It's difficult to compare raw numbers like deficits from 30 years ago to todays... one has to control for inflation, size of GNP, and the state of the economy. But here's a start. Using on-budget numbers from the US Budget Historical Tables and the on-line COLA Calculator at http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm here are Reagan's annual, first term, and total deficits in constant 2012 dollars. Of course the econony was much smaller then and the Reagan Recession didn't last forever. And while peak unemployment in 1982 was higher than in 2009, Reagan didn't have to deal with collapsed banking and housing sectors, and he had some power to increase taxes.
If someone else wants to adjust for GNP... feel free.
How one adjusts for the state of the economy... who knows. All numbers in billion:
FY OB DEFICIT 2012
81 -73,859 -186,951
82 -120,593 -287,530
83 -207,692 -479,787
84 -185,269 -410,275
85 -221,529 -473,704
86 -237,915 -499,459
87 -168,357 -340,990
88 -192,265 -373,942
TOTAL REAGAN DEFICITS -$3,052,638 = $3.05 trillion
Comments
But but but... it wasn't Reagan's fault!
"All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives"
http://www.usconstitution.net/xconst_A1Sec7.html
Reagan is Dead. You might as well Blame Alexander Hamilton.
I would say that the most relevant figure to look at is the deficit as a percentage of gdp.
Tax Freedom Day 1980: April 29
Tax Freedom Day 1988: May 2 (never earlier than May 1 with Reagan.)
http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxfreedomday/
(Tax Freedom Day 1979: April 22 - hasn't come earlier since.)
But but but... it wasn't Reagan's fault!
"All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives"
http://www.usconstitution.net/xconst_A1Sec7.html
Tax Freedom Day 1980: April 29
Tax Freedom Day 1988: May 2 (never earlier than May 1 with Reagan.)
http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxfreedomday/
(Tax Freedom Day 1979: April 22 - hasn't come earlier since.)
I would say that the most relevant figure to look at is the deficit as a percentage of gdp.
More to the point, can you account the spending obligated by the recession's causes to those who have to spend it? Paying for the damage done or to cover for an unperforming private sector is not the same as the "discretionary spending" on war and tax cuts at the top that caused the crisis. Obama has flattened the rate of growth in federal government spending. This is a rhetorical victory against the false charges of his wild spending. It is an economic defeat in the face for a much larger and more comprehensive "stimulus" program to get people working doing work we need done.
We need to get the Casino of Wall St. out of our business. We need to welcome venture capital while holding predatory and speculative/casino capitalism to the margins. Private market capital for innovation and real product development ought to flow. Grave robbers or highway robbers, equity LBO agents give money magical powers it does not really have.
But but but... it wasn't Reagan's fault!
"All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives"
http://www.usconstitution.net/xconst_A1Sec7.html
It takes three to tango. Every sixth-grader knows this. So it was Reagan's fault and Howard Baker's fault and TIp O'Neill's fault. But ultimately it was the fault of the electorate for voting for these ideas, Which might have been excusable in 1980 but cannot be excusable today based on the outcomes.
Tax Freedom Day 1980: April 29
Tax Freedom Day 1988: May 2 (never earlier than May 1 with Reagan.)
http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxfreedomday/
(Tax Freedom Day 1979: April 22 - hasn't come earlier since.)
You're absolutely correct.
And yet, in their attempt to mislead, they make the glaring revelation that we all work more days to pay taxes under conservative governance...
Democrats always reduce the debt, republicans increase it. Reagan tripled it from 900 billion to 2.8 trillion , Carter shrunk it, Clinton shrunk it. History_of_the_United_States_public_debt Bush and Bush increased it, Bush jr doubled it and put on the books mandatory increases that eventually tripled it from where it was when he took office. Very clever to run up bills that come due after you've left office.US-National-Debt-Per-Capita-Percent-of-GDP-and-by-Presidental-
Because spending has been flat under Obama, the least growth since Hoover, the recovery has been slowed. Had the infrastructure investment been approved, unemployment would be about 5%.
Reagan had job growth of 19 million, Carter had 7 million [4 yrs], Clinton had 21 million, Bush jr had 3 million [8 yrs, mostly gov't], Obama has 4 million and counting [3&1/2 yrs] all private sector jobs. Bush grew gov't, Obama shrunk it, but blame Obama for runaway gov't.
Obama has flattened the rate of growth in federal government spending.
flattening out the growth in spending doesn't mean much if the original increases were reckless and unjustified.
reckless and unjustified and voted in favor of by Obama, i.e. TARP.
This claim is not a rhetorical victory, and it is nonsense.
Here's the article:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/05/22/1093906/-Obama-did-not-go-on-fe...
Here's the original thread:
http://www.thomhartmann.com/forum/2012/05/next-time-someone-tries-cry-ob...
Misinformation does not help anyone.
But we are losing focus here… trying to compare the Reagan and current deficits, and whether the GOP embraces deficits for their priorities and decries only Democratic deficits. Where were the Balanced Budget GOPers during Bush2?
The so-called Tax Freedom day is a clever ploy to take some average tax paid... made higher by upper income groups, then imply that lower income workers are working almost 4 months just for the government. It's designed to mislead more than inform.
You're absolutely correct. And yet, in their attempt to mislead, they make the glaring revelation that we all work more days to pay taxes under conservative governance...
The so-called Tax Freedom day is a clever ploy to take some average tax paid... made higher by upper income groups, then imply that lower income workers are working almost 4 months just for the government. It's designed to mislead more than inform.
You're absolutely correct. And yet, in their attempt to mislead, they make the glaring revelation that we all work more days to pay taxes under conservative governance...
I'm the only one who sees this. Maybe I have a form of dyslexia that confuses peaks and troughs on a chart. I would think that the party that claims that it's going to get government off our backs and unshackle the might of the free markets would get us to a point where less of our production goes to taxes. More of our production went to taxes in 1988 than it did in 1980, and it has never been as low as 1979.
Is the ultimate measure of success of conservative government to get Tax Freedom Day to December 30?
I would say that the most relevant figure to look at is the deficit as a percentage of gdp.
Is the ultimate measure of success of conservative government to get Tax Freedom Day to December 30?
There's no doubt in my mind that they err on the high side of taxes and the late side of "Tax Freedom Day" to get the reader riled up over how much damned taxes he pays.
Let them explain why it gets later with Republicans and earlier with Democrats.
I've posted this repeatedly and have not yet had a right-wing troll tell me I'm reading it wrong.
There's no doubt in my mind that they err on the high side of taxes and the late side of "Tax Freedom Day" to get the reader riled up over how much damned taxes he pays.
Let them explain why it gets later with Republicans and earlier with Democrats.
The dates for Tax Freedom Day include paying for the deficit spending at the federal level. However, it does not include paying the increase in state and local bonds which have ballooned in the past 30 years.
Very clever to run up bills that come due after you've left office.
And even cleverer to obsess over paying them down as a means of getting back into office.
Reagan is Dead. You might as well Blame Alexander Hamilton.
BTW, does anyone stop and think that the BIGGEST waste of money in the budget is INTEREST. During Bush's 8 year Junta, we pissed away some 2.9 TRILLION just on interest and it bought us NOTHING. In one year alone I think it was close to $450 billion. NASA budgets for those years was about $25 billion. And the Right does what? They ignore the debt they went out of their way to create, and instead complain about puny stuff like PBS and NPR.