BCT Editorial – 7/24/05

This page was last updated on July 24, 2005.

Debtor nation; Editorial; Beaver County Times; July 24, 2005.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“The federal deficit for 2005 will be around $333 billion. That’s $79 billion below last year’s record and almost $100 billion less than earlier estimates.

“Needless to say, President Bush was quick to claim the improving deficit picture vindicated his stewardship of the economy and budget.

“What a joke. That’s like an alcoholic claiming he’s sober now that he has reduced his daily intake from two fifths of whiskey to one-and-a-half fifths. He might be deceiving himself, but anyone who knows anything about alcoholism isn’t buying into his con.

[RWC] The author has some nerve talking about an addiction. In today’s other editorial, the Times advocates for an increase in the PA minimum wage. That’s no more than a stealth tax increase for all of us.

“The same holds for the massive deficits the federal government is piling up. We’ve still got a serious problem on our hands.”

[RWC] Something liberals like to ignore is President Bush inherited a recession and then had the after effects of 9/11 dumped on.

What the editorial failed to acknowledge is the deficit reduction is the result of increased tax revenue generated by the so-called “Bush” tax cuts.

That said, I agree the budget could have been handled better in an ideal world. In an ideal world, President Bush could have reduced government spending to compensate for the decrease in tax revenue brought on by the aforementioned recession and the effects of 9/11. In that regard, President Bush was only able to slow the growth of government spending. Despite the pleas from liberals, he could not have raised taxes – or even kept them the same – because that would have worsened the recession. History shows the way to increase tax revenue is to decrease the marginal rate. We are now seeing the effects of the tax cuts.