Who's at Fault?

The deficit--tax cuts or spending--which is the cause?

According to Mr. Zakariah of Newsweek, “The Bush tax cuts remain the single largest cause of America’s structural deficit.”

Liberals never want to admit that overspending is the problem, not tax cutting. Whenever taxes have been cut, for about two years, revenue as a percentage of GDP drops but then recovers.

The problem is spending. During Reagan's time in office with a Democrat Congress, America government was spending about 35% of GDP. The deficit peaked at 5.88% in 1983 and declined to 3.04% (of GDP) by Reagan's last year of office.

In the surplus years of Clinton when you had a Republican congress, we spent at between 32.5% and 33.5% of GDP. This provided a surplus.

During the fiscally irresponsible time that Bush was in the White House we spent between 33.5% and 36% of GDP. The deficit here varied but peaked at 3.48% of GDP

During Obama's short stay we are spending 42.3% and 43.8% of GDP and the deficit is 9.91% and 10.64% of GDP.



http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerkimball/2010/08/02/laffer-vs-zakariah-who%E2%80%99s-right/

Chris Christie's solution

As a fiscal star in the Republican Party, Governor Chris Christie is showing his party and the country that you can actually address deficits. Overcoming an 11 billion dollar deficit in New Jersey without tax hikes, Mr. Christie is direct and unadorned: "You can’t tax your way out of a spending problem, you’ve got to stop spending."

http://peggynoonan.com/


Sidney Harman buys Newsweek--but did he over pay?

The Times quoted one person briefed on Mr. Harman’s bid who said his plan
would retain 250 of Newsweek’s employees. Newsweek counted 379 full-time
staffers at the end of March, according to the sale book posted by PaidContent,
but a significant number have left in the time since. Losses at the magazine
could approach $70 million this year, this person told the Times. Mr.
Harman reportedly bid $1 for the magazine but agreed to assume the magazine’s liabilities; those details could not be confirmed on Monday.

http://pajamasmedia.com/eddriscoll/2010/08/02/wapo-unloads-newsweek-for-1-buyer-clearly-overpaid/

This deal kind of reminds me of a homebuyer who is underwater on his mortgage and walks away from it.

Here's one the left absolutely hates.

It seems Helen Thomas' chair in the front row at White House briefing has been awarded to Fox News. First Teddy Kennedy's seat in the Senate goes to a Republican, now this.

The White House Correspondents Association voted unanimously Sunday
afternoon to move Fox News to the front row of the White House briefing room.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/112079-fox-news-to-move-to-front-row-briefing-room-seat