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Thanks for the well-thought out response, ontime2. It really helps illustrate how precarious our position is when you lay it out like that, doesn't it?
The first Bush cleaned up the mess left by the huge S&L crisis, and raised taxes as part of a bipartisan deal to cut back Reagan's deficits.
Clinton did the right thing and raised taxes again in 93, a tax was aimed primarily at high-income households.
I think the misunderstanding here is different definitions of 'fiscal responsibility.' I define it as curbing spending, increasing revenue, reining in pork-barrel projects.
By all three of my markers, the second bush administration becomes a flagrant example of fiscal irresponsibility.
There's a great line in the movie "Dave", where the imposter president brings his friend out to review the government's budget. After spending long hours of study, his remark: "If I ran my business this way, I'd be out of business!"
Truman famously noted that "The Buck Stops Here". Our current president is quite literally passing the buck to the next president, and that person, republican or democrat, has my deepest sympathies.
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"In Iraq, no doubt about it, it's tough. It's hard work. It's incredibly hard. It's - and it's hard work. I understand how hard it is. I get the casualty reports every day. I see on the TV screens how hard it is. But it's necessary work. We're making progress. It is hard work."
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