JohnnyMarzetti
04-27-2005, 08:25 PM
Well isn't this just wonderful.
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan finally acknowledged the obvious at a recent Senate Budget Committee hearing.
His support in 2001 of the president's record-high tax-cut package, when the country had budget surpluses, encouraged Congress to adopt tax policies that have resulted in record-high deficits.
"I was wrong, like everybody else on the issue of surpluses," Greenspan said. He also said he has no doubt that tax increases would be part of any bipartisan deficit-reduction solution.
To be fair, Greenspan did caution in 2001 against "imprudent fiscal policies" and said in his January 2001 testimony to Congress that there was a "considerable danger of overdoing it." Congress chose to ignore that part.
When George W. Bush took office, he inherited a budget surplus of more than $128 billion. Then came the record tax cut packages of 2001, 2002 and 2003, worth $1.8 trillion over 10 years.
A March-November 2001 economic recession ended a record-setting economic expansion that began in 1991. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have cost $300 billion, with costs expected to rise to $646 billion (though Bush administration officials expected the war to cost no more than $50 billion — $60 billion total). Yet neither the president nor Congress has asked the American people to make sacrifices; instead, they're letting red ink flow.
The result has been predictable. One year into Bush's tenure, the budget went from surplus to a deficit of $158 billion. In 2003, the deficit reached $378 billion, a record high in American history. In 2004, that record was shattered with a deficit of $412billion. This year's deficit is expected to shatter the record again, coming in at an estimated $427billion.
These deficits are being paid for with borrowing — so the national debt also has hit record highs. Yet Congress is considering making the Bush tax cuts permanent. That's fiscal madness. Now is the time to bring back the budget discipline of the 1990s — where tax cuts and spending increases were reined in by requiring offsets.
The current "borrow and spend" philosophy courts financial disaster. Greenspan's belated injection of reality should lead Congress and the president to reverse course.
Woody Back, Start hiding you money!!!!
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan finally acknowledged the obvious at a recent Senate Budget Committee hearing.
His support in 2001 of the president's record-high tax-cut package, when the country had budget surpluses, encouraged Congress to adopt tax policies that have resulted in record-high deficits.
"I was wrong, like everybody else on the issue of surpluses," Greenspan said. He also said he has no doubt that tax increases would be part of any bipartisan deficit-reduction solution.
To be fair, Greenspan did caution in 2001 against "imprudent fiscal policies" and said in his January 2001 testimony to Congress that there was a "considerable danger of overdoing it." Congress chose to ignore that part.
When George W. Bush took office, he inherited a budget surplus of more than $128 billion. Then came the record tax cut packages of 2001, 2002 and 2003, worth $1.8 trillion over 10 years.
A March-November 2001 economic recession ended a record-setting economic expansion that began in 1991. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have cost $300 billion, with costs expected to rise to $646 billion (though Bush administration officials expected the war to cost no more than $50 billion — $60 billion total). Yet neither the president nor Congress has asked the American people to make sacrifices; instead, they're letting red ink flow.
The result has been predictable. One year into Bush's tenure, the budget went from surplus to a deficit of $158 billion. In 2003, the deficit reached $378 billion, a record high in American history. In 2004, that record was shattered with a deficit of $412billion. This year's deficit is expected to shatter the record again, coming in at an estimated $427billion.
These deficits are being paid for with borrowing — so the national debt also has hit record highs. Yet Congress is considering making the Bush tax cuts permanent. That's fiscal madness. Now is the time to bring back the budget discipline of the 1990s — where tax cuts and spending increases were reined in by requiring offsets.
The current "borrow and spend" philosophy courts financial disaster. Greenspan's belated injection of reality should lead Congress and the president to reverse course.
Woody Back, Start hiding you money!!!!