History Lesson
On 6/16/09, Richard Averett of Otego had the following letter to the editor published in the Oneonta Star.
“Since 1945, the party that claims to support ‘small government’ and ‘fiscal responsibility’ actually spent more money and grew bigger governments than did Democratic presidents. In fact, Republican administrations (excluding Eisenhower) have outspent Democrats and driven up the national debt as a percentage of GDP by a whopping 3-to-1 ratio!
“When Reagan took office in 1981, the national debt was $930 billion, and when he left it had mushroomed to nearly $2.9 trillion, turning the largest creditor nation into the largest debtor nation in just eight short years. Reagan’s fiscal strategy was based on cutting taxes for the wealthy and increasing military spending while selling treasury bonds to foreign investors to pay the bills.
“Following in his mentor’s footsteps, George H.W. Bush ran up the national debt by almost $2 trillion, and until his son took office, he held the record for the largest annual budget deficit in U.S. history (more than $500 billion).
“In 1993, Clinton inherited a national debt of around $4.5 trillion and a budget deficit of $290 billion. By raising taxes on the wealthy (and cutting them for the middle-class and poor) and reducing military spending, the U.S. debt was cut by $360 billion and was $2.4 trillion less at the end of his presidency than had been projected when Clinton took office.
“When George W. Bush took the oath in 2001, he inherited a budget surplus of more than $230 billion with a national debt of around $5.6 trillion, and he immediately cut taxes for the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans by $630 billion, thus eradicating Clinton's surplus by year's end. Bush also raided Social Security to the tune of $150 billion to make the 2004 deficit appear smaller. By the end of Bush's presidency, the national debt had doubled to more than $10 trillion.”
“Since 1945, the party that claims to support ‘small government’ and ‘fiscal responsibility’ actually spent more money and grew bigger governments than did Democratic presidents. In fact, Republican administrations (excluding Eisenhower) have outspent Democrats and driven up the national debt as a percentage of GDP by a whopping 3-to-1 ratio!
“When Reagan took office in 1981, the national debt was $930 billion, and when he left it had mushroomed to nearly $2.9 trillion, turning the largest creditor nation into the largest debtor nation in just eight short years. Reagan’s fiscal strategy was based on cutting taxes for the wealthy and increasing military spending while selling treasury bonds to foreign investors to pay the bills.
“Following in his mentor’s footsteps, George H.W. Bush ran up the national debt by almost $2 trillion, and until his son took office, he held the record for the largest annual budget deficit in U.S. history (more than $500 billion).
“In 1993, Clinton inherited a national debt of around $4.5 trillion and a budget deficit of $290 billion. By raising taxes on the wealthy (and cutting them for the middle-class and poor) and reducing military spending, the U.S. debt was cut by $360 billion and was $2.4 trillion less at the end of his presidency than had been projected when Clinton took office.
“When George W. Bush took the oath in 2001, he inherited a budget surplus of more than $230 billion with a national debt of around $5.6 trillion, and he immediately cut taxes for the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans by $630 billion, thus eradicating Clinton's surplus by year's end. Bush also raided Social Security to the tune of $150 billion to make the 2004 deficit appear smaller. By the end of Bush's presidency, the national debt had doubled to more than $10 trillion.”
posted by Jim O'Leary | 12:00 AM
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