I'm getting a chuckle out of Meagan McArdle's series on the deficit.
Today's gem: "And either way, I don't think you can ignore the huge leap in government spending that has taken place during the first two years of Obama's term."
For anyone interested, here are the tables.
I haven't updated them for Obama. Obama has not exploded spending, beyond the stimulus package. In fact, if you look, they actually found a lot of programs to cut.
One thing Megan will never say: "Republican's raised taxes in every year they were in office since 1980. They just didn't collect them." Think about it. Every unbalanced budget that they tolerated could be thought of as a deferred tax increase.
Last, because of ideological bent, maybe, she doesn't seem to consider that we have a revenue problem. Maybe it's because some think that that is theoretically impossible, i.e. it's always a spending problem, that taxes can never be "too low". Maybe it is, somewhat understandably, because she is influenced by never having known anything but Gover Norquist's GOP.
Monday, November 1, 2010
One thing Megan will never say
