Did you know that Texas issued an apology to America for bringing us the likes of Rick Perry and George Bush? Well they did, and the video below is a perfect example of why Texas feels the need to make this apology.
In the video below, Rick Perry is asked a question about one of his policy positions regarding abstinence education programs. The host correctly points out that Texas has the 3rd highest teen pregnancy in the nation, and asked Perry why continue these programs when statistics clearly show they don’t work.
Although the message of abstinence is a sensible one, Perry couldn’t explain why Texas should continue spending money teaching abstinence education. The audience totally enjoyed this one, and you will too.
Laugh with us – and remember, Texas did apologize…
We have been waiting for this apology since Bush first announced his intentions to run for President. And here we are, 10 years later, with an economy in the ditch because Bush took us into two unpaid wars, instituted trillions in tax cuts for the rich, an exploded deficit and spent hundreds of billions in the dumb medicare part D program. And now, another Texan has decided to follow in Bush’s footsteps.
President Obama and former President George W. Bush at the dedication of the George W. Bush library in Dallas.
A new report from the New York Times attempts to answer the questions – how did our economy get to this point? And where did this massive deficit come from? The report took the spending habits of the last president, and compared them to those of President Obama, from his inauguration in 2009 and projected through 2017, and interestingly, despite what Republicans and Conservatives think, George Bush still out-spent Barack Obama by more than 2 to 1.
When President Clinton left office in 2001, George Bush inherited a surplus, one that was projected to be over a trillion dollars for the next decade if the Clinton policies remained in effect. The chart below, which took information from The Congressional Budget Office and The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, tells the story of George Bush and his spending ways, and how he turned a surplus into a deficit beginning in 2002, and how that deficit grew each year until he left office in 2009.
The Bush wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, along with Defense – $1.5 Trillion added to the deficit.
The Bush Tax Cuts – $1.8 Trillion added to the deficit.
Non-Defense Discretionary spending under George Bush – $608 Billion added to the deficit.
Bush Tarp and other Bailouts – $224 Billion added to the deficit.
Bush’s Medicare Drug Policies – $180 Billion added to the deficit.
Bush’s Stimulus and other spending – $773 Billion added to the deficit.
All in all, George Bush took an actual surplus of $127 billion in 2001 and turned it into a deficit of $319 billion in 2005. His total in new spending equaled over $5 trillion. This figure dwarfs the $1.44 trillion in new spending President Obama is expected to make through two terms ending in 2017.
It should be noted that the biggest spending spree George Bush and the Republicans went on, according to these figures from the Congressional Budget Office, was the Bush Tax Cuts. The New York Times report puts it this way; “If all of them [Bush Tax Cuts] expired as scheduled at the end of 2012, future deficits would be cut by about half, to sustainable levels”.
President Obama again spoke directly to the American people to let them know what he expects on the upcoming vote to raise the Debt Ceiling. Republicans, who approved massive spending under George Bush, are now willing to put the country into default, to now pay the bills incurred under their spending spree.
President Obama signaled his willingness to cut spending, if Republicans will agree to raising the tax rate on millionaires and billionaires.
To get there, I believe we need a balanced approach. We need to take on spending in domestic programs, in defense programs, in entitlement programs, and we need to take on spending in the tax code — spending on certain tax breaks and deductions for the wealthiest of Americans. This will require both parties to get out of our comfort zones, and both parties to agree on real compromise.
I’m ready to do that. I believe there are enough people in each party that are willing to do that. What I know is that we need to come together over the next two weeks to reach a deal that reduces the deficit and upholds the full faith and credit of the United States government and the credit of the American people.
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