Oh those darned Republicans and their deficit obsession

Oh those darned Republicans and their deficit obsession

by digby

Gee, I wonder where people get the idea that the deficit is the world's most important issue? This is from the White House web site:

The President is serious about cutting spending, reforming entitlements and the tax code to reduce the deficit in a balanced way. The question is, will Congressional Republicans come to the table to get something done?

Let’s take a moment to look what we’ve done so far: The President has already reduced the deficit by over $2.5 trillion, cutting spending by over $1.4 trillion, bringing domestic discretionary spending to its lowest level as a share of the economy since the Eisenhower era [see below]. As a result of these savings, together with a strengthening economy, the deficit is coming down at the fastest pace of anytime in American history other than the demobilization from World War II.

And he's laid out a specific plan to do more. His proposal resolves the sequester and reduces our deficit by over $4 trillion dollars in a balanced way- by cutting spending, finding savings in entitlement programs and asking the wealthiest to pay their fair share. As a result the deficit would be cut below its historic average and the debt would fall as a share of the economy over the next decade.

Just two months ago Speaker Boehner said there was $800 billion in deficit reduction that could be achieved by only closing loopholes and reducing tax expenditures. So we know we can get this done. Let’s be clear: the President’s proposal to Speaker Boehner is still on the table. Here it is again

We can't just cut our way to prosperity. Even as we look for ways to reduce deficits over the long term, we must grow the economy in a way that strengthens the middle class and everyone willing to work hard to get into it.

So the choice in front of Congressional Republicans today is simple: will they let these devastating cuts happen that will cost hundreds of thousands of jobs simply because they refuse to close one tax loophole for the wealthy? Or will they compromise and work with us on a balanced solution to get this done? We hope they come to the table for the sake of middle class families, our national security and our future today.

For a Big Government liberal socialist he sure is proud of his record as a spending cutter, don't you think? Click this link to see just how much more he's chomping at the bit to cut.

*Oh, and by the way, they've gone completely wobbly on "revenue." Ezra says this is in conjunction with fewer spending cuts as well, but it's hard to see how that's correct considering that the president is openly saying 4 trillion which is the number they arbitrarily chose back in 2011.



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