A Broken Record

This is what I feel about the political debate including what I write about it.  Mr. Romney's Economic Advisor writes today in the New York Times about the need to raise taxes on the Middle Class if you are going to solve the long term fiscal deficit.  He says this is so because the income tax revenue picture is already progressive and he discusses the need for solutions to the critical issues driving the future Medicare picture.

However, while reading it, I was struck by his failure to acknowledge that we have borrowed 100% of the cost of the War on Terror and no Republican will admit this and state that we should pay for it with increased revenues.  I will also add that we should probably raise some revenues to pay for the unfunded Medicare Pharmacy Benefit that the Bush II administration created.

Once we have a structure for paying for the War on Terror (and that might well include some tax increases below the top 20% to help pay for the Medicare Pharmacy Benefit), then Democrats would be forced to deal with the unaffordable issue on some expenditure categories, and, hopefully, there would be a true negotiation between the GOP and the Democrats for a balanced solution to our fiscal deficit.

But when the GOP does not acknowledge the need to repay the debt that has financed the War on Terror with increased revenues, they provide cover to the Democrats to not deal with the cost of other categories.   To reduce the cost of other categories to repay the debt incurred by the War on Terror is inherently unfair and unpopular with the majority of voters.

As an aside while writing the above, I am stuck yet again by how irresponsible the Bush II administration was.  Unfunded wars, unfunded improved entitlements, weakening of financial regulation that allowed Ponzi Schemes and systemic economic risk to form, and in general, no regard for using facts and reality to manage the government.  Just a slavish adherence to Supply Side Economics solves everything.  Supply Side Economics needs a sound economy to provide benefits to the fiscal situation.  Bush II destroyed a sound economy created by Reagan, Bush I and Clinton.  Bush II might well be the worst President in history.