Re: Illegal Immigration Pt. III: It's Illegal to be Illegal? Really?
Actually the debt was in the $6 to $7 trillion range in the 2002-2004 period Lynah cited. Still awful, but not $10 trillion. And the rate of escalation during the Bush years was frightening, but the rate of escalation during the Obama years so far has been beyond frightening. You lose a lot of credibility by always throwing this back as a Republican thing. It's bipartisan.
Its bipartisan but Bush + GOP Congress is more heavily responsible. What kind of idiot proposes, after a decade of struggle is finally won to balance the budget, to then turn around and blow the future surpluses
before they're ever realized? Bush and Alan Greenspan should be tarred and feathered for that (Greenspan for giving him cover do to so). Clinton could have easily proposed broad based tax cuts and may have secured Gore's election if he had, but he instead put the money towards deficit reduction, which fulfilled his campaign promises. People like yourself (not necessarily you in particular, but the OMG THERE'S A DEFICIT crowd) were all for this, while people like myself saw the fiscal insanity.
By 2002-2004, when times were better, that's when you absolutely should have been running surpluses and using them to pay down debt. Instead we get nonsensical tax cuts on dividends to the tune of another 400Bn dollars and an unfunded perscription drug mandate. If people like Lynah and yourself could not have seen the problem at that time I really suggest that you look in the mirror when assessing blame over why this was allowed to happen.
Regarding Obama, I in no way like the deficits he has, and also think the govt has done all it can at this point, and should do nothing beyond their current efforts. However, he gets "blamed" for the stimulus and that's it. He inherited a terrible economy that blew up in Sept 2008. That's the shortfall in tax revenue, and the continued expenditures on unemployment. He also inherited the 700Bn TARP bailout, which he's managed well so far. Lastly, he inherited those ridiculous gimmicky tax cuts that will mercifully expire next year.
So, if you want to blame Obama regarding deficits, he's on the hook for his stimulus, and he's on the hook for what happens in 2010 on. But to say 2009's deficits are his fault is like how the righties always want to give Bush credit for 2001's surplus, even though that was due to Clinton's budget the year before and not Bush's. It don't work that way, and that credibility issue that you mentioned really comes to the forefront when you go down that path.
