As I've mentioned here before, The Patriot is one of my regular reads in order to stay up to date on both sides of the aisle. Its view is unquestionably slanted but its a pretty solid source for news concerning that which is dragging a hair across the collective ass of the conservative party these days.
A small article in today's issue caught my attention and I wanted to get some feedback. Obviously you have to approach these things with a discriminating eye, balance it out with some reports from the other side, but I have yet to find such. Since my grasp on financial issues isn't quite as strong as some of you that frequent this place, I figured this would be a good start to go to hear some thoughts.
For those interested, here's the link to the story.
A small article in today's issue caught my attention and I wanted to get some feedback. Obviously you have to approach these things with a discriminating eye, balance it out with some reports from the other side, but I have yet to find such. Since my grasp on financial issues isn't quite as strong as some of you that frequent this place, I figured this would be a good start to go to hear some thoughts.
For those interested, here's the link to the story.
Any thoughts that President Bush would quietly shuffle off as a lame duck can be put to rest now that he has submitted his budget proposal for fiscal 2008. The $2.9-trillion budget is the largest in history, but it continues the trend of shrinking deficits and, all things being equal, will lead the government down the path to producing a $61-billion surplus in 2012. Of course, all things are not equal.
The Congressional Budget Office is not so sure that the budget can be balanced if the tax cuts remain in place, pointing out that they have “cost” the Treasury almost $1 trillion in revenue since 2001. However, tax collections have risen by $757 billion in that same period, proving that lower tax brackets stimulate the economy and bring in more revenue.
Bush, an unabashed big spender, has actually slowed the growth of outlays in his second term, but he still finds room for $600 billion in defense spending, an additional 20 percent for the State Department, and an additional $1 billion in Title I grants for students attending school in low-income areas. However, for all the alarm about the enormous size of the budget and the amount of debt it brings with it, the deficit will likely remain at or below one percent of GDP, well below the forty-year average of 2.4 percent of GDP. That’s another tidbit of information you are unlikely to hear from the Democrats.
The Congressional Budget Office is not so sure that the budget can be balanced if the tax cuts remain in place, pointing out that they have “cost” the Treasury almost $1 trillion in revenue since 2001. However, tax collections have risen by $757 billion in that same period, proving that lower tax brackets stimulate the economy and bring in more revenue.
Bush, an unabashed big spender, has actually slowed the growth of outlays in his second term, but he still finds room for $600 billion in defense spending, an additional 20 percent for the State Department, and an additional $1 billion in Title I grants for students attending school in low-income areas. However, for all the alarm about the enormous size of the budget and the amount of debt it brings with it, the deficit will likely remain at or below one percent of GDP, well below the forty-year average of 2.4 percent of GDP. That’s another tidbit of information you are unlikely to hear from the Democrats.
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