Ending Bush Tax Cuts Would Repair All Budgets

The Bush tax cuts are the largest contributor to our budget deficits. The next most responsible culprit is the Great Recession. Deficits would be cut in half over the next decade by just letting the Bush tax cuts expire. Plus, once the economy is again operating near it's potential, revenues will increase accordingly, wiping out much of the rest of the deficit.

It should be no surprise that the top 1 percent has captured a disproportionate amount of the income gains over time. We've basically told the majority to go without wage increases, health care, or solid retirement accounts, so that a select few could garner more and more of our economic pie. And, it's not just a coincidence that this redistribution has occurred alongside the decline of unionization. As our majority (those not in the uber wealthy 1 percent) has lost a strong collective voice fighting for better wages and benefits, the majority of us have been steadily losing ground.

Although I may disagree with some of the bailouts, low-interest loans, and preferential treatment to banks and insurance companies, the economy under Obama has steadily improved. Our GDP has increased and the private sector has been adding jobs for fifteen consecutive months. And, although government spending was necessary to fill the gap left by the lack of private sector demand, our spending and revenues (though still facing a gap) are converging, slowly, as the economy improves, making their way back into balance.