February 26, 2013

Eliminating the Deficit, Liberal Style

By R.B.A. Di Muccio
A wise man told me once that when any tax-levying entity operates at a deficit, the possible causes number precisely two: Either it is taxing too little for how much it wants to spend, or it is spending too much for how much it wants to tax. It has either a revenue problem or a spending problem. In all of its parsimonious glory, this dichotomy lies at the center of the current debate between Democrats and Republicans on the matter of what needs to be done about the gaping U.S. federal budget deficit. Republicans focus their rhetoric on spending, while Democrats fixate on the tax or revenue side. Part of the rhetorical problem for Republicans is that the most recent Republican president presided over massive increases in spending and the conversion of a budget surplus to a large deficit. According to Office of Management and Budget data, total federal revenue in 2000 (Bill Clinton's last year in office) was just under $2 trillion, while total spending was just about $1.8 trillion-a...(Read Full Article)