From Edward Wohl
Ridgeway
"It's the economy stupid." That's the phrase that helped Bill Clinton get elected. It is now the phrase, or variations there of, that the Republicans hope will usher in many of their candidates. A major indicator of a country's economy is the national debt as a percentage of the Gross National Product (GNP.) If we look at the history of the national debt, since its peak at the end of World War II, we can get an excellent idea of which political party has caused our economy to be in such a precarious position. Ronald Reagan was elected with the campaign cry of reducing the "all time high" debt of $1 trillion. But this level of debt was the lowest point in 50 years. It had dropped during the administrations of Truman, Ike, Kennedy, LBJ, Nixon, Ford and Carter. Notice it dropped during the Vietnam war. At the end of Carter's administration, the debt was 35 percent of GNP, down from 120 percent in 1945. From the date of Reagan's inauguration through George H.W. Bush, it climbed dramatically. Reagan alone added $1.6 trillion to the debt. By the end of the Reagan-Bush 12-year "revolution" the debt they had piled up was costing $300 million a day in interest. Clinton not only lowered the debt, he balanced the budget. From the beginning of George W. Bush's presidency, the debt again shot up. His tax policies and two wars were a major cause. The policies of the last three Republican administrations have skyrocketed the national debt an additional $9.2 trillion, the major part of the current debt.
The Reagan-Bush theory of supply side economics has been better described as voodoo economics or trickle down economics. Lower the taxes on corporations and the wealthy and they will be so happy they will work harder, get even richer and pay even more taxes and pay down the debt. Believe that and you end up running up a quite a debt. The so-called tax-and-spend Democrats have lowered the debt in every administration since 1945. Follow the policies of the spend-and-borrow Republicans and you go broke. Return the country to the folks who got us here? You have got to be kidding.
PS. To give some perspective to the dollars involved, 1 million seconds equal approximately 12 days. One billion seconds equals approximately 32 years. One trillion seconds equals approximately 32,000 years.
Ridgeway
"It's the economy stupid." That's the phrase that helped Bill Clinton get elected. It is now the phrase, or variations there of, that the Republicans hope will usher in many of their candidates. A major indicator of a country's economy is the national debt as a percentage of the Gross National Product (GNP.) If we look at the history of the national debt, since its peak at the end of World War II, we can get an excellent idea of which political party has caused our economy to be in such a precarious position. Ronald Reagan was elected with the campaign cry of reducing the "all time high" debt of $1 trillion. But this level of debt was the lowest point in 50 years. It had dropped during the administrations of Truman, Ike, Kennedy, LBJ, Nixon, Ford and Carter. Notice it dropped during the Vietnam war. At the end of Carter's administration, the debt was 35 percent of GNP, down from 120 percent in 1945. From the date of Reagan's inauguration through George H.W. Bush, it climbed dramatically. Reagan alone added $1.6 trillion to the debt. By the end of the Reagan-Bush 12-year "revolution" the debt they had piled up was costing $300 million a day in interest. Clinton not only lowered the debt, he balanced the budget. From the beginning of George W. Bush's presidency, the debt again shot up. His tax policies and two wars were a major cause. The policies of the last three Republican administrations have skyrocketed the national debt an additional $9.2 trillion, the major part of the current debt.
The Reagan-Bush theory of supply side economics has been better described as voodoo economics or trickle down economics. Lower the taxes on corporations and the wealthy and they will be so happy they will work harder, get even richer and pay even more taxes and pay down the debt. Believe that and you end up running up a quite a debt. The so-called tax-and-spend Democrats have lowered the debt in every administration since 1945. Follow the policies of the spend-and-borrow Republicans and you go broke. Return the country to the folks who got us here? You have got to be kidding.
PS. To give some perspective to the dollars involved, 1 million seconds equal approximately 12 days. One billion seconds equals approximately 32 years. One trillion seconds equals approximately 32,000 years.
