Chapter 4 - The BIGGEST Republican Lie

We will Reduce the Deficit - the Biggest of Many Republican Lies

The Republican party and their surrogates have staked much of their supposed advantage over President Obama with promises to reduce the deficit. But they are strongly supporting policies that will, instead, INCREASE the deficit compared to the policies of the President.

This isn't hard to prove. First, lets start with the sources of our current deficit. This article from the Washington Post makes it clear. The primary sources of our debt, in order are: 1) Bush tax cuts, 2) Economic downturn, 3) Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (e.g. defense spending), 4) The stimulus, and 5) Everything else.

So what does Mitt want to do about these sources of debt?

• Bush tax cuts? (No. 1 source of the deficit): Keep the tax cuts for all! Compared to President Obama this will INCREASE the deficit by as much as $5 Trillion.

• Economic Downturn? (No. 2): Romney promises to cut money to the poor, to welfare recipients, student loan programs, to Medicare, etc. These reductions in programs that serve the neediest Americans will of course lead to greater economic hardship, an increased economic downturn, and lower taxes as a result. Remember where this country was headed when Bush left office? We were losing 700,000 jobs a month. Mitt's policies will take us back there. The result will be a huge increase in the deficit due to lowering of tax revenues.

• Wars (aka Defense Spending)? (No. 3): Under president Obama, we've ended one expensive war and are winding down another. But Romney promises to increase defense spending. His proposals would add $2.5 Trillion to the deficit over the next decade.

• Stimulus (No. 4): The Stimulus spending is largely over, which means that neither candidate is proposing anything that would have an impact on future deficits. But it is worth noting that the Congressional Budget Office documented that the Stimulus created up to 3.3 Million jobs - that's 3.3 million people who were paying taxes rather than being paid unemployment. The Republicans like to use the term "Failed Stimulus". That therm is wrong. The Stimulus kept this county going during the worst of the recession and prevented a depression.

And he would further decrease taxes in many areas: capital gains, interest, dividends, corporate taxes, etc. By promising to repeal  Obamacare, which even Fox News has reported  will reduce the deficit by $200 Million, he makes the problem worse. He claims that these reductions will be offset by unspecified cuts - which means he has no real plan to make any meaningful cuts.

The Republicans claim that the president is a huge spender. Its another lie. The truth is that he is one of the most frugal presidents of the modern era. In fact, Forbes Magazine (hardly a Liberal publication) states that " Amidst all the cries of Barack Obama being the most prolific big government spender the nation has ever suffered, Marketwatch is reporting that our president has actually been tighter with a buck than any United States president since Dwight D. Eisenhower.".

In the spirit of George Orwell, truth becomes a lie, and the big lie becomes Republican truth. If Mitt becomes president, defense spending (one of the largest components of the deficit) will increase, taxes will decrease, and the deficit will soar.

Think it won't happen? Are you willing to take the risk?