The Republicans’ budget issues are not about deficits. Republican administrations have increased the debt, and Democratic administrations have reduced it. Check Wikipedia for a summary of debt as a percentage of GDP: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_by_U.S._presidential_terms. Ronald Reagan increased the debt by 11 percent in a single term, George H.W. Bush by 15 percent, and George W. Bush increased it by 7 percent in his first term and 20 percent in his second. They did this with corporate welfare, defense spending, and huge tax cuts for the rich.
Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., plans to leave defense spending untouched, keep the Bush tax cuts, and further reduce tax rates on the top income brackets. He makes up for it by eliminating Medicaid and Medicare, handing them over to insurance companies. This is not about deficits. Their real agenda is eliminating Medicare and then Social Security, taking the country back to the 1920s.
Do you really believe that cutting taxes on the rich will produce jobs? It didn’t in the Bush years. And why is defense spending sacred? The Cold War is over.
Why can’t we invest in our kids, and continue to live in a country where even the least fortunate can count on the basic needs of food and medical care?
