Former Republican Economic Adviser: Raise Tax Rates

Today Bruce Bartlett, the former assistant secretary for economic policy at the Treasury Department under George H.W. Bush and senior policy analyst under Ronald Reagan, asserted that the debt crisis that currently faces our country can be attributed to the lack of government revenue. He said:

“When [George W.] Bush took office, we had a debt of about $6 trillion and the projections from the CBO were that we were going to run about a $6 trillion surplus. So, by this point, if we had done nothing we would have paid off the debt … The Republicans keep saying that tax cuts are the key to prosperity but the 2000s are evidence that that’s not true … I don’t think there’s any question that we would have positive economic effects if we went back to the Clinton era tax rates.”

Those are not words from Dennis Kucinich, Rachel Maddow, or Bill Maher. Those are the words from a man who has served as an adviser to Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Ron Paul. Yes even one of Ron Paul’s crewmen thinks that this debt crisis is due to a lack of revenue. You can watch his interview with Chris Matthew here: (See site for video)

In fact, it is estimated that had we stuck with the economic policies put forth by President Clinton, we could have a $2.3 trillion surplus today. Unfortunately, over the last 10 years, our debt has increased with $3 trillion coming from the Bush tax cuts, $1.4 trillion coming from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and an additional $2.6 trillion throughout the Bush administration.

Today, the White House released an infographic detailing what exactly makes up our government’s debt (click to enlarge):
(See site for pic)

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Those are the words from a man who has served as an adviser to Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Ron Paul. Yes even one of Ron Paul’s crewmen thinks that this debt crisis is due to a lack of revenue.

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Alan said:

man the BS-O-Meter is actually doing loops with this...

Quoting a Ron Paul advisor now because what he says suits you :erm:

Anyway those numbers are all pulled out of their backside. The wars cost $1.4 trillion I thought it was$3 Trillion make up your mind. I like how Afghanistan is now all Bush's war as if dems and Obama never supported it.

Also like how Clinton is credited for economic policies drawn up by Republican congressmen.

Lastly even if you were dumb enough to take those numbers at face value Bush added $ 7 Trillion dollars of debt. The debt is $14 Trillion dollars so where did that other $ 7trillion dollars come from? Yes that's right Obama and the democrats added in under 3 years what Bush supposedly added in 8. Well done

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Alan said:

Obama seeks record $708 billion in 2011 defence budget

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