Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Katelew who wrote (59993)	4/19/2008 8:37:51 AM
From: Lane3	Respond to of 542253

hadn't seen it before Let me suggest that you probably still haven't seen it. Have you looked at the logarithmic chart? If not, you still haven't seen it. Below is the opening of the piece. Look at the whoppers in just two short paragraphs. "Under President Clinton the growth in debt ceased"? Actually, the debt was greater at the end of every single presidential term on the chart. Every one. Check it out. You can see it right on the chart if you look. "Other Neo-Conservatives"? How many neocon presidents have we had. Er, none. Now, this current president was strongly influenced by them re war, a very expensive war and unpaid for war, but we've had no neocon presidents to date. What we've had is the turning of the label, "neocon," into a generalize insult. The log scale "tends to flatten to flatten the recent numbers." No kidding! You can eyeball the chunk with the "recent numbers" to see that it's marginally flatter than Carter's chunk. Funny how much difference the scale makes. Funny how Carter's chunk got no attention. The log scale also makes the WWII curve, that of a Democratic president, vastly steeper than anything that follows. But that doesn't even slow this writer down. He goes on to assert that the scale change doesn't mask the alleged "obvious slant" re these alleged neocon presidents. That's a howler. >>The chart below, Figure 1, shows the United States national debt (per Microsoft’s Encarta Encyclopedia[1] and US Government data[2]) with the various Presidents’ terms marked by vertical lines. Under President Clinton the growth in debt ceased, but note the radical change in direction since George W. Bush entered office. There is no question and a lot of mathematical proof that the steepest upward rises in debt since the end of World War II, started with President Reagan and continued with other so called Neo-Conservatives. (See red in Figure 1 below. For larger views of any graph in this paper just put your mouse pointer over the graph and click on it). Figure 1 For those who would prefer to see this debt data presented on a log scale click this link. The log scale certainly shows the WWII debt in a different perspective, and tends to flatten the more recent debt numbers. Changing the scale does not mask an obvious slant towards increased debt during Neo-Con administrations.<< Insular partisans commonly have inexplicable memes, inexplicable outside the context of that insularity, that is, that are attributed credence through intra-partisan reinforcement. We see the same old illustrations of them pop up over and over again no matter how discredited. The 19,000 scientist petition on global warming from the other day is a perfect example. This chart seems to be another. Pointing them out regardless of which side they are intended to serve is my agenda, one small blow against mindless partisanship, which I detest. I have to admit that it also amuses me to watch the contortions folks engage in to protect their memes, but that's a peripheral side benefit, a small compensation for my efforts, which don't make any lasting dent in the problem. Having now recognized that the lasting "trends" from the conservative "revolution" are not so "clear," after all, that little in the way of trends have been established, perhaps you'll also consider that some evidence may quite as "evidential" as it's purported to be.

To: Katelew who wrote (59993)	4/19/2008 9:35:31 AM
From: epicure	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 542253

Here are the budget deficits by president: dkosopedia.com Summary * Only 5 of the past 40 budgets have been surpluses. All 5 were by Democratic presidents. * The twenty years of budgets prepared by Republican presidents increased the national debt by $3,800,000,000,000. The average yearly deficit under Republican budgets was $190 billion. * The twenty years of budgets prepared by Democratic presidents increased the national debt by $719,500,000,000. The average yearly deficit under Democratic budgets was $36 billion.