President Obama, the greatest deficit reducer of all time

by mike kohr 5/1/2013

Super Deficit Reducer
-President Obama-

You'd never know this fact if all you listened to was the Chicken Little, sky is falling crowd, of Faux Gnus. And if all you listened to was the Nixon aide, turned right-wing propaganda huckster, Roger Ailes's, fact free network, you certainly would not be aware that President Obama's deficit reduction results would be even greater if the obstructionist Congress would allow the President to remove the biggest single contributors to today's yearly deficits, namely the George W. Bush era tax give-a-ways to the rich.   

Republicans ran the economy over a cliff, put in place spending and tax policies that exploded the debt, and then  after America elected Barack Obama as President, engaged in unprecedented obstructionism all the while crying that President Obama is not fixing their catastrophic failures quickly enough.

Most amazing in all this, is that on a political level, the Republican Party and Faux Gnus has succeeded. Most Americans are not aware that President Obama's economic policies have actually shrunk the yearly deficit both in raw numbers, and in relation to GDP, the only true way to examine the size of the national debt from administration to administration.

In the fiscal year 2008-2009, the last year of George W. Bush's budgets, the yearly deficit was $1.4 trillion dollars. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) the upcoming 2014 deficit will :  "shrink this year to $845 billion, or 5.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), its smallest size since 2008."

Steve Benen of the Maddow Blog, notes that this is the fastest deficit reduction since the end of World War II and at the same time resulted in the strongest job creation in 8 years.

For the math impaired Republican Party and their hair on fire friends at Faux Gnus that is a reduction of $555 billion or a reduction of 40%. In raw numbers, -the misleading numbers that Faux Gnus uses- this is more deficit reduction than all other presidents in history combined.

Adversity presents opportunity, and President Obama, like every other Democratic President was presented with the opportunity to fix a failed economy from his Republican predecessor. President Obama has achieved historic accomplishment because in part he was presented with a a failure of epic proportions.

Republican criticism of the President is nothing more than they wishing to be the hero of their own self inflicted disaster.

sources: http://stuffthatmattersblog.com/2013/03/24/how-to-prove-obama-lowered-the-deficit-in-4-easy-steps/
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/05/08/18127236-a-deficit-shift-the-gop-may-struggle-to-explain?lite 

Republicans are not Conservative or Fiscally Responsible, -never have been-

Pie Chart of 2013 Budget, -excellant visual of the realities of the Federal Budget-

Reagan did a masterful job of convincing millions of Americans that the Federal Budget is rife with fraud and waste. He made the "welfare queen driving a Cadillac," part of the American lexicon, playing the role of a flim-flam artist in laying down a story line that the yearly deficit could be eliminated by cutting that waste and fraud. It's no wonder Reagan went on to become the greatest deficit spender in American history (as a % of GDP).
Such reality free thinking can be avoided by looking at the numbers: 

There is certainly waste in every line item of the US budget just as there is in every line item of every corporation and business in America. But when you hear Republicans talk about social programs breaking the bank remember this chart.

ROMNEY IS RUNNING FOR GEORGE W. BUSH'S 3RD TERM, here's the graph

You are reading this right. There is nothing wrong with your eyes. Under Romney's plan, millionaires and billionaires will pay less in taxes while the poor will pay more. On the bright side the middle class would get a few meager crumbs.

 Romney is doubling down on the same tax policies that brought us a decade of no job growth, $9.3 trillion in National Debt, and plunged the nation into the second greatest economic free-fall in history.

source: http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3695

Given the failed record of Trickle Down Economics why would Romney continue to insist on massive tax-give-aways to multi-millionaires like himself? The answer lies close to one of his many homes.

Willard Romney. he's not one of us. He never has been. He never will be.

Trickle Down Has Never Worked. Not Once.

It added $9.2 trillion to the national debt.
see: http://bureaucountydems.blogspot.com/p/national-debt.html

It's produced less than 1/2 the job growth of Democratic Bubble Up Economic Principle. see: http://bureaucountydems.blogspot.com/p/job-growth.html

It's been in place for 4 of the last 4 recessions including 2 of the 3 greatest economic downturns in our nation's history.
 see: http://bureaucountydems.blogspot.com/p/history-of-recessions.html

It's produced the greatest income inequality in history. see: http://bureaucountydems.blogspot.com/p/income-inequality-99-versus-1.html

Romney is doubling down on the very economic principles that have all but killed the middle class and swelled the ranks of the poor. We should remember the record of the principles he champions.

Yet More Graphs Showing It's Not Spending, It's Revenue That Is Causing the Problems

The Bush tax give-a-ways to the rich remain today the greatest driver of today's national debt. When Republican's wax indignant about todays deficits and blame "out of control spending," call bullshit. Cause that's what you are hearing.

We are spending less per capita today than at any time since 1954, when the top tax rate was 90%. Reagonomics promised us that lower tax rates on the uber rich would produce rapid job creation and increased revenues. What they produced was a decade of no job growth, unprecedented income inequality, massive deficits, and 4 of the last 4 recessions, including 2 of the deepest economic downturns in our nation's history, the Reagan Recession of 1982 and the George W. Bush Great Recession of 2007-2009. Again proving the maxim that only two things grow when Republican economic and tax policies are in effect, unemployment and the national debt.

see also: http://bureaucountydems.blogspot.com/p/national-debt.html (see 5th graph)
               http://bureaucountydems.blogspot.com/p/history-of-recessions.html
               http://bureaucountydems.blogspot.com/p/income-inequality-99-versus-1.html

Who's the Big Spenders? answer: Reagan, Bush, & Bush. President Obama has produced the lowest level of increased spending in 30 years.

Debunking the Republican Talking Point of Blaming Democrat Control of the House For the National Debt

-When Republicans blame Democrats for their economic incompetence it sounds like bullshit because it is bullshit-

by mike kohr 4/4/2012

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Federal_Debt_1901-2010.png

The complex chart above gives a great insight into the timeline of our National Debt. Click on it and expand the view and spend some time tracking the increases and declines. The chart is Debt compared to GDP the only true way to track National Debt.

A snap shot analysis shows 5 major spikes in growth of the National Debt:

1). 1915-1919, Democrat House and President, Cause: WW I
2). 1933-1945, Democrat House and President, Cause: Republican gifted Great Depression & WW II
3). 1981-1993, Democratic House and Republican Presidents, Cause: Trickle Down Economics
4). 2001-2009, Republican House and Republican President, Cause: Trickle Down Economics
5). 2009-2012, R/D House, Democratic President, Cause: Republican gifted Great Recession and Trickle Down Economics.

Major Declines in National Debt:
1). 1919-1932, Republican House and Republican President, Result: The Great Depression
2). 1946- 1981 Democratic House and D/R Presidents. Result: Greatest pay down of debt in history
3). 1993-2000, D/R House and Democratic President. Result: Greatest economic boom in history.

A summary of the evidence is clear: debt is caused NOT just by spending but also by tax and economic policy, economic downturns, and war. Yet of the 5 spikes in National Debt, 4 have been caused Republican economic policy including nearly all of the most recent increases in National Debt.

Only 1 of the 5 spikes in National Debt occurred for reasons other than Republican economic policy and that was the spike of 1915-1919, caused by WW I.

Republicans are currently trying to deflect blame for the $9.2 trillion in debt ran up by the last 3 Republican presidents by blaming Democrat's control of the House of Representatives. The record of the last 100 years shows clearly that the single biggest pay down of National Debt occurred under the longest control of the House by Democrats, 1945-1981, and that steady record of fiscal responsibility was only broken by the advent of Reagan's budget busting Trickle Down Economics of tax give-a-ways to the rich.

When Republicans blame Democrats for their economic incompetence it sounds like bullshit because it is bullshit.

Who Are The Big Spenders? That would be the Bush's, Reagan, Nixon & Ford

Make sure you visit my page "National Debt." http://bureaucountydems.blogspot.com/p/national-debt.html
The above graph is yet another look at the fiscal insanity of Republican economic policy. It is no wonder that Democratic Administrations outperform Republican administrations on EVERY economic standard.

Only two things grow when a Republican is in the White House, unemployment and the National Debt. And those are the indisputable facts of the last 70 years.

AND WHAT IS PRESIDENT OBAMA"S ECONOMIC PLAN LEADING TO?

source: http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/03/balancing-budget-obama-way

The above graph charts the national debt to GPD ratio, the only true way to compare debt across the years and from one president to another. The closer to zero the closer to a balanced budget we get.

Take special note that the last time a budget was in surplus was under Wild Bill Clinton. President Obama, climbing out of a far deeper economic hole, is repeating the same pattern as President Clinton, the most fiscally successful president of the last 60 years.

This is yet another reminder if we want to avoid the pain of economic downturns we need to quit electing the stumblebums that cause them. And that would be Republicans.
See: http://bureaucountydems.blogspot.com/p/history-of-recessions.html

Republican Candidates Propose Even Greater Debt, -and hope you don't notice-

Re

Remember that $9.2 TRILLION of our current national debt was ran up by Reagan, Bush and Bush. Romney, Santorum and Gingrich are doubling down on their own failed policy while critizing President Obama on this very topic and hoping we are too lazy to figure out the math. Don't buy the lies.

source: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/02/the-big-deficit-lie-every-gop-debt-plan-leaves-us-with-more-debt/253501/

Link To A Great Article That Sums Up The Economic Reasons To Vote Democrat

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/01/23/the-main-but-not-the-only-reason-to-vote-democratic-the-current-gop-sucks-heres-proof/

Corporate Profit At 50 Year High, Personal Income At 50 Year Low

Not only are corporate profits at a 50 year high, the corporate tax load is at a 50 year low, while personal income is at a 50 year low.
-These historic levels of corporate profit have not been seen since 1929. Remember how that worked out?-

It's no mystery why the middle class is hurting and the ranks of the poor are growing. The answer is simple mathematics. Decades of reverse Robin Hood economic policy will have that result every time.

Note that the steady decline in personal income began under Richard Nixon and has continued under all following Republican presidents with the steepest declines occurring under George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon. The only respite from this economic strangle-hold on the middle class and the poor was the 8 years of the Clinton administration.

As you examine the above graphs take note:
1.) 7 of the last 8 recessions occured when a Republican was in the White House and conservative economic policies were in place (see also "History of Recessions" http://bureaucountydems.blogspot.com/p/history-of-recessions.html )
2.) Job creation plummeted under Supply Side Economics
(see: http://bureaucountydems.blogspot.com/p/job-growth.html )
3.) The National Debt exploded under Republican economic policies
(see: http://bureaucountydems.blogspot.com/p/national-debt.html )

source material: http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2011/11/the-era-of-corporate-profit.html

Another Look At Who's Responsible For the National Debt

THE DEBT DEAL BY THE NUMBERS

$4 TRILLION
The amount bond rating agencies agree needs to be cut from the annual deficits over ten years to get our fiscal house in order

$3.2 TRILLION
The amount the original Republican debt reduction plan proposed.

$4.2 TRILLION
The amount President Obama countered the original Republican proposal with.
This would have consisted of a 4/1 ratio of spending cuts to tax increases on the rich.

$2.2 TRILLION
The amount of debt reduction finally arrived at after the Republicans nearly drove America into default. Speaker Boehner used the Congressional Budget Office numbers as a baseline for the plan. The CBO’s numbers include the end of the George W. Bush tax give-a-ways to the rich which expire in 2012. Elimination of the Bush tax policies will cut the Federal Debt by $3.7 trillion over a decade.
In effect this works out to approximately a 1/2 ratio of spending cuts to tax increases on the rich.
Only 1% of the spending cuts come into play in 2012, the other 99% coming in the out years. Under the enforcement mechanism of the bill, Social Security, Medicare beneficiaries, food stamps and other low income programs are immune from cuts.

98%
Is what John Boehner is saying he got in this bill. If getting schooled by President Obama, and positioning the Republican Party in 2012 as the goon squad for millionaires and billionaires is what John Boehner wanted I think he actually got 100% of what he wanted.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheet-victory-bipartisan-compromise-economy-american-people

http://bobcesca.com/blog-archives/2011/08/upon-further-examination.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2021517/US-debt-deal-Obama-declares-end-tax-breaks-wealthiest-Americans.html

http://www.editedforclarity.com/2011/08/01/debt-ceiling-deal-the-devil-is-in-the-details/#disqus_thread

Postscript: Within days of approval of the debt deal compromise the S&P rating agency downgraded the United States credit rating to AA from AAA. Had the Republican leadership accepted President Obama's original plan of a $4.2 trillion reduction in the federal debt over the next decade this downgrade would have been averted.
The strangle-hold the Tea Party has over the Republican Party has in this case exposed the American taxpayer to billions of dollars in increased interest payments due to this easily predictable lowering of our credit rating.
No sane American would deliberatly poisen their personel credit rating, but the Tea Party and the lack courage and failure of leadership in the Republican Party has poisened our nation's credit and credibility, and yet again handed the bill to the next generation.

President Obama Called The Republican Bluff on the Deficit, -they blinked, turned tail, cut and run-

like the hypocritical cowards they have always been on this (as well as many other) issues.

But make no mistake about it, the Republicans are experts on the National Debt, after all they have caused the over-whelming majority of it.




If you wish to see what is driving today's deficit spending, here are the reasons:




Anytime you hear Republicans claiming they want to solve the National Debt issue you are listening to people that wish to be the hero of their own self inflicted disaster.

Appalling Greed: Richest 400 Average $270.5 Million Incomes, Pay Almost Nothing in Taxes
-Compare that to 1955, when the country's most affluent made far less money and paid 51 percent of their income in taxes-
By Sam Pizzigati May 16, 2011

In 2008, the IRS revealed last week, 400 Americans reported at least $110 million in income on their federal tax returns. These 400, in a year that ended with millions of Americans out of work and home, averaged $270.5 million each, the second-highest U.S. top 400 average income on record.

see full article: http://www.alternet.org/story/150956/appalling_greed%3A_richest_400_average_%24270.5_million_incomes%2C_pay_almost_nothing_in_taxes?akid=6972.271528.cVT-v6&rd=1&t=8

Republicans Set To Kill Middle Class Hostage In Their Quest To Preserve +$100,00.00 Give-A-Ways To Millionaires

As the George W. Bush tax give-a-ways to the rich are set to expire there are two proposals on the table. Republicans are unwilling to allow President Obama to give tax relief to working class people unless the deficit exploding tax give-a-ways to millionaires are preserved.

Both the Republican AND Democrat plans give tax cuts to all income brackets. But as the graphic below demonstrates the Republican plan gives massive breaks to the richest 5% of Americans. With no spending cuts to offset this give-a-way this plan will add over $700 billion to the national debt. It is this kind of Voo Doo Economics that have led to the last 3 Republican Presidents adding $9.2 trillion to the National Debt since 1981. Advocates of Trickle Down Economics have promised increased job creation and increased tax revenues, two promises that have NEVER been fulfilled (see also National Debt & Job Creation).



-double click graphic for larger image-

WHY DO REPUBLICAN ECONOMIC PRINCIPLES EXPAND THE NATIONAL DEBT?
-The answer is simple mathematics. Reduced revenue + increased spending ='s increased debt-
The two biggest promises of "Trickle Down Economics" are it's greatest failings. Proponents of "Trickle Down Economics” claim that tax cuts, skewed to the rich, will create jobs and increase tax revenues. The graph above disproves the latter claim. Job creation plummets under "Trickle Down Economics (http://bureaucountydems.blogspot.com/p/job-growth.html )and nine of the last ten recessions have occurred under Republican leadership ( http://bureaucountydems.blogspot.com/p/history-of-recessions.html ).

Two things are certain to grow when a Republican is in the White House, unemployment and the National Debt.

By contrast, "Bubble Up" economnic priciples practiced by Democratic Administrations put people to work, rev up the economy, and balance the Nation's ledger books. Every time. No exceptions.