Tag Archives: budget deficit

The U.S. credit rating slips, proving that the debt ceiling agreement didn’t really fix anything

By Mark | August 5, 2011

We gave in to the Congressional Republicans on the debt ceiling debate on almost every issue. We agreed not to raise taxes on the wealthy. We agreed not to tighten loopholes that allowed them to hide their assets elsewhere. We said that, instead, we would slash government spending. We were told that there wasn’t a […]

Posted in Economics, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged Bush tax cuts, credit ratings, debt ceiling, Dick Cheney, federal budget, George Bush, national debt, New Deal, Obama, Paul Begala, revolution, starve the beast, we need a revolution | 20 Comments

Regardless of what you’re being told, the deficit is due to Bush’s tax cuts, not Obama’s stimulus spending

By Mark | July 28, 2011

Ann Arbor-born economist and historian Bruce Bartlett, who served as domestic policy advisor to Ronald Reagan, and in the Treasury under George H.W. Bush, joined Chris Mathews on MSNBC’s Hardball yesterday, talking about the true origins of our nation’s current deficit. It should be required viewing for all Americans… Here’s the video, followed by an […]

Posted in Economics, Politics | Also tagged Afghanistan, Bruce Bartlett, Bush tax cuts, capital gains, Chris Mathews, deficit, Hardball, Iraq war, MSNBC, Obama is a Socialist, prescription drug bill, supply side, tax the rich, taxes | 21 Comments

The time to revolt draws near, my friends….

By Mark | July 10, 2011

On Friday, it was announced that the U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to support a $649 billion defense spending bill. According to the Associated Press, this represents a $17 billion increase over last year’s appropriation. This, as the AP article points out, is particularly noteworthy, given that drastic government cuts are being demanded elsewhere. […]

Posted in Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged 2012 federal budget, A National Strategic Narrative, Bill Maher, budget, budget cuts, Bush tax cuts, class warfare, compromise, debt ceiling, defense spending, entitlements, Ezra Klein, grand bargain, Joint Economic Committee, Mark Mykleby, Medicaid, Medicare, military industrial complex, military spending, Mitch McConnell, Mr. Y, Obama, Paul Revere, priorities, Robert Pear, the growing gap between rich and poor, the plight of the overtaxed rich, theology of tax cuts, unemployment, Wayne Porter | 52 Comments

Bernie Sanders demands that Obama ‘Stand with the American people’‎

By Mark | June 28, 2011

I don’t donate a lot of money to political candidates. While I put in quite a few hours working for the Kerry and Obama campaigns, I didn’t give either of them very much in the way of cash. The only people that I can think of that I gave more than ten or twenty dollars […]

Posted in Corporate Crime, Mark's Life, Observations, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged 2012 federal budget, Bernie Sanders, budget cuts, class warfare, debt ceiling, federal budget, Medicaid, Medicare, military spending, Obama, political contributions, poverty, rich get richer, shared sacrifice, socialist, the growing gap between rich and poor, threats to the middle class, unemployment, Wall Street | 18 Comments

Speaking truth to power, and booing Paul Ryan

By Mark | April 20, 2011

Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan made headlines a week or so ago with his budget proposal. People in the press, as I recall, seemed impressed. They used words like, “bold” and “serious,” and praised him for making difficult decisions in order to address the nation’s spiraling budget deficit. Once people really started digging into it, though, […]