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It's the [Keynesian] economy, stupid [bh]

Writing for AEI’s The American, Veronique de Rugy prepares the ground for the inevitable post-midterm election battleground: tax increases or spending cuts. Obama knows he’s done with new policy initiatives beyond his ability to craft new regulatory schemes. The next front is how to pay for the spending he lost the House and possibly the Senate to achieve.

So, please read her post. But, better yet, then take the following graphic and email it to everyone you know. Much like the Bush vs. Obama deficit chart that Glenn Reynolds so strongly publicized, this simple chart puts the relative size of the Bush tax cuts and overall federal spending into a format that anyone can immediately grasp.

[Click graphic to embiggen. Original posted here]

Sometimes the truth really is just this simple. Says de Rugby: “If Washington is serious about reducing the debt level it could easily extend the tax cuts—it’s spending that must be cut.”

related: a slightly more wonkish slap at The Economist over the efficacy of tax increases vs spending cuts.

She’s definitely playing to a theme today. Why? Because she knows this fight is coming.

0 Replies to “It's the [Keynesian] economy, stupid [bh]”

  1. bh says:

    Email the graphic or I will hunt each of you down!

  2. Stephanie says:

    Don’t forget about the Atlanta meetup tomorrow. Birdie hunting at 1:45 and Emory at 7:00.

  3. Barack Obama's Digested Waffle says:

    Let me be perfectly clear: the concern over spending is legitimate, and I will go through that budget line by line, just as soon as Congress puts one on my desk, which keeps not happening because of the obstructive elements in Congress, who are following in a long American tradition that is ultimately very destructive.

    Make no mistake: this administration will make deficit reduction a priority, immediately after ensuring each American has a waffle in every pot and a solar panel on every roof, and an energy monitor in every room, to pass the savings on to you, or I will find out whose ass I need to kick.

  4. Bob Reed says:

    The Economist article basically puts forth the standard Keynsian argument. But the conclusion that austerity measures can just as easily cause a recession as reckless spending can is startling; and hopelessly flawed.

    I can see where it is applicable to a nation where a high percentage of GDP is dependant on government spending, like the UK for instance. But here in the US, at least for the present, GDP is still sufficiantly greater than GDP such that austerity will do nothing but good.

    And the concomitant tax cuts will put more money in the pockets of people and small businesses to spend as they see fit.

    Now that’s the kind of stimulus I’m talking about…

  5. happyfeet says:

    the vision needs to be a vision of steadily decreasing taxings on everybody until they reach levels what I think are acceptable

  6. Bob Reed says:

    We’ll put you in charge of tax rates happyfeet.

  7. happyfeet says:

    that seems wise

  8. bh says:

    Laser-like ball focus.

  9. Bob Reed says:

    happyfeet, call the ball…

  10. geoffb says:

    I came across a short quote from a speech which I then searched out. The whole of it would fit right in her but I’ll only quote a bit.

    1977 March 14th, Margaret Thatcher, Speech to Zurich Economic Society.

    Yet even these unacceptable levels of taxation have not been enough to finance the public sector. The Government has been borrowing vast sums of money, both within Britain and overseas. But even these borrowings were not enough. The Government turned to printing money in order to finance a public sector deficit that neither taxpayers nor lenders would finance in full. With a huge rise in the money supply, hyper-inflation became a real threat: and that threat does not end with economics. When money can no longer be trusted, it is not only the economic basis of society that is undermined, but its moral basis too.
    […]
    I have dwelt so far on the material superiority of the free society.

    But we must not focus our attention exclusively on the material, because, though important, it is not the main issue. The main issues are moral. In warfare, said Napoleon —the moral to the material is as three to one. You may think that in civil society the ratio is even greater.

    The economic success of the Western world is a product of its moral philosophy and practice.

    The economic results are better because the moral philosophy is superior.

    It is superior because it starts with the individual, with his uniqueness, his responsibility, and his capacity to choose.[fo 17]

    Surely this is infinitely preferable to the Socialist-statist philosophy which sets up a centralised economic system to which the individual must conform, which subjugates him, directs him and denies him the right to free choice.

    Choice is the essence of ethics: if there were no choice, there would be no ethics, no good, no evil; good and evil have meaning only insofar as man is free to choose.

    In our philosophy the purpose of the life of the individual is not to be the servant of the State and its objectives, but to make the best of his talents and qualities.[fo 18]

    The sense of being self-reliant, of playing a role within the family, of owning one’s own property, of paying one’s way, are all part of the spiritual ballast which maintains responsible citizenship, and provides the solid foundation from which people look around to see what more they might do, for others and for themselves.

    That is what we mean by a moral society; not a society where the State is responsible for everything, and no-one is responsible for the State.

  11. geoffb says:

    here not her above

  12. sdferr says:

    So she’s de Rugby cause she knows how to scrum?

  13. bh says:

    The economic success of the Western world is a product of its moral philosophy and practice.

    The economic results are better because the moral philosophy is superior.

    This is something that is hard to express precisely yet we all know it’s true. It’s just… not math. You know what I mean?

  14. happyfeet says:

    laser-like focus

    The most sure fire way to write off moderate / independent voters is to go down the social con road with the Tea Party.

    It’s already in progress.

    Allahpundit on October 5, 2010 at 10:32 PM

  15. geoffb says:

    “You know what I mean?”Yes. This “knowing” is part of what makes one, no matter where they hail from, an American not just, or even if not, a citizen of the United States.

  16. bh says:

    He’s a provocateur, this guy. Argggh. Goddamn lasers. Fucking balls.

    I think the very important thing to remember is that Allah is the devil. He trolls your soul even as he taunts the rubes. Has he ever had a kind word for Daniels? No. Remarkable, isn’t it? Hey, that reminds me of this treatment of Palin.

    Pattern. Well, yeah.

  17. bh says:

    I should phrase this mo’ better.

    Don’t like Allah. Never will. He’s the sort of asshole that only other assholes can truly recognize.

    I’m that asshole. With the recognizing and such.

  18. geoffb says:

    From the same survey.

    * A majority (54%) of voters say they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who supported health care reform, including 51% of independent voters and 79% of Democratic voters. Nearly 6-in-10 (59%) Republican voters say they would be less likely to vote for a candidate who supported health care reform.

    * Nearly 6-in-10 (58%) Americans favor a policy that provides a future path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who have been in the U.S. for several years. Three-quarters of Americans also say immigration reform policies should be decided at the national level.

    And here’s the head of the organization himself, Robert P. Jones.

  19. sdferr says:

    He’s Protagoras got up in a modern monkey suit with an internet hook-up. This isn’t a judgment that seems to fit you from where I’m looking bh, but maybe you’d know better than I about that.

  20. Allahpundit understands little about the Tea Party, nor much about anything else outside of pop culture. I still remember him having one of his patented end-of-the-world meltdowns when “Texas independence” was mentioned at the Glenn Beck Tea Party down at the Alamo back in April 2009, which I attended. Those two words got the loudest cheers out of all that was said at that event. Hardly surprising to those of us who are Texas natives.

  21. sdferr says:

    Give my economy rebound, please. Wes Unseld had the rebound down pat. Best not to get in his way.

  22. geoffb says:

    Their full report, pdf file.

  23. bh says:

    If you’re going to give me such an easy out I’ll definitely take it, sdferr. Nope, no Protagoras.

    At the end of the day, it’s just that I find him to be so extremely transparent. When others don’t see it immediately it makes me wonder if they aren’t simply better people.

  24. Ric Locke says:

    Allahpundit’s easy, bh. Even back when he was blogging on his own and specializing in snark.

    He’s a wannabee insider. I don’t know if he thinks Meghan McCain is hot, but I do know he burns to move in the circles where that opinion might be relevant. Martha’s Vineyard and the Press Club, Murkowski and Castle, why certainly you can play through, Mr. President…

    It doesn’t make him a bad person, or useless. He’s bright, and has a good eye for press foolishness; he can still bring on the caustic comment when he feels the urge. A biased viewpoint is actually useful, if you know what the bias is. It can give you an angle you can’t see from where you sit.

    Regards,
    Ric

  25. alppuccino says:

    the vision needs to be a vision of steadily decreasing taxings on everybody until they reach levels what I think are acceptable

    ….or jump out of this lifeboat full of fatasses who can’t row, swim to an island, and start over.

  26. ak4mc says:

    He’s a wannabee insider. I don’t know if he thinks Meghan McCain is hot, but I do know he burns to move in the circles where that opinion might be relevant.

    Anybody who cares that much what other people think of his opinions, has no testicles.

  27. Danger says:

    “happyfeet, call the ball…”

    followed by feets quoting allahpundit… definitely a bolter.

  28. Rob Crawford says:

    Allahpundit understands little about the Tea Party, nor much about anything else outside of pop culture.

    FTFY.

  29. LTC John says:

    Are we having every thread derail/OT within 15-20 comments lately?

  30. Carin says:

    Are we having every thread derail/OT within 15-20 comments lately?

    Sounds like a game show.

    “I can derail the thread within 10 comments”

    “I can derail it with ONE comment”

    DERAIL THE THREAD”

    Palin

  31. Carin says:

    This tax and spend dealo is so painfully obvious to many here, it’s almost hard to work up a discussion of the matter, though.

    Unless, of course, we had a serious liberal/Keynesian who wanted to debate the issue.

  32. happyfeet says:

    comment #14 is about the spendings

  33. Danger says:

    Uh Feets,

    You know the Tea in Tea party stands for Taxed Enough Already, not Tithe Extra America.

    I’m pretty sure Team R will suffer no more Snarlen Arlens thanks to Team Tea Party. Seems like a much better team to be on then Team Hot Air…No?

  34. alppuccino says:

    Be warned, if the Capitalists take over and push through spending cuts while keeping taxes low, old people will be subsisting on dog food.

    How do I know? When Bush was in office and unemployment was @ 4.7, the MSM reported on old people eating dog food. When Obama is FROTUS, and unemployment is @ 16, the MSM constantly warns of old people eating dog food under a non-Obama administration. How do they know? They know what they’re going to report, that’s how.

  35. sdferr says:

    Jobs!

    A long queue of Palestinian laborers lined up Tuesday at the entrance to the settlement of Talmon, west of Ramallah. The vehicles with white license plates parked at the side of the road, and Palestinian workers exited the vehicles.

    The workers waited for the security officer to check their identity cards before entering the various construction sites spread out over the settlement that have sprung up since the end of the building freeze.

    heh

  36. SDN says:

    AllahPundit is also known as EyorePundit for a reason.

  37. geoffb says:

    Trying to square this from the poll Allah quoted, zero.

    A majority (54%) of voters say they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who supported health care reform, including 51% of independent voters and 79% of Democratic voters. Nearly 6-in-10 (59%) Republican voters say they would be less likely to vote for a candidate who supported health care reform.

    With this from one done by Mark Penn who is a Democrat pollster,

    Republicans have vowed to repeal the law if they take control of Congress, and the findings of Mark Penn, who led Penn Schoen Berland’s polling team, show that healthcare is a major issue for voters this year.

    When asked if they wanted the legislation repealed, 56 percent of voters in the surveyed districts said yes. “Only Democrats were opposed to repeal (23 percent to 64 percent),” Penn said. “Undecided voters wanted the healthcare law repealed by 49 percent to 27 percent.”

    In each district, a majority of those surveyed said they want the controversial law gone.

    seems to be like dividing by zero.

  38. geoffb says:

    First “zero” should not be there.

  39. Less than 108 weeks and Keynesian economics will be over. With any luck it stops growing in less than 4.

  40. […] Zero could take a look at how extending the Bush Tax Cuts is infinitely less expensive than his failed Keynesian policies. Share this:Share Posted by FullMetalPatriot 12th gen. American, Constitutionalist, […]