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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices

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To: zzpat who wrote (1062379)3/26/2018 9:27:09 AM
From: RetiredNow  Read Replies (1) of 1575421
 
Just looked up who controlled Congress during the Bush Sr and Clinton years. It turns out that you are correct in a good bit of your argument of causality during those years. However, everything is cumulative. Reagan spent money like a drunken sailor, increasing the national debt by 3X. Bush & the Democrat controlled Congress increased taxes in 1990, which helped slow that growth down substantially, and introduced PayGo rules, which Bush signed. Then Clinton and the Democrat controlled Congress increased taxes again in 1993, which eventually brought us to a balanced budget by the end of Clinton's second term.

One thing to consider in addition to our discussion of deficits and debt is the other side of the equation besides taxes. You've been talking about revenues. Tax revenues just don't come from increasing tax rates. They also come from a vibrant economy. Arguably, one of the most important pieces of legislation of the 90's for creating a dynamic and highly productive economy was the signing of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. That was a bill enacted and passed by a GOP controlled Congress, and to Bill's credit, signed by him. This act unleashed the Internet and the companies that transformed our economy, through the overhaul of the telecommunications industry for the first time in over 60 years. That enabled the roaring 90's, as we all know, which drove huge increases in tax revenue. I've always believed that Bill Clinton looked a heck of a lot more like an economic moderate. Today's Democrats look positively Socialist. In fact, they embrace Socialism. So you can't claim to be a fan of Clinton's and then to also embrace Socialism. Those are contradictory positions.

So as always, this picture is far more nuanced than just looking at who's President and giving them all the credit or all the blame. The world is not so simple that you can divide it into good and evil. I think you have a tendency to define the world in absolutist terms, which leads to a lack of clarity in your thinking. If you begin to understand that the world is a complex and nuanced thing, then not only can you understand the motivations of people better, but you can find common ground with a far wider range of people, which means you can begin to problem solve, instead of being part of the intractable problem yourself.

For a clearer picture of long term debt in this country, see the below. This is a spreadsheet I've tracked for years, because I hate deficits and debt and believe that the perpetrators of that, which now includes Trump, are immorally destroying the prosperity of our children and grandchildren just so the old people can live better in the short run today. That is the big immorality of our system today and both the GOP and DNC is complicit in it.

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