Howardism: Tax and Spend Liberals? Really?

Tax and Spend Liberals? Really?

I find the phrase, "Tax and Spend Liberals" to be pretty interesting. But what can we learn from the following graph? First off, LBJ, a Democrat, was the first to go into debt during his presidency. Granted, he balanced it by the time he left, but it not only set a precedence, it also got the fiscally-conservative Republicans to begin to use that phrase.

Granted, they really didn't listen to themselves very well because Nixon did the same trick of borrowing a lot of money, but getting things back on track before he ducked out the door. However, Ford liked the first part … borrowing, but didn't like the second part, and left Carter a record deficit. Carter's mistakes were many, but he wasn't able to climb out the debt and left it at the same level.

Ronny actually thought that a deficit was a good thing. It made people care to keep their government running… otherwise, they wouldn't get their money back. So the nation climb deeper and deeper into debt. Bush Sr? Hit an even lower point. At this point, the problem really was that the debt wasn't always held by Americans, but was getting held by the Japanese, Chinese, and other non-Americans.

Ross Perot made the deficit a major issue for his bid for the presidency. While I don't think he really felt he would win, he wanted whoever did win to pay attention to it. And Clinton did. Not only was he able to dig the nation out the debt that Bush Sr. left him, but left a surplus. A surplus that we weren't sure what we should spend it on … better schools? better healthcare? re-tooling our work-force?

Nope. Let's blow it. And not only that, let's spiral into so much more debt that his Bush Sr would have been proud of his son. The Republicans are still thinking that the Democrats with all their fancy talk of "National Healthcare" is just getting us into socialism. Instead, they drop all the regulations passed after the great depression and then are surprised when the financial sector collapses… and then bails them out, so that the government is now the largest owner of homes and insurance. This is socialism at its finest. But I wonder … how are we going to get the money to bail them all out?

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Comment

Great Graph. I'm sure glad we're keeping those darned Socialists out of the White House! Because the free market takes care of everything! Just ask Wall Street.

I'm sorry to say that I've already conceded to 8 more years of Wing Nut rule with nutty and slutty Palin and Cooco for Cocoa Puffs McCain at the helm.

I think all those rural voters in hallowed out Ohio and Michigan will get in the voting booth and say "I can't vote for a black man" or something to that effect. Then they'll tell pollsters that he "didn't have enough experience" like Palin does.

I hope I'm wrong.

—Marc

Comment

Same graph … just a little more comical:


	My Response to Terrorism More Reflections on Peace When the Battle is Won... Who's Side are We on Anyway? God Bless and Pay For You What a Country Poll by Sex? I Changed Parties The Open Space of Democracy Re: Allah or Jesus? Read other entries in Politics...	Comment Always interesting to hear the way Shrubby pissed away the surplus discussed. The most interesting thing is that the graph only goes up to 2003. There is another five years of spending beyond the government's means unplotted, and that graph pre-dates the Iraq adventure. So it really is far worse than that. Bastards. —Duncan Ellis Tax and Spend Liberals? Really? I find the phrase, "Tax and Spend Liberals" to be pretty interesting. But what can we learn from the following graph? First off, LBJ, a Democrat, was the first to go into debt during his presidency. Granted, he balanced it by the time he left, but it not only set a precedence, it also got the fiscally-conservative Republicans to begin to use that phrase. Granted, they really didn't listen to themselves very well because Nixon did the same trick of borrowing a lot of money, but getting things back on track before he ducked out the door. However, Ford liked the first part … borrowing, but didn't like the second part, and left Carter a record deficit. Carter's mistakes were many, but he wasn't able to climb out the debt and left it at the same level. Ronny actually thought that a deficit was a good thing. It made people care to keep their government running… otherwise, they wouldn't get their money back. So the nation climb deeper and deeper into debt. Bush Sr? Hit an even lower point. At this point, the problem really was that the debt wasn't always held by Americans, but was getting held by the Japanese, Chinese, and other non-Americans. Ross Perot made the deficit a major issue for his bid for the presidency. While I don't think he really felt he would win, he wanted whoever did win to pay attention to it. And Clinton did. Not only was he able to dig the nation out the debt that Bush Sr. left him, but left a surplus. A surplus that we weren't sure what we should spend it on … better schools? better healthcare? re-tooling our work-force? Nope. Let's blow it. And not only that, let's spiral into so much more debt that his Bush Sr would have been proud of his son. The Republicans are still thinking that the Democrats with all their fancy talk of "National Healthcare" is just getting us into socialism. Instead, they drop all the regulations passed after the great depression and then are surprised when the financial sector collapses… and then bails them out, so that the government is now the largest owner of homes and insurance. This is socialism at its finest. But I wonder … how are we going to get the money to bail them all out? Tell others about this article: Comment Great Graph. I'm sure glad we're keeping those darned Socialists out of the White House! Because the free market takes care of everything! Just ask Wall Street. I'm sorry to say that I've already conceded to 8 more years of Wing Nut rule with nutty and slutty Palin and Cooco for Cocoa Puffs McCain at the helm. I think all those rural voters in hallowed out Ohio and Michigan will get in the voting booth and say "I can't vote for a black man" or something to that effect. Then they'll tell pollsters that he "didn't have enough experience" like Palin does. I hope I'm wrong. —Marc Comment Same graph … just a little more comical:
	2014, Howard Abrams Some rights reserved	Originally written on 23 September 2008. Updated on 8 February 2014.