...SEX, PART II: SPENDING AND TAXES

With a Halloween hiatus and two videotapes (here and here) behind her, Surfette returns to America's referendum on President George W. Bush's leadership.

Assume the position and begin:

Part II: SPENDING AND TAXES

Before anything else, read The Economist's endorsement, which the editors make "with a heavy heart."

To the big questions:

- Does the U.S. deficit matter?

Remember May, when Alan Greenspan said it does? Excerpt:

Mr Greenspan noted it would soon be over $500bn. "We lurched from a budget surplus in 2000 to a deficit that is projected by the Congressional Budget Office to be 4.25% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) this year," he said.

Flash forward to Debate #2, where Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry said this:

And it's the president's fiscal policies that have driven up the biggest deficits in American history. He's added more debt to the debt of the United States in four years than all the way from George Washington to Ronald Reagan put together. Go figure.

True? Yes and no, says Factcheck.org. The site reported earlier "What Bush Left Unsaid in State of the Union Address".

In his own words, Mr. Bush has been building his case for resolving the issue in the next four years. He told Matt Lauer of NBC's Today Show this and then said this at the third debate (search on "deficit").

Surfette visited GeorgeWBush.com in search of a policy paper on deficit spending. I could find no mention of the deficit until I entered a search on "deficit" in the "Jobs and Economy" section and found this from April, 2003: "The Way to Reduce the Deficit is to Grow the Economy and Reduce Wasteful Spending".

The commentariat has formed unlikely coalitions on this issue. This spring, for example, The Latino Pundit joined sides with Peter R. Orszag. Yeah, it does matter, agreed The Daily Weasel. I don't see why, said Grant Henninger, provided the $$$ is spent on capital investments.

As for the markets, FXStreet.com wraps it up this way: Does the U.S. Election matter?

Articles worth reading on the U.S. deficit:

Public Agenda: "The Federal Budget: Overvidew" (Start here to get your bearings, i.e., why there's a diffierence between the national debt and the deficit)

BBC: Does the US Deficit Matter? Great interviews and graphics.

- What tax and spending policies can we expect in the next four years?

An overview of Mr. Bush's tax policy is here. You can read his overall policy for jobs and the economy here.

Factcheck.org on what Mr. Bush says:

Here We Go Again: Bush Exaggerates Tax Cuts
The President can't keep his figures straight. And most people are getting less than he implies.

$8 Million Worth Of Distortions
"Two misleading Bush ads accusing Kerry of supporting tax increases on gasoline and middle-class parents were running heavily last week..."

Bush accuses Kerry of 350 votes for "higher taxes" Higher than what?
"But in fact, Kerry has not voted 350 times for tax increases, something Bush campaign officials have falsely accused Kerry of on several occasions. On close examination, the Bush campaign’s list of Kerry’s votes for “higher taxes” is padded. It includes votes Kerry cast to leave taxes unchanged (when Republicans proposed cuts), and even votes in favor of alternative Democratic tax cuts that Bush aides characterized as “watered down..."

Mr. Kerry's economic plans are here. See the right-hand column for links to PDFs on a detailed economic plan, deficit reduction, manufacturing, tax reform, and raising the minimum wage.

Factcheck.org on what Mr. Kerry says:

How Liberal is John Kerry?
A new RNC ad claims Kerry is "the most liberal man in the Senate." Actually, his lifetime rating is 11th or lower, depending.

Would Kerry Throw Us To The Wolves?
A misleading Bush ad criticizes Kerry for proposing to cut intelligence spending -- a decade ago, by 4%, when some Republicans also proposed cuts.

Comments

[Grant Henninger]

I'm sorry I didn't see this post earlier, Technorati just now told me about it.

Thanks for the link. I must say, for the amount space you gave my views, I think you did a very good job summing up what I said. However, I would like to quote the first paragraph of the post you linked to. I said, "I can understand why debt matters, especially debt that is carried for a long time, but why does the deficit matter in any given year?"

I view the national budget very much like I view my own. I have no problem borrowing to buy a house, or even a car. But to run up debt on food and entertainment isn't a good idea. I want to still have my goods after I have finished paying for them.

Again, thanks for the link.

[Lisa Stone aka Surfette]

Thanks Grant!