Those Now Lecturing Us Caused the Deficit

There are times I am simply mind boggled by the apparent stupidity of the American public. Case in point? Those listening to the GOP's mantra about cutting the deficit and attacks on pet "liberal" programs. The reality is that it is the GOP under the 8 years of misrule under Bush/Cheney that caused the debacle. Why on earth would anyone in their right mind want to turn the reins back over to those largely at fault for the problem? Paul Krugman looks at the mess and does much needed finger pointing. Would that more in the American public would get their heads out of the ass and open their eyes. It would also help if (1) the Democrats did a lot more loud finger pointing themselves, and (2) the mainstream media stopped merely regurgitating GOP lies. Here are highlights from Krugman's column in the New York Times:
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These days Americans get constant lectures about the need to reduce the budget deficit. That focus in itself represents distorted priorities, since our immediate concern should be job creation. But suppose we restrict ourselves to talking about the deficit, and ask: What happened to the budget surplus the federal government had in 2000?
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The answer is, three main things. First, there were the Bush tax cuts, which added roughly $2 trillion to the national debt over the last decade. Second, there were the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which added an additional $1.1 trillion or so. And third was the Great Recession, which led both to a collapse in revenue and to a sharp rise in spending on unemployment insurance and other safety-net programs.
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So who was responsible for these budget busters? It wasn’t the man in the street. President George W. Bush cut taxes in the service of his party’s ideology, not in response to a groundswell of popular demand — and the bulk of the [tax] cuts went to a small, affluent minority.
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Similarly, Mr. Bush chose to invade Iraq because that was something he and his advisers wanted to do, not because Americans were clamoring for war against a regime that had nothing to do with 9/11. In fact, it took a highly deceptive sales campaign to get Americans to support the invasion, and even so, voters were never as solidly behind the war as America’s political and pundit elite.
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Finally, the Great Recession was brought on by a runaway financial sector, empowered by reckless deregulation. And who was responsible for that deregulation? Powerful people in Washington with close ties to the financial industry, that’s who.
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People who advocated budget-busting policies during the Bush years shouldn’t be allowed to pass themselves off as deficit hawks. . . . by making up stories about our current predicament that absolve the people who put us here there, we cut off any chance to learn from the crisis. We need to place the blame where it belongs, to chasten our policy elites. Otherwise, they’ll do even more damage in the years ahead.