, and the cost of other local and other state services to go down.

The first step in solving the budget deficit is to not renew these temporary tax cuts and to start investing in our future. So remember to repeat...

Not Extending Temporary Tax Cuts is NOT Increasing Taxes

Hostile Takeover...Debt

After taking last week off, I hope to finish Hostile Takeover this week. Chapter 4 of Hostile Takeover is about Debt and most of it is written about the Bankruptcy Bill that was passed in 2005. It isn't just one party that supports the hostile takeover by the Credit Card companies, Democrats, such Evan Bayh and Joe Biden and former Democrat Joe Lieberman get mentioned a lot in this chapter. On to the quote...

As journalist Mark Reutter noted in the Washington Post, the new bankruptcy law cracks down on ordinary citizens but "keeps intact the legal system by which corporations can shed certain employee obligations" - a euphenism for companies reneging on their pension, wage, and health care promise to workers. Thanks to the disparity, "federal bankruptcy court has become the venue of choice for sophisticated financiers and corporate managers seeking to pull apart labor contracts and roll back health and welfare programs at troubled companies."

Read more from Hostile Takeover...
Introduction
Jobs
Wages

Who do you trust with your financial security? Not Nussle.

I just saw a TV ad by Nussle attacking Culver that says that you can't trust Culver with your financial security. When the ad was over, I had to head to my kitchen and make sure that Nussle didn't sneak in and steal my kitchen sink.

What is Nussle thinking? When he took over as House Budget Chair we had record surplusses and now we are seeing record deficits. Nussle thinks that borrow and spend is the answer. Now every American, including my 3 week old nephew, owes $28,374.37 on our national debt. Who do you trust with your financial security?

Lamberti attacks Nussle's budget record

From the Sioux City Journal...

Culver's campaign presented a video of state Senate Republican President Jeff Lamberti's speech at the Iowa State Fair, criticizing the condition of the federal budget. Culver's campaign noted that Nussle is chairman of the House Budget Committee.

"What I want to talk to you about today is the state of the federal budget, or should I say the mess that is the federal budget," Lamberti said during his speech. "That's right. And let's face it, it is a mess."

and more...

In his speech, Lamberti called the budget process "a mess because of the process where there is no control, where amendments, special interests, pork barrel projects are added in the middle of the night when nobody knows what's in there and you and I are paying the bills.

"This year alone there were 19 individual attempts to strike wasteful pork barrel spending from the budget and my opponent voted against all 19," he said.

West said Nussle voted the same way.

"You don't have to take our word for it, look at what the Republicans are saying," West said of Lamberti's speech.

Many Republicans know the Federal Budget is a mess. They see the handouts given out to the wealthy while social programs like Pell Grants, child-care assistance, and food stamps get cut.
As Chairman of the House Budget Committee, Nussle has a lot to do with that mess.

You could give Nussle the benefit of the doubt and say that he didn't cause the huge deficit, but it is very clear that in his leadership Nussle didn't do much to prevent the huge deficit. Do we want a leader who just sits back and watches problems get out of control while cutting programs that help the less fortanate or do we want a leader that sees the problems early on and tackles them before they get out of control?

Nussle has a proven record of sitting idle. We can't afford that here in Iowa, especially since every Iowan owes over $28,000 on the Federal Deficit.

James and the Giant Deficit

Just wanted to remind people about this site that outlines Nussle's lack of fiscal sanity. So go check out James and the Giant Deficit and tell your friends about it too.

Bush is Crippling Unborn Children with Debt and Giving the Rich Tax Cuts

Yesterday the Senate voted to pass Bush's tax cuts for the most wealthy Americans. The bill passed 54-44, so at least it was good to see most all of the Democrats sticking together on this one. Sen. Boxer discussed how these tax cuts affect Americans...

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) noted that someone earning more than $1 million a year would get a tax break worth $41,977.

"Well, you might say, `What does someone who earns $41,000 get back?' $46. Not even enough to fill up your gas tank in some cases," she said.

The tax cuts worth $70 nillion over the next 2 years just adds to the gigantic deficit that Bush (and Jim Nussle) has piled up. No other President in US history has cut taxes in a time of war and now Bush has done it at least 3 times. While our children are over fighting the war, these tax cuts just mean that they are the same ones that will be paying for it.

I'll Put That on My Credit Card

The Senate voted to increase the US National Debt ceiling to $9 trillion. Then they went and spent over $100 billion more while keeping Bush's irresponsible tax cuts for the wealthy. According to the site, US National Debt Clock, that means each citizen owes $27, 696.

As a twenty-something that really concerns me because it will be my family and I who will have to pay this thing off. I had thought a key principle of the Republican party is being a fiscal conservitive. Weird that Democrats are the only ones who can balance budgets then.