Friday, April 22, 2011

Deficits—Suppose we did NOTHING

Everybody in Washington, Republicans and Democrats, but particular Tea Party Republicans, say the deficit sky is falling.  If we do nothing…If we don’t make drastic cuts in domestic spending…If we don’t kill health reform…If we don’t abolish Medicare as we have know it and on and on and on…then the world will come to an end. 

So, what is the truth?  Let’s assume we did the Republican unthinkable and stuck with current law when it comes to the budget.  How bad would it be?  Take a look at the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates as reported by the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR) in a recent article.

Here are the budget deficit percents for the next six years for the CBO baseline (Do Nothing, keep everything as it is now) and Reagan’s numbers for his first six years.

Do Nothing
6.9
4.2
3
3
3.3
2.9
Reagan
6
4.8
5.1
5
3.2
2.9

So, if you like Reagan.  If you think the Reagan years were great years deficit-wise, then what would you want to do? 

You would LEAVE EVERY THING ALONE—DO NOTHING.

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