BCT Editorial – 11/16/10

No hope; Editorial; Beaver County Times; November 16, 2010.

Let’s look at the Times credibility on the topic of debt and deficits.  The Times has published a series of editorials that alternated between lobbying for more spending and complaining about spending.  You’ll recall this paper cries crocodile tears about deficit spending and debt one day and the next day pitches a fit if anyone proposes spending cuts or adhering to “pay-go” rules. 

For at least the last four years preceding the 2008 election, and likely from the first day of the Bush administration, Times editorials constantly and correctly complained about federal deficit spending, the country’s growing debt, and the burden that debt puts on us and future generations.  Referring to these complaints as crocodile tears, I questioned the motives in my critiques because Times editorials concurrently lobbied for more spending on just about every proposal that came down the pike.  As I’ve noted previously, since we elected President Obama, Times editorials now support deficit spending.  Seven previous examples are “Last resort,” “Limited options,” “Budget crunch,” “Making the grade,” “Failing grade,” “Move it along,” and “Double-dip recession.”

In “No hope,” the Times clearly implies we should increase our taxes by $4 trillion over the next 10 years.  This level of tax rate increase would be a bad idea even in good times.  In today’s not-so-good times, history shows tax rate increases are an incredibly bad idea.