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Originally Posted by dogzilla
There's two elements to the debt issue. Tax revenues and government spending.
If the the tax cuts are allowed to expire so we can fix the federal debt problem, then Obama's spending needs to be severely cut as well. That means revoking every single one of his stimulus programs and health care plan for starters. Then fix the problem approximately half the population paying no income tax. If we have a national problem, the federal government needs to get serious about it's overspending and everyone needs to participate in paying off the debt.
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I think this is oversimplifying the issue of managing the economy during a bad recession. Have a look at the excerpt below from an op-ed piece regarding support for stimulus spending:
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[...] Fiscal stimulus is appropriate as insurance because it is the fastest and most reliable way of encouraging short run economic growth at a time when a serious recession downturn would pressure American families, exacerbate financial strains, raise protectionist pressures and hurt the global economy.
Poorly provided fiscal stimulus can have worse side effects than the disease that is to be cured. This suggests close attention to three issues:
First, to be effective, fiscal stimulus must be timely. To be worth undertaking, it must be legislated by the middle of the year and be based on changes in taxes and benefits that can be implemented almost immediately.
Second, fiscal stimulus only works if it is spent so it must be targeted . Targeting should favour those with low incomes and those whose incomes have recently fallen for whom spending is most urgent.
Third, fiscal stimulus, to be maximally effective, must be clearly and credibly temporary – with no significant adverse impact on the deficit for more than a year or so after implementation. Otherwise it risks being counterproductive by raising the spectre of enlarged future deficits pushing up longer-term interest rates and undermining confidence and longer-term growth prospects. [...]
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Why America must have a fiscal stimulus - Harvard - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
The idea that all stimulus spending (deficit spending) is bad is itself a bad idea. I'm not saying this is your absolute position, but you did suggest repealing all stimulus spending. The issue isn't whether stimulus spending should be repealed; I think it should be whether it's being done for the greatest benefit/impact. The points above should be what people pressure the Obama administration about, not the fact he's using stimulus spending
at all.
Health care spending is another issue entirely. By saying the U.S. cannot afford some form of universal health care is admitting defeat in the face of being a part of the developed world. But like I said, that's another issue.
I find that people turn tax cuts/stimulus spending into a kind of dichotomy, which I think is the wrong way to go about it. To throw in the heath care issue will only further confuse the matter.