http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/displayafact.cfm?Docid=200
How are we lunatics? Let me count the ways.
First off, I am not rescinding my support for the deal just cut. But we need to spend the next two years EDUCATING people. No rational human being capable of the most basic thinking can possibly rationalize what Obama is trying to do. It’s impossible. You can say that it would be great if it coudl work, but it can’t.
Look at that chart. First, notice that Obama is the first President to ever try and spend more than $3 trillion, and he is doing it not just once, but forever, on these projections.
Note further that the revenue projections for 2011-2016 require collecting a lot more than we EVER HAVE.. What you will note is that in 2016 they have us collecting $3 trillion in revenue. This is a 50% increase over 1998, in inflation adjusted dollars. They have us spending $3.5 trillion, which is nearly a 100% increase over 1998.
Put another way, if we had Clinton era levels of spending, then with their revenue projections we would have a balanced budget and could start paying down our debt.
Yes, George Bush added a lot to our debt, but Obama is doubling down.
We are not in imminent danger of crashing, in my view, but we damn sure better get our hats on straight and take care of business.
Edit: I will add that the, say, $8 trillion our debt was supposed to increase, and the 7.9999 trillion it will be reduced to with the debt deal, comes from these numbers. If their revenue numbers are wrong–if, for example, the massive 2013 Obamacare tax increases knock us on our ass–then the deficits will be higher.
Through 2016 I count 4.6 trillion, I think it was. This also assumes demographic projections are accurate, which is to say estimated healthcare and Social Security expenses.
Truly, this is lunacy. That many nations have found themselves in the same place–many going over the cliff–does not change this.
We are better than this. We are much better than this.