Posted on 07/25/2011 2:26:57 PM PDT by OneVike
What’s also important, but not evident, on this chart is that Obama’s major expenses were temporary — the stimulus is over now — while Bush’s were, effectively, recurring. The Bush tax cuts didn’t just lower revenue for 10 years. It’s clear now that they lowered it indefinitely, which means this chart is understating their true cost. Similarly, the Medicare drug benefit is costing money on perpetuity, not just for two or three years. And Boehner, Ryan and others voted for these laws and, in some cases, helped to craft and pass them.
To relate this specifically to the debt-ceiling debate, we’re not raising the debt ceiling because of the new policies passed in the past two years. We’re raising the debt ceiling because of the accumulated effect of policies passed in recent decades, many of them under Republicans. It’s convenient for whichever side isn’t in power, or wasn’t recently in power, to blame the debt ceiling on the other party. But it isn’t true.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Klein is full of baloney. His chart is meaningless in terms of deficits. The tax cuts did not cost the government $1.8 trillion. Starting in 2002, the revenue increased $3.6 trillion/yr to $4.8 trillion/yr by 2007. That is an average increase in revenue of $0.24 trillion/yr or $1.2 trillion over 5 years. So, Klein's $1.8 T deficit from taxes should be a $1.2 T credit. The total deficit then should be $2.2T according to Klein's math. And most of that is the war. IF Obama's spending burst was temporary, then why does govt remain 25%greater since Bush left and the deficit this year is so much larger. It is because Obama is doing all of the wrong things.
He also points to a much better graph that is at US Government Revenue.com
Klein is a Marxist idiot.
So, he saying Bush spent too much - but Obama spent that and MORE, so Obama is more frugal than Bush.
Klien is a moron!
Bush is worse than Obama? Yeah, right. This graph shows how easy it is to lie with a graph or chart. But the graphs and charts, even if they are correct, miss the big picture. Bush’s spending was obscene. Obama’s spending is insane.
And I know we’ll get plenty of posters defending Bush saying that he really didn’t spend that much or the typical posts trying to shift the blame to Congress. The bottom line is that despite what the Constitution says, the modern Presidency sets the spending agenda. We all agree Obama’s spending agenda is insane and unsupportable. But Bush’s was horrible too. Even if you take the wars out, Bush’s domestic spending and entitlement expansion set the stage for Obama’s spending insanity. Bush didn’t care about spending restraint. In fact, he and Rove had their master plan to buy off constituencies with spending to create some “Permanent Republican Majority.” Bush so demoralized the Republican Party that it resulted in the 2008 ass-whipping the GOP took, which resulted in Obama jacking spending up to 25% of GDP.
Bush was a disaster; Obama is a worse disaster.
Tax CUTS are not expenditures, except for Democrats, who believe your money is theirs to begin with.
O keep getting kicked out by my Internet server,
Anyway, you are correct.
Give me the chance and I will produce a graph that shows murder is good for society.
Nice graphs.
I think I’ll save them, but I won’t waste my time emailing them to Klein, he would never admit he received them.
And he's a kid for Pete's sake. I can't imagine why liberals are so enamored of an ignorant kid.
Disaster after disaster...Those begging others to vote for the better of two evil should be put in cages with large pissed off apes.
Seriously, How are tax cuts expenditures on the bush side but not the obama side. Didn’t Obama “extend” the bush tax cuts (rhetorical)?
Maybe someone should tell WaPo and Klein that these tax rates didn’t expire in 2009 Looking at his handy dandy chart he didn’t carry the “Obama Tax Cuts” through to 2017 as an expenditure.
Are the “writers” so foolish to believe that no one will notice? Or is their readership really foolish enough to believe it? I’m really not sure at this point.
I guess if you just read the headline, glaze over and look at the bright pretty colors you might think it true. We should all be so lucky.
Bush is no longer president; get over it!
Tax cuts are not a “cost”.
If you don’t know that much, youre not worth listening to.
To paraphrase Twain:
There a LIES, DAMN LIES, and Ezra Klein columns.
If I hadn’t sworn off mind altering drugs decades ago, I’d contact this idiot and find out who his new sources are.
There are Lies, Damn Lies and Ezra Klein claims.
1) First, Klein goes to FY2009 a time when OBAMA WAS PRESIDENT. In fact, in January ’09, the Democrats in Congress desperately added $50 billion in spending above what Bush was willing to spend in FY2009. So, a Democrat Congress passes spending and spends it during a Democrat Obama administration – how is that “Bush’s deficit” except in liberal-fantasy-land? This totally skews the “non-defense discretionary spending” number.
2) Stimulus was ‘one-time’ was it? Then why did the budget under Obama NEVER GO DOWN.
If you compare FY 2007 budget and FY2011 budget, it is quite clear that the spending projections increased massively and NEVER GO DOWN. That cannot be TARP, nor ‘stimulus’ if it one-time. What is it? It includes several HUNDRED BILLION IN HIGHER DISCRETIONARY SPENDING. And billions of it is hidden by the shift of some of that from discretionary to mandatory accounts (Pell grants etc). So accounting gimmicks are hiding the increase, but the total spending number tells the story: $2.6 billion in FY2007 to $3.7 trillion in FY2011. Oh, that’s right, it’s Obamacare and other spending.
3) $1 trillion in spending on Obamacare counted as $152billion?!?!? Oh, but that is because it adds $1 trillion in new medicare taxes, mandates, cost shifts, unfunded state mandates, etc. THIS HIDES THE MASSIVE COSTS OF OBAMACARE. This chart is a ‘deficit’ number chart, and as such hides the massive increase in Obama spending. In Ezra Klien’s world a $1 trillion tax hike doesnt rate an entry on his chart.
4) Taxes vs spending are apples vs oranges
- Bush tax cut ‘cost’? Wait a sec, how is it a cost to Government when people keep what they earn? How is that ‘new costs’? And also, how is it that ‘new costs’ dont add up to the t
5) Ezra NEVER GIVES TOTAL SPENDING NUMBERS. Why not? In FY2007, the spending projections were to spend under 19% of GDP, and Obama’s FY2012 has it at 23-25% of GDP. That 4% of GDP is all increased spending, and over 8 years that is at least $4-5 trillion.
Obama’s additional Obamacare spending is at least another $1-2 trillion. So we have $5-7 trillion, no WONDER we have deficits without end.
6) A more honest number is this: Obama increases spending in the next 10 years to $45 trillion; FY 2006, the last GOP budget, was $2.6 trillion. So 10 years of that would be $26 trillion, with inflation and current serices increases, it would be in the $36 trillion range.
7) In both 2002-2007 and in this decade, entitlement spending went up by much more than military spending, so why is Iraq tagged as deficit creator as if it is a unique generator of deficits. It’s been less than 5% of the total $20 trillion in spending. The complete and utter lack of ANY notation on entitlements is an indicator of how biased and skewed this is. Healtcare related federal spending is near $1 trillion and rising Medicare Part D for example costs a heck of a lot more than $180b over 8 years.
The bottom line is this:
- Obama has expanded Government spending, massively.
- That massive spending increase has added at least $10 TRILLION to the 10 year spending trajectory.
- That large spending increase number is being hidden by Ezra Kliens dishonest chart, by hiding massive spending that is paired with large tax hikes.
Nice job WOSG. Mind if I use your calculations in an article on my blog? With credit due of course.
This is one of the most fraudulent charts I’ve ever seen. It’s putting in a value of tax cuts as an expenditure by the government. They are no such thing.
Please spread the word. No credit needed.
Dis is ein Klein who haf no mind.
Tax cuts are “expenditures?”
Ve call dis katzenjammer economics.
Vats mein in ist mein; vats yours ist mein.
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