The deficit in one graph

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

It has been awhile since I posted this graph, so it is time for a refresher course.

Via Ezra Klein.  The five main causes of the budget deficit are the economic downturn (tax revenues go down), the Bush tax cuts (which quickly become the largest part of the deficit), the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the stimulus plan (though that becomes meaningless in less than two years, as it's being phased out).

As John Aravosis snarks, Top causes of the long-term deficit: Economic downturn and Bush tax cuts:

But just as importantly – guess what? – Obama isn't responsible for the deficit.  The GOP is, along with whoever got us into those wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (oh right, that would be the GOP), and whoever was in charge of the government when the economy tanked (right again, George Bush). Oh, and a little of the deficit was caused by TARP (Bush again).

The vast majority of the deficit could be removed by simply allowing the Bush tax cuts for corporations and the über-rich to expire. The rest of the deficit could be removed by scaling back the Pentagon budget, which is larger than what all other nations of the world spend on defense combined.

But Tea-Publicans say that tax increases and the Pentagon budget are "off the table." These people are simply not serious about deficit reduction. It is not about deficit reduction for them, it is about their ideological desire to "drown government in the bathtub."