All grown-up readers must take note of these conclusions about where our national debt came from, understanding that G.W. Bush inherited a budget surplus in 2001 and turned it into a huge deficit:
First, the Bush tax cuts have had a huge damaging effect. If all of them expired as scheduled at the end of 2012, future deficits would be cut by about half, to sustainable levels. Second, a healthy budget requires a healthy economy; recessions wreak havoc by reducing tax revenue. Government has to spur demand and create jobs in a deep downturn, even though doing so worsens the deficit in the short run. Third, spending cuts alone will not close the gap. The chronic revenue shortfalls from serial tax cuts are simply too deep to fill with spending cuts alone. Taxes have to go up.
By Teresa Tritch
July 23, 2011 | New York Times
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