The HUGE PROBLEM with All of this "Deficit Cutting" "Austerity" Non-Stop Chatter

Whatever debt, deficit, austerity measures are put into place, and whatever savings or even potential surpluses they MAY generate, it will all be wiped out as soon as a Republican wins the presidency. How do I know? BECAUSE IT ALREADY HAPPENED>

Let's go back to those halcyon days of the Clinton administration in 1993. Back then, Clinton was told by Greenspan and the corporate bond community to focus on deficit and debt reduction, which he did. Clinton convinced the congress to pass a moderate tax hike coupled with a trimming of the defense budget, and Voila! the budget was balanced. In the latter years of the 90s, the government actually went into surplus because of the roaring economy.

No deficits. Long term debt was on its way out. Gore wanted to capture the SS surpluses in a lockbox and have it used only for SS, a position for which he was repeatedly mocked and ridiculed by the same venal inside the beltway media that today screams for SS cuts because of the debt and deficits.

By 2001, the Clinton surpluses were wiped by out by GW Bush's RETROACTIVE tax cuts, and once again, we fell back into debt and deficits, a problem that in 2011 is the most dire in the world.

This is all a big fucking political trap because debt and deficits are here to stay NO MATTER HOW MUCH MEDICARE AND SS ARE CUT. The Republicans NEED the deficit and debt in order to stop ANY social spending, no matter how beneficial it is to the economy overall.

In the end, Medicare and SS will be cut, and it may make some progress in the debt and deficits, but that progress will be wiped out as soon as a Republican is elected to the presidency.

Deficits only matter when a D is in the White House.

draconian cuts they want and go on to balance the budget on the backs of the working class and poor, I'll bet the mortgage that they come back and ask for MORE tax cuts because they'll have created a "surplus".

It's a never ending game. Cuts, cuts, cuts to social programs until a surplus is created because of those cuts, then TAX cuts because we have a surplus.

Budget Surplus = Tax Cuts.

Budget Deficit = Tax Cuts.