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From Fat Surplus to Ruin in Ten Years
 In January 2001, with the budget balanced and clear sailing ahead, the Congressional Budget Office forecast ever-larger annual surpluses indefinitely. But then, dozens of interest groups all set about spending the excess, each thinking the whole thing was theirs. Add in WOT and Hopeless Security, a recession, and there you have it. Polls show that a large majority of Americans blame wasteful or unnecessary federal programs for the nation's budget problems. They didn't ask me, but I would've agreed. The biggest culprit, by far, has been an erosion of tax revenue triggered largely by two recessions and multiple rounds of tax cuts. Together, the economy and the tax bills enacted under former president George W. Bush, and to a lesser extent by President Obama, wiped out $6.3 trillion in anticipated revenue. How did I know this was coming? It's the WaPo! Bush said as he accepted the GOP nomination in August 2000 - "The surplus is not the government's money. The surplus is the people's money." Buffoon! It's gubamint's money! After a lot more Bush Bashing, we get to the root cause: William Hoagland, who was for years a top budget aide to Domenici and other GOP Senate leaders, said it is simplistic to think today's fiscal problems began just 10 years ago. In 1976, as a young CBO analyst, Hoagland produced a long-term simulation that showed entitlement costs gradually overwhelming the rest of the federal budget. Seems some of here figured that out already. Summarizing a chart in a graphic sidebar in the article - Legislative spending added $8.4 trillion, economic and technical costs were $3.6 trillion, and "other" was $0.7 trillion, or $700 billion. Of the spending, $2.8 trillion was several tax cuts, more spending totaled $3.4 trillion, stimulus (only) $700 billion, and $1.4 trillion in borrowing. They're silent on ObamaCare, but that's revenue-neutral, I heard. [cough] Bush's fault, Obama's fault, nobody's fault - I don't care. Fix it! Posted by: Bobby 2011-05-01 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=321579 |