How did we get from there to here?

Can you remember the year 2000?  The country was at peace.  The economy was booming.  As for the federal budget - it was in the black!  Yes, there was a substantial surplus, and the country could look forward to continuing prosperity and using that surplus to address problems and the needs of the population.  All of that seems long ago and far away now.

Do you ever stop to think about how we got from there (big surpluses) to here (massive deficits)?  What accounts for the deficit which everyone in Washington decried during the recent set-to over the debt ceiling but which no one did anything serious (i.e., bringing in more revenue to the government coffers) to correct?  Well, here is the answer to both those questions.

As you can readily see on this chart based on estimates from the Congressional Budget Office, the biggest portion of the debt now and in the future is a result of the Bush tax cuts.  Another substantial layer is added by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Without those two factors, even taking into account the economic downturn that began in 2008, we would be in pretty good shape today.

The cure to what ails us seems perfectly clear to me:  (1.) Let the Bush tax cuts - all of them - expire.  (2.) Get out of Iraq and Afghanistan ASAP.  That's not just a financial imperative, that's a moral imperative as well.

If we simply do those two things, we will be going a long way toward mending our economy and our society. We might even live to see the federal budget in surplus again.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no
Read more

The Investigator by John Sandford: A review

Image
  I have read a few of John Sandford's books in the Prey series featuring Lucas Davenport. This book is a literal offspring of that series. It's the first in a series featuring Davenport's adopted daughter Letty Davenport. Letty is in her mid-20s and a graduate of Stanford. She works for a U.S. senator named Christopher Colles in a desk job but she's bored with her assignments. Then the senator offers her a chance to go into the field as a liaison between his office and the Department of Homeland Security.  In her first assignment in that position, she is sent to Texas along with DHS investigator John Kaiser to try to find out what is happening in regard to thefts of crude oil. The senator is not so concerned about the lost oil but wants to know where the money from its sale is going. Who is selling the oil and what they are doing with the profits? The suspicion is that a particularly nasty militia group led by a woman is involved. Letty and Kaiser head out to Texas, de
Read more

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

You probably remember poet Amanda Gorman from her appearance at the inauguration of President Biden. She read her poem "The Hill We Climb" on that occasion. After the senseless slaughter in Uvalde this week, she was inspired to write another poem which was published in The New York Times. It seemed perfect for the occasion and so I stole it in order to feature it here, just in case you didn't get a chance to read it in the Times . Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman Everything hurts, Our hearts shadowed and strange, Minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. And yet none of it is new; We knew it as home, As horror, As heritage. Even our children Cannot be children, Cannot be. Everything hurts. It’s a hard time to be alive, And even harder to stay that way. We’re burdened to live out these days, While at the same time, blessed to outlive them. This alarm is how we know We must be altered — That we must differ or die, That we must triumph or try.
Read more