Quite a fiscal legacy-UPDATED with video
By Steve Benen Sunday Jul 27, 2008 7:00pm
Download | play 
Download | play (h/t BillW)
By one count, the president has publicly vowed to “solve problems, not pass them on to future presidents and future generations” upwards of 400 times.
As the clock starts to run out on Bush’s presidency, we know, of course, that the opposite is true. Global warming, the war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan, a weak economy … not only is Bush passing monumental problems onto his successor, he’s created new ones that didn’t exist when he got there.
This is especially true when it comes to the federal budget. Bush inherited the largest surplus ever recorded ($128 billion), but his fiscal legacy is a painful one.
The White House on Monday predicted a record deficit of $490 billion for the 2009 budget year, a senior government official told CNN.
The deficit would amount to roughly 3.5 percent of the nation’s $14 trillion economy.
The official pointed to a faltering economy and the bipartisan $170 billion stimulus package that passed earlier this year for the record deficit.
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) said Bush “will be remembered as the most fiscally irresponsible president in our nation’s history,” adding, “If they gave out Olympic medals for fiscal irresponsibility, President Bush would take the gold, silver and bronze. With his eight years in office, he will have had the five highest deficits ever recorded. And the highest of those deficits is now projected to come in 2009, as he leaves office.”
Wait, it gets worse.
USA Today added:
Curbing the deficit will fall to Bush’s successor and the next Congress following a time when taxes were cut and major spending initiatives were undertaken, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, transportation projects, farm subsidies, Medicare prescription drug coverage and a recently passed expansion of veterans’ education benefits.
The actual 2009 deficit could climb still higher because the new projection does not reflect full funding for the wars. In addition, a worsening economy could add to the red ink by reducing tax revenue and increasing safety-net payments, such as jobless benefits and food stamps.
To be fair, the deficit, while approaching a half-trillion dollars — that’s “trillion,” with a “t” — isn’t entirely a record-setting shortfall. In terms of deficits as a percentage of GDP, Reagan’s deficits were worse. What’s more, we’ve had worse deficits when adjusted for inflation.
But Bush’s record is nevertheless a humiliating one. The president took office supporting a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution, and assuring voters that he would keep the federal government in the black.
Instead, when all is said and done, Bush will have added $2 trillion to the national debt, and will be the first and only president to ever cut taxes during a war, effectively putting major military conflicts on the national charge card.
It’s not a legacy to be proud of.
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Here's the solution
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4BYMvVvMg0
I think it is really unfair to criticize George Bush now, when he still has several months to solve all these problems and prove to historians that he's the greatest, smartest, bravest, most "awesomest" president ever.
Sorry wrong vid
Here's the solution
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGeVtzqFlUY
That sounds like a lot of money to be thrown away. How many generations will it take to pay off?
More frighteningly, what if no-one even bothers to try?
So when are the bankers gonna foreclose America?
Who voted for this guy? Where are they? What are we going to do with them?
Fucking retard and McGramps is taking on the same bush policies.
Nikola @ 5:
aint going to be the bankers. It will be the Chinese. And the Arabs.
Youre' right "oh really".
This is all a big scheme by Bush. He's going to run the country into the ground, dump it all on Obama, the GOP will play the "blame game" on him, and McStain will sweep to the POTUS in 2012 and stay for 8 years.
The Boosh fiscal legacy will be a major chicken bone in the gullet of america's future for generations, as I predicted years ago. I would have elaborated more,, but a shipment of Ibogaine kept me focused on my research, as I have been unfairly distracted and set upon by dark forces intent on causing maximum levels of ennui and torpor. I just recite the mantra “Get the behind me pinhead” whilst twirling above my head, the footrest of the soul, the sacred beet the gypsy woman gave me in appreciation for services rendered, and hope for absolution and maybe four out of five lottery numbers.
You no doubt have been made cognizant of the fact that I had to perform sacred corporate rites and unholy functions within the confines of the hallowed halls of Congress for a potential client wishing to purchase our special brand of organized confusion, right? I was unable to convince him, neither with a Mojo hand, or a John the Conqueror root, but managed to not bring any of my tight, tight fitting pants, which was fortuitous, as I was unaware that the donning of such garments deep within the moldy lairs of liars and cheats labels one as a liberal of the worst ilk, the ACLU genus, and it’s a little more than difficult as it is to just coexist with the local denizens as is with them knowing you come from that pit of perdition known as California, where everybody thinks they’re superior to everybody else and we live with liberals. So I had to leave my exquisite cynicism at home in order to function like a mindless Capitalist corporate cancer with any sense of authenticity.
At times I feel so cynical I think about voting for McSame just to watch the whole thing continue to implode. 9% of the American people have faith in congress, we were lied into an immoral and unnecessary war, hundreds of thousand of Iraqi people are dead, millions are refugees (not that any Americans care about this) 41oo and counting American soldiers are dead, tens of thousands of people have been injured, our economy is going down the tubes, we are morally, spiritually bankrupt and the economy is headed that way too!
Why in the hell would anyone want to become the President to clean up these radical Republicans disaster? You have to wonder
Remind me again which congress voted for those budgets.
Captain Bitter Whiner Husein Kangaroo @ 8:
The bankers
A true son of Reagan!!!
But with everyone watching TV, who has time to participate in a non functioning Democracy?
>Instead, when all is said and done, Bush will have added $2 trillion to the national debt, and will be the first and only president to ever cut taxes during a war....<
I take exception to what Steve Benen wrote here. My understanding is that up until the Democrats took control of congress Bush and the Republican added $3.865 trillion to the national debt.
And don't forget all the tax breaks for the richest. You know, The less than 1% of our population. Well Georgie you succeeded in destroying our nation! No money, no jobs, the world distrusts us. What a legacy!
Future generations will get this GIFT from Bushco...isn't it Some Kind of Crime to waste and lose the taxpayers dollars? Bush never ran one single successful business so of course he bankrupt this country it is just one more Harken Adventure- except this time Daddy and his friends won't bail him out.....or us...
Alice X - trolling for perfection (Chomsky Nader) - status quObama - change you can pretend in - @ 12:
"change you can pretend in"
Funny.
Sadly, it's almost certainly true.
Does this deficit figure include W's Excellent Iraq Adventure? Last I heard, the Iraq War was an Enron-style "off-the-balance sheet" venture...
check out this graph showing the last four presidents and the economics/deficits
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-07-27-deficit_N.htm?csp=34
Come on, give the guy a break. That's only $1,633 of debt for every US citizen this year. You probably owe more on your credit cards. And think of all the beneficiaries of deficit spending!
Noah @ 20:
*scrolls up*
Bankers?
Remember kiddies, the GOP is all about smaller government and fiscal responsibility.
Isn't that what we hear over and over again? Funny how the only prez to deliver a surplus was Clinton.
Why can't November come any sooner? The Chimp has got to go.
"Good-bye from the world's largest polluter" GWB
Obviously this is the fault of President Bill Clinton and the Dems ):
RepubAnon @ 19:
You can purchase OTC derivatives products -- bets on Iraq Body Counts -- at Goldman Sachs, but you have to talk to a computer programmer understand how they work.
boosh's legacy is being the dog saluting the hydrant, and we're the hydrant.
I hope President Obama taxes the hell out of every corporation that received W's tax cuts. Corporations don't live in houses and eat food, people do, and that's where the money needs to go. Companies have suckled at the government's teat for too Goddamn long!
Bush hasn't added $2 trillion to the national debt, it's more like $6 trillion. When Bush and the GOP took over, the total national debt was about $5.5 trillion. Congress just voted to increase the debt limit to $10.8 trillion. By the time bush leaves, it should be well over $11 trillion. Bush, in 2 terms, doubled the total debt that was accumulated by all other administrations COMBINED! Now, that's a record that will never be broken. Of all accumulated federal debt, about 85% was run by Reagan, Bush, and Bush. Now, that's some quality governing.
Xmas 2003 I ask my republican in-laws if they are fiscal conservatives..... last christmas I had with them ever. Fiscal conservatives are extinct or now libertarians.
don't understand the awaiting moderation for an article
out of usatoday regarding deficit?thanks
RepubAnon @ 19:
They did pretty much the same thing with Vietnam. The result: stagflation for years.
The piper will be paid.
Enron was no accident an neither is this policy.
My brother-in-law tried to make some annoying negative comments about Obama the other night, but I was actually so worn out with Republicans in general to even take the bait!
George Bush: Most Expensivest President in History
Yep. There's something just so... patriotic about using the public coffers to line your own pockets, and to hell with paying down our war debts. We'll just borrow from that most democratic of sister nations, the People's Republic of China!
We can easily make that up by:
1. Cutting taxes
2. Drilling off-shore
3. Attacking Iran
4. Privatizing social security
5. Attacking Iran
That's why I suggest everyone on this site vote for John McCain. He's served us well as a fiscally responsible Senator and would make a great president.
"Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) said Bush 'will be remembered as the most fiscally irresponsible president in our nation’s history,'”.
Fine but he didn't do it alone. All you cowardly democrats helped him and not only with the budget but by not filibustering Alito and Roberts, taking impeachment off the table, etc. To think I campaigned for you sorry lot in 04 and 06. Gullible me, huh.
hey all, lets not forget who put him there: the GOP and the hapless voters who voted for him. who knows what AL Gore wouldve done, but ill take a guess and state it wouldnt have been this colossally incompetent.
Jay Severin Has A Small Pen1s @ 36:
Yup, he hasn't figured out how to get onto the Internet yet...but he knows how to fix the US economy.
This MONUMENTAL PROBLEMS created by the freewheeling careless BUSH/CHENEY regime and policies created; with the complacent and complit of the House of Congress; IS just the beginning.
The Home-Land Security failures.
The hole of the GROUND ZERO and the catastrophy of Hurrican Katrina.
The shredding of the US Constitution and the unprecedented signing statement of the executive branch.
The MEDIA control and news censorships.
The unprecedented Abuse of Power and the diminishing of civil rights.
The exploitation of OIL and control of sovereign nation which carry the largest OIL RESERVES.
The deregulation of the MORTGAGE industry.
The SCANDALOUS ENRON and HALLIBURTON.
THE verge of COLAPSE OF hundreds of mortgage and home loan banks; Fannie Mae; Freddy Mac; Bear Stearn
The deteriorating ECONOMY.
The FDA SCANDALS
TAINTED FOODS and POISONOUS TOYS
THE LONGEST WAR in the HISTORY.
THE diminishing food sources and water and polluted environment.
THE DESTRUCTION OF MINDS through poisonous illegal DRUGS
WILL IS COMING AT A HEAD as WE witness the WORLD LARGEST ORGANIZATION faces it CHALLENGES in the FUTURE FAILURES OF THE INSURANCE INDUSTRIES.
UNLESS AMERICA wakes up............NOW...........and press for our government and corporate leaders to change its WAYS this immenent threat to AMERICA will come to manifest SOONER than LATER.
CEOs; EXECUTIVES; GOVERNMENT LEADERS; PROFESSIONALs; ACTIVIST; RELIGIOUS LEADERS; WRITERS; Journalist; Media MUST work to END the destructions that BUSH/CHENEY has STARTED. THERE MUST BE ACCOUNTIBLITY.
almost 500 billion in DEFICIT? WHERE DID THIS GO? It came from one pocket on to anothers. WHO WILL ACCOUNT FOR THIS? Who will account for the billions more that has been misapporpriated? WHO?
it's not really Bush's fault. he was stuck with a Republican Congress.
I love the WH's retort in the video that it's not the highest deficit ever. St. Ronnie had a higher one in 1983. Is that a good case for electing another Republican?
I picked this up at campaign silo today. McMaynardKeynes is a little slow on the economics thing:
post on Huffingtonpost:
meanwhile in his wake, some reichwinger shoots up a local church after his food stamps are cut off, ostensibly the fault of liberals, homosexuals and permissive christians.
Yep, boosh III has succeeded not only in robbing the rest of america, but pitting us against each other for the remaining crumbs, of which there are not much.
The banks holding our money are going under.
That is what he set out to do.
That is what he's done.
So boosh is quite the success.
It can not be denied.
Too True!
No one should be surprised. George W. Bush has never succeeded at anything worthwhile in his life. Sub-mediocre student, failed businessman, and all-around sorry excuse for a human being, born to privilege and accustomed to having someone else clean up his messes. His only real ambition was to outdo Daddy. The man has no concept of hard work or where money comes from.
Allowing him to occupy the Oval Office was like giving the family checkbook, a Colt .45, and a box of bullets to a 5 year-old and telling him to "Have fun". While I don't condone violence for differing viewpoints, I still feel like everyone who voted for this man should have to wear a "Kick Me" sign on their backs for the next 8 years.
There isn't much time left for Bush to do anything that can turn things around.
Few months left..and he will spend these months packing.
People do not expect much now from Bush, but they pray things will not get worse if we have another war with a country like Iran,or another Katrina to face.
People also pray that the economy does not get worse, by the time Bush ends his presidency.
Wait till we get the final Freddie and Fannie bill.
You seem to think this wasn't part of plan. They wanted to drive the deficit up all along. One of primary missions of Bushes Presidency was to be sure that the next president would be forced to make the hard choices bush would have set him up for. It would be only way to be sure the next president would be forced to cut government they didn't want to begin with.
I join those who point out none of bush's policies and spending could have been possible without the collusion of dems. They never had less than 41 votes in the senate and, if they had banded with the libertarian repubs in the house, could have stopped any of the wild spending and liberty stripping bills that have characterized the last 7 years. Until a real opposition to the insiders, R and D, is formed in this country, all this kvetching is meaningless.
President George W. Bizarro: Everything he said and says is the opposite of what it meant and means.
I heard an analyst on NPR say that they finally added a bit of the cost of the war into that number, but not nearly the true amount. They put in 70 billion in for this years war efforts, but the number should be closer to 150 billion or more. But who's counting?
I seem to remember Bush telling us (several times) that he would "balance the budget in 5 years." Maybe someone in the media will remind him of this and check on his progress. The 5 years should be up soon.
the report is specious. it's almost as bad as a david gregory segment.
SteamRanger @ 46:
while you were ridiculing boosh, he was still robbing you blind.
peter @ 1:
Now that was great .
Seeing how the surge went so well , maybe we need a purge right here . But then Im left of Che and the SDS .
Isn't it time for one of his daddy's friends to bail him out?
Bush blames YOU for the deficit. Those stimulus checks YOU cashed. Bush didn't cause the deficit with his tax cuts for the rich, corporate giveaways and 2 failed mismanaged wars. YOU caused this deficit when you cashed those checks! YOU were so selfish you should have return those checks to the Treasury!
The 23% of this country that support GW should pay the bill.
Maybe we can get a mole into Diebold and get a printout of everyone who voted for him and send them the tab.
By his 5th year, he had racked up more debt than every single previous president combined. Sickening.
Jesus Hussein Christ @ 9:
No doubt about it, if Obama is elected, the collective GOP memory banks will be wiped clean. The deficits, which are already solely due to Democratic "control" of Congress, will magically become the fault of Obama, who will be expected to create a surplus in four years.
For 7-1/2 years we've been listening to Bush say that he'd balance the budget by the time he left office. First, the tax cuts weren't going to have a significant effect. Then, the Laffer (Laugher?) Curve driven economy would simply grow its way to surplus. Even now they are projecting a balanced budget by 2012 or 13. That means that if the next president fails to balance the budget by 2012-13 then we can blame it on him, since Bush has so carefully laid the foundation for fiscal health.
Worst President Ever doesn't begin to do justice to Bush. New words and concepts need to be developed to describe his reign of stupidity, lawlessness, and incompetence.
The best thing for everyone would be if Old Europe would send some agents to kidnap Bush and deliver him for trial to the International Criminal Court. Then, he could serve a life sentence with nothing to read but the US Constitution. Assuming he lived another twenty years he might have time to get to the 4th Amendment.
However, given how old and senile McCain is now, it's hard to see him sweeping to victory -- or even being able to utter complete sentences -- in 2012. Perhaps, the Republicans can make a deal with Senator Reid and in exchange for a sense of the Senate resolution proclaiming Reid "the greatest Majority Leader ever and Democrats officially tough on terrorists," he and other Democrats will agree to have Joe Lieberman or Jeb Bush installed as President in 2010.
Concerned American @ 53:
Five years won't be up for some time. Bush didn't tell us, but he does all his calculations in Jovian years. (Note: he would have used Neptunian years, but he hasn't had time yet to learn the planets farther away from Earth than Jupiter.)
Actually, I'm betting it's more insidious than we realize.
When Obama takes office (barring anything insane happening between now and election day to give McCain a major boost), he will have to raise taxes to solve this. The Republicans will then go "tax and spend liberal" and the cycle of stupidity with the electorate can continue.
The only hope here is to better educate the electorate which, doesn't seem too likely in the near future if the conservative movement has anything to say about it.
so what's the fastest way to right this sinking economic ship?
and is there a presidential candidate who has been proposing that solution?
The best part of this story was when the "reporter" (aka stenographer) made sure we knew that the deficit could be even worse because of the Democratically controlled Congress.
Thank goodness, Bush still has patriots in the media to carry water for him.
peter @ 3:
The first vid's music was better. (Never did like FatBoy Slim.)
I lost my sense of perpective at 9 zeros...
aren't they naming a garbage dump somewhere in calif.
for bush. i think his a$$ should be used as the first receptacle
for compacting the trash.
Jesus Hussein Christ @ 9:
McCain will be dead by then! ...lol
yah but can he even find anwar without asking anyone?
No republican should ever be in a position to affect the economy.
The only cure they have is 'TAX CUTS' which they claim will increase revenues.
One needs only look at the deficits of the two famous tax cutters - Reagan and Bush II.
They don't want any involvement of government in private affairs. Now that it has come to light that much of the financial industry was corrupt they clamor for Congres to do something, whereas prior to this the were totally anti-regulatory, especially as hedge funds were concerned. They assume that no people are ever corrupt, or at least greedy. Notice here that most republicans have developed an almost-mantra: 'It will keep more money in your pocket.'
No republican, nor anyone else for that matter ever talks about who will pay for all this. The huge national debt is a major reason the US dollar is worth about half of what it was about 10 years ago, and the rest of the world is considering going to the EURO standard.
Our trade deficit is in turn partially responsible for higher oil prices by allowing China and India to raise their standard of living and compete with the rest of the world for resources. China is expected to have a middle class as large as our entire population within a decade, and for doubling oil prices commensurate with the halving of the value of the dollar.
while it's true the twice damned bush admin has ssbmitted these disasterous budget bills for the first 6 years with a rethug house...what i want to know is; why is a democratic controlled house passing them now?
Can somebody tell me what has exactly changed on this issue, sins there was a democratic majority congress?
I forgot to add that now may be a good time to privatize social security.
Remember how Bill Clinton gets the blame for bringing back fiscal responsibility after Reagan and Bush I (didn't 'No new taxes' decide taxes needed to be raised?) destroyed it? Will Obama be treated the same way after it will become his job to try to get the economy back on keel?
Put aside the fact that the deficit does not include the war. The number announced by the gov’t each year as the “deficit” is bogus, as the gov’t allows itself to use accounting procedures that would be illegal for a private company.
For the true deficit, we must look at something called “The Financial Report of the United States.” The true deficit is usually about twice the announced number.
We’re looking at about a trillion dollars, here.
Do you think things are bad now? Just wait. The state of California alone is running a $15 billion dollar deficit and poor Arnold doesn't know what to do other than bring salaries back to the minimum wage level. The next shoe to drop will be the deficit that is crushing the state of New York and Governor Patterson is shitting a brick.
No, the numbers being bandied about with reagrd to the budgit deficit don't even come close. Just ask Bill Gross of PIMCO the countries largest buyer of US Treasury bonds. The mess that was created by the greed of Wall Street while our government looked the other way is beyond reprehensible. The idiot in the White House hasn't got a clue and niether does the old man hoping to take his place in November.
Factually, not poetically, we witness the financier’s grossly inflated, quadrillion dollar credit empire crumble to the dust that it is worth, on a largely parabolic course (meaning at an increasingly faster pace). The latest HUGE stumble is of the mega-trillion, bubble-blowing, inflation engines of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. As a consequence, this event necessitates Congress to aggressively partner with the Fed to create our upcoming bubble finale in which the financiers also destroy themselves. The world will not nearly resemble this day. Now you know why we have read the headlines that appeared this weekend. prices are going up and up and the pain will be felt.
Not a day before they have to, will financiers and governments willingly acknowledge or allow final bankruptcy of their system as we currently well see in sorry Zimbabwe. Powerful financiers and governments will not lift a finger to stop what they themselves are similarly, but not so crudely, guilty. This will all continue until the overwhelming crush of debt is liquidated and unredeemable fiat paper is near useless. And it will continue beyond, until these financial and political parasites have sucked dead any and all remaining productive capacity that they can leach into -- until or unless we can gain enough organization and strength to stop them. Be able to say you helped. But without all of us acting in concert saying enough is enough, then you too will be steamrolled into financial oblivion.
By FREDRIC U. DICKER, State Editor
July 28, 2008 -- ALBANY - Gov. Paterson, convinced the state faces its worst fiscal crisis since the mid-1970s, will deliver the grim news in an unprecedented special address to New Yorkers as soon as tomorrow night, The Post has learned.
The governor's address - which his aides hope will be televised by public and cable news stations - will say that plunging state revenues will force painful cuts in state services, necessitate a reduction inthe state work force, possibly through layoffs, and require other difficult economic measures, source said.
Paterson is also expected to announce that he's ordered state agencies to slash spending beyond the relatively modest 3.3 percent cuts he ordered in late spring.
He may also call a special session of the Legislature to propose reducing some of the record-high levels of spending that were approved as part of the state's new budget in April.
"The situation is worse than anyone realizes," said a source close to Paterson.
"The governor has said he's tired of the state going from deficitto deficit, spending like it has a credit card that never has to bepaid, and that he's prepared to take action," the source said.
Paterson in recent days has huddled with budget planning officials from the administrations of former Govs. Mario Cuomo and Hugh Carey "toget their ideas on how to manage a fiscal crisis," the source said.
To make his concern even clearer, Paterson will hold a private meeting today with Columbia University's Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, the former head of the World Bank, who has called thecurrent worldwide financial crisis the worst since the Great Depression.
"The governor has been impressed with Stiglitz's work, and there have been staff discussions leading to the meeting Monday," said an administration source.
Paterson warned last week that Wall Street bonuses - a major source of state tax revenue - will likely drop by 20 percent or more this year…
Don't forget the social security surplus that has been siphoned off every year and used for general expenses, being a cause that social security is in trouble. The general fund should put that money back were it belongs. It will help social security but play havoc with the budget.
Shoot, I'm just happy to be still alive under heir fuhrer W. I thought for sure we would have all been rounded up, taken to concentration camps, and murdered by now.
Oh, well...maybe next month.
dadams @ 68:
Actually it's a sewage treatment plant in San Francisco. Gotta love those people.
Wait till we get the final Freddie and Fannie bill.
===========================================
Mortgages are usually thirty year instuments which can default any where along the thirty years. They didn't get rid of them by bailing out the banks and they will not get rid of all of them by bailing out these two quasi governmental agencies. The deregulation dream of the morons is coming back home to roost. It happened with the S&L, Enron, the mortgages, it is happening with oil. Every industry that was deregulated has caused us to suffer.
The most fiscally irresponsible yes and the weenie-crats deserve almost as much credit for this giving the Neo-nut-sacks! When the economy tanks, whoever the poor soul that gets to president will be blamed for all the current administrations blundering stupidity and their carcass will be left for the vultures.
Bush spends billions and billions on the war, the first war in our history where taxes were not raised but actually lowered. Where we are not paying for it but devaluing our dollar, willing it off to our children because we LUV them.
The self Defiling-crats give NeanderBush all he asks for, mo money, mo money, mo money to blow up oil land. Classically when the economy falls the Neo-nuts point a finger at the piddle-crats for giving them all that they asked for. Why didn’t you protect us from ourselves?! It’s all your fault! We only ran the mess for 6 years!
I hate both parties, divine intervention please we need a city of politicians dropped in the ocean!
So, did we get the best bang for our hard-earned bucks during the Bush/Cheney years?
Oh, right, the hardcore right-wingers who entered the White House in January 2001, filled with hatred for all things liberal, (including all the liberal precepts in our own Constitution), set out to divert as much taxpayer money as possible into the pockets of Republicans (through tax-cuts for the wealthiest, starting wars for the right-wing war profiteers, the awarding of no-bid contracts to corporate conservative crony pals, hiring unqualified political "loyalists" to government positions, politicizing disaster relief efforts, etc. etc.), while blocking as much money as possible from getting into the hands of any and all Democrats.
The result has been a fiscal disaster for our country and for many American citizens.
But what do these hardcore conservatives care? They've made a killing...both figuratively...and literally, in many cases. (And they still dare to call themselves Christian. Or patriotic American citizens. Anything but what they truly are...a bunch of greedy, right-wing thugs, who've done enormous damage to our nation).
Charles @ 78:
Russian joke ,
A pessimist says oh things cant get any worse
An optimist knows better .
read somewhere there are 800+ fema camps set up for folks like us .
"..faltering economy and the bipartisan $170 billion stimulus package that passed earlier this year for the record deficit."
I love this statement from the Bush Administration. "See, it wasn't my fault! It was BI-Partisan! That means, both parties are responsible!" BUSH-I'd call Bush an idiot but that would offend the real idiots out there!
What a terrible, terrible president. A true American tragedy.
The "400" times cited that Bush (or his wife) said he will not leave problems for the next administration was laughable. He approached his appointment to the POTUS stating he wanted to fix problems. huh? A budget surplus to pi$$ away?
Now that HE will leave major fiscal problems and budget deficits for the Sen. Obama when he becomes President, it won't take long for the GOP lying machine to make it all Obama's fault so we should all vote for a GOP candidate again! I mean, I can see it coming just like tomorrow's sunrise! What's worse, what will happen to America if McCain were actually elected (electable)? My stars, what a disaster it would be for the country.
I think the Bush Crime Family, and the BinLadens, and probably a short list of other international crooks and theives associated with Papa Bush's Carlysle Group decided some years ago to engineer a take-over of the American Presidency and BILK AND STEAL as much as they could get away with... for as long as they could make it last. I wonder how many BILLIONS OF DOLLARS will be passed along to the grandchildren of George W. Bush through off-shore bank accounts, shadowed oil leases, Swiss Bank account numbers, and land in South America?
It's never ENOUGH, right George?
Let's be sure we understand these budgetary terms:
The "deficit" is the ANNUAL budget overage. That amount is rolled over into the larger permanent "debt," which we pay interest on, as any credit card holder would on the permanent balance of debt , as opposed to the minimum montly payment.
The interest on that permanent debt----now almost $9 TRILLION ---is about $300 billion annually, and is the first payment made from the national income each year. After that interest payment is made, THEN the schools, the roads, the social security, the yada yada, get paid.
What Bush and his cohorts have done, is to keep all war costs OFF THE BOOKS, as supplementals, and push the cost of the war off the annual deficit expenses and directly into permanent debt expenses. (Much like Enron did bookkeeping "off the books.")
Thus, the annual DEFICIT of $490 billion doesn't even include the cost of the war, so our debt is much more than the Bush administration wants to admit.
The permanet DEBT when Clinton left office was about $3 trillion; he raised taxes to pay down the debt Reagan and Bush 1 left him, but managed to balance his annual budget (deficit) the last 2 years of his presidency.
George Bush has increased that national, permanent debt from the $3 trillion he inherited (annual deficit had a surplus) to almost $9 trillion as he leaves.
So, we're in even worse shape than your article admits, since it quotes only the annual deficit and not the permanent debt.
And we're paying around $300 billion annually to the Chinese and the Japanese and the Saudi Arabians for loaning him the money to finance the war, which costs he managed to shift off the books to make people think he was "reducing the deficit."
He wasn't. He just moved the expenses off the annual deficit books.
A trick his friend Ken Lay taught him.
And the Congressional Democrats enabled in those long 8 years.
I was looking at those USA Today graphs of presidents since Carter, and noticed that W's deficits as a percentage of the economy are a good deal lower than those of Bush Sr. or Reagan. So the deficits in dollar amounts may be less impressive if inflation is factored in, blah blah blah.
But then it occurred to me that the economy under Bush has included an awful lot of make-believe derivatives, hollow debt and fancy instruments, which may artificially inflate the size of the economy and thereby mask the size of the recent deficits relative to the "real" or productive economy. But the same could be said for the S&L collapse under Reagan and Bush Sr., to some degree. Any economists out there who can confidently say whether or not this is a significant part of the picture?
I really do not know how anybody supports the Republican party..... Everything that they are suppose to stand for just goes out the window....
What exactly have they done in term of pushing the supposive Republican principals....?
1) small government - biggest deficits and huge new government bureaucracies in Homeland Security Dept, etc. Although yes they did cut taxes....but, did not find a way to pay for it...
2) gays, guns and abortion - nothing has changed
3) fiscal responsibility - two biggest deficit Presidents in history are Bush and Reagan
4) not being the world's policeman - Republicans in recent years have started more wars....
5) Freetrade and global commerce - they have not really done much here - Clinton was more of a freetrader...
6) Family values - more gay , cheating husband (McCain, Giuliani, etc.) and hooker scandals than the Democrats, who are not preachy to begin with...
7) Religious agenda - Republican have done nothing for the Religious right... and they push more issues that seem to be against religion - looking out for the poor, environment, etc.
etc. etc. etc...
Why would any conservative vote for the Republican party... a party of hacks... they are not for conservative principals at all, just for a bunch of bullshit... just a bunch of selfserving fcks...
Oops. Meant "S&L shenanigans" rather than "S&L collapse".
I will add one more from #90 above...
8) Republicans like to quote the constitution when it comes to their rights, like guns, but this President in the name of terrorism has unnessecarily shredded the constitution and consolidated power.... seems ironic for a Republican to be doing this...
Why are folks referring to Congress as a Democratically controlled Congress? 51-50, with the majority given by wormy wingnut in wingnut's clothing Joe Lieberman who may speak at the RNC! I'm not suggesting to cut the Congress slack, but I call Congress a Stalemate Congress. If we call it a Democratic Congress, there isn't much incentive to the people to vote for a Democrat or to even vote-citing "What's the difference anyway?" Language is power, the Pubs know this.
mista @ 51:
Ding ding! We have a winner!
"No doubt about it, if Obama is elected, the collective GOP memory banks will be wiped clean. The deficits, which are already solely due to Democratic “control” of Congress, will magically become the fault of Obama, who will be expected to create a surplus in four years."
Not magic, but it did take Clinton 8 years.
Cut entltlements?
You mean eliminate the safety net for working people that actulally paid the taxes in the first place, so that trust fund shitheads who never worked a day in their life (or payed any taxes to begin with) can get tax cuts. Thanks for explaining that Mr. Gregory.
Is there anyone besides Olbermann who can see right through the Bush bullshitspeak?
But we folks don't understand bush -- after all it wasn't HIS fault. It was President Clinton's fault. Regardless of the 100+ billion surplus Clinton passed on to bush he also, passed the war, the war spending, Katrina's lack of response, Afgan and I think the bush administration also said he was responsible for 9/11.
THAT EXPLAINS IT....Bill Clinton has been responsible for everything from a water leak to 9/11. Gee can't the republicans find an excuse that sits better, this one has been worn out.
The foreclosure notice has arrived in the form of higher oil prices and a crashing dollar.
Without the abject complicity of Congress and the Courts,a lot of this misery would probably have been avoided or at least,to a large extent,minimized.
I always appreciate C&L posts, however, I just wanted to remind you that under the Bush administration, the DEBT has gone up ALMOST 4 Trillion dollars, not the two Trillion you mention in this post. http://archives.cnn.com/2000/US/09/07/debt.clock/
When Bush took office, the DEBT was about 5.7 Trillion, and now it is 9.55 Trillion.
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/ The interest alone on 4 Trillion dollars has to be like 180 billion a year or something like that. Bushanomics has been quite destructive to our future, but there is ALWAYS a chance at redemption.
Point taken, tokey.
But the real point is that with that much debt---which needs to be paid down---and Obama's desire to reduce troops in Iraq but increase in Afghanistan -meaning , war costs will NOT diminish......
NONE of his Utopian ideas about healthcare or college-for-everyone or anything else, will be passed by a Congress dominated by Blue Dog Democrats who like balanced budgets.
Not gonna happen.
We'll spend 10 years paying for that debt instead.
Just chalk-up another failure in the track record of W.'s failures. Another job horribly managed.. a disgraceful legacy and a black stain to our democracy.
SteamRanger @ 46:
You are SO right!! When Bush ran for office in 2000, I spent some time looking into his background and decided the guy wasn’t fit to be dogcatcher. (My apologies to dogcatchers.) I am still amazed that voters could make such an important decision based on hyperbole and superficial marketing techniques rather than solid accomplishment. My hope is that the 2000 crowd of villagers haven’t been supplanted by a new bunch of suckers. Collectively, the country really overpaid to “enjoy” a beer with this bumbler and his band of criminal cronies.
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad said Bush “will be remembered as the most fiscally irresponsible president in our nation’s history,” adding, “... With his eight years in office, he will have had the five highest deficits ever recorded. And the highest of those deficits is now projected to come in 2009, as he leaves office."
Another fiscally conservative drunken Republican shell game ends like the others.
"Reform to entitlement programs" is conservative code talk for diverting social spending to the business of war and to other corporate interests of the political/investment class.
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