Reality, not bumper stickers . . .(a bit of political wonkiness)

I was told today that liberals believe in fairy tales and ignore reality.

Here is some reality.

Since 2002 the United States has been involved in two wars. The cost of those wars, so far, is 1.2 trillion dollars.  There was no effort by the federal government to pay for the war in any way, be it tax increases or reductions in other areas of the budget.  This is not about whether the wars were good or bad. This is about sound financial policy. In 2008, the year that the economy was collapsing, the cost of the war was around $180,000,000,000.00 (that's billion) dollars. Hopefully the costs of the wars will continue to go down in the next couple of years, but they will continue to add to the deficit in smaller amounts. That does not take into consideration continuing increases in costs of treating and supporting our veterans.

In 2003, Congress enacted what is now Medicare Part D, which provided assistance to seniors with the high costs of prescription medicine.  Like the wars, it was not paid for, either by new taxes or reductions in other areas of the budget.  This is not about whether the program is good or bad. This is about sound financial policy. It is estimated to cost forty to fifty billion dollars each year, and will continue indefinitely.

In 2008 the U. S. economy hemorrhaged jobs, losing 2.6 million.  In December, 2007, the unemployment rate was 4.7 percent.  The unemployment rate had risen to 7.4 percent in January, 2009, an increase of 2.7 percent in one year.  That is where it stood when President Obama was inaugurated.

In 2007 U. S. Tax revenue was 2.6 trillion dollars, falling to 2.5 trillion in 2008 as the effects of the recession began to hit tax collection. . U. S. federal tax revenue dropped to 2.1 trillion in 2009. (I think revenues received in a given year reflect the tax liabilities of the prior year, if that is wrong, let me know). That's a drop of half trillion dollars in collected revenue in two years, fourteen to seventeen percent of the federal budget.

In January, 2009, before President Obama was inaugurated, the Office of Management and Budget estimated that the 2009 budget, already in its fourth month, was projected to create more than a trillion dollar deficit.

The housing industry was in free fall. The financial system was near collapse under the weight of a mortgage and lending crisis and a busted real estate bubble.

I will leave out the discussion of the federal income tax cuts of 2003, except to say that taxes were cut with no commensurate  cuts in spending. Not very prudent during a war.

Reality is that a president took office when the unemployment rate was around 7.5 percent.  After reaching a high of above ten percent in the next couple of years, the unemployment rate was down to about 8.5 percent at the end of his third year. That president was Ronald Reagan.   And Barack Obama.

Not excuses.

Reality.

Reality is that Barack Obama proposed and pushed through Congress the original stimulus package, to spend 750 billion dollars, about thirty percent of which were tax cuts.  That spending is the primary thing that President Obama has contributed to an increase in spending. It is fair to examine that policy decision during his re-election campaign.  .

And it is fair to examine other real policy decisions about foreign relations, health care reform, energy, education, immigration, the environment and all the rest. It is fair to honestly look at how much he has spent and on what, how much spending he has cut,  and how much his policies have raised or lowered taxes.

But it is just ignorance to dismiss Obama as a  socialist or a liberal.  Or question his citizenship. Or his patriotism. Or his religion. Or any other label that you might post on facebook or stick on your bumper.  Those notions are just fairy tales.

Get real, or get over it.

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