“I recall a surplus that was destroyed by two wars and a tax cut.”

Not strictly accurate. The projected deficit for just this year alone (2011) is more than the entire cost of the wars to date in Iraq and Afghanistan combined.

When we were debating extending the Bush tax cuts, it was estimated that over the next ten years the cuts would reduce revenues by $3.5 trillion, or an average of $350 billion a year. The smallest predicted annual deficit in Obama’s budget for the next ten years is $748 billion.

And Obama extended the Bush tax cuts. All of them. Why? What were the reasons he gave?

You can look at the Bush tax cut breakdown here to see for yourself how many of these tax cuts were “for the rich,” and how many were for all the rest of us.

It’s not the revenues. It’s the spending. It has always been the spending. And almost all of it is for the military, social spending, and entitlements. Go to Obama’s front budget page, and open up that little graphic. That small box on the lower right is everything else, and that’s only if you don’t count veteran benefits as military.

Talk of deficit reduction has been going on for most of my life and what do we have to show for it? A $14+ TRILLION government induced dept and yearly deficits of over $1 TRIILION is what. A line in the sand must be drawn here. This far and no further!

It’s the spending stupid! They can’t keep borrowing forever.

“After all, the only plan they seem to have is to cut spending and lower taxes. Jobs and the economy will miraculously improve if they only can get their way. They can then dismantle all social programs and the safety net, vote themselves a business-friendly and tax-free environment, and not even have to worry about paying off our international creditors.”

You forgot the part where the Republicans are going to sell Earth to the Lizard People from Mars, and put all the quatloos into giant money bins where they can dive around in it like a porpoise.

If anybody here wants to discuss actual Democratic and Republican ideas, it might be kind of interesting. If the Democratic plan is to increase spending and raise taxes, I urge them to run on it next year.

After all, the only plan they seem to have is to cut spending and lower taxes. Jobs and the economy will miraculously improve if they only can get their way. They can then dismantle all social programs and the safety net, vote themselves a business-friendly and tax-free environment, and not even have to worry about paying off our international creditors. After all, businesses go Chapter 11 all the time–fire their employees, screw their creditors, sell off their assets and leave their investors holding the bag. Only upper management makes out. Why not do it to a whole country?

It’s not a stupid plan. It’s a very clever, long-term one. I think they’ve been implementing it since the Reagan Administration, and they’ve been planning it a lot longer than that.