COMMENTARY | "Many of you have talked about the need to pay down our national debt. I listened, and I agree. We owe it to our children and our grandchildren to act now, and I hope you will join me to pay down $2 trillion in debt during the next 10 years. At the end of those 10 years, we will have paid down all the debt that is available to retire. That is more debt repaid more quickly than has ever been repaid by any nation at any time in history." - George W. Bush, 2001, in his first State of the Union address.
This was the promise Bush made. Not only was it not kept, it went in the opposite direction. According to Politifact, under Bush the debt went from $5.73 trillion to $10.7 trillion. Whenever I talk about these figures, the inevitable response is "stop blaming Bush" and the like. But this relates to today's ongoing argument about raising the debt ceiling. It's important to look by comparison at the behavior of Congress surrounding this important issue to determine the motive behind the argument.
A recent article on ThinkProgress highlights the hypocrisy. Between 2001-2008, the current GOP leadership, including House Speaker John Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl voted 19 times to increase the debt limit. NINETEEN! And for what? Let's look at the main spending priorities: two unfunded wars, an unfunded prescription drug program, and the Bush tax cuts. Reuters reports the wars alone will end up costing $3.7 trillion minimum. But look at all we got for the money, right?
I want some consistency in these "leaders." Ezra Klein at the Washington Post shows how ending the Bush tax cuts alone would have a massive effect on the deficit, but Republicans are totally against it. Why? Where are the jobs the Heritage Foundation promised as a result of the cuts? I'm sure they'll show up any day now. The tax argument fascinates me as well. Taxes are at the lowest rate in 60 years, but still we have people out with their signs: Taxed Enough Already. Really?
When Republicans try to exclude their sacred cows and hold the country hostage over the debt they had no problem cranking up by $5 trillion, that's a problem. I wouldn't bet on support in 2012.
