Let me start this post by stating that George W. Bush was a bigger spender than Barack Obama (though the numbers are somewhat distorted by TARP, which caused a big increase in the burden of spending during Bush’s last fiscal year and artificially dampened outlays in Obama’s first fiscal year since repayments from the banks counted as negative spending).
So I’m not trying to make a partisan point by sharing these cartoons. I don’t like it when Democrats increase the burden of government spending and I’m equally dismayed when Republicans engage in same type of profligacy.
That being said, I was a big dumbfounded when President Obama recently claimed that there’s not a spending problem in Washington.
We know that the United States has a huge long-run problem with deficits and debt according to both the Bank for International Settlements and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
We also know that tax revenues, measured as a share of GDP, will soon be above their post-World War II average and that the tax burden is expected to increase in coming decades.
So a person would have to be in serious denial to claim that spending isn’t a problem.
Which is the point Eric Allie makes in this cartoon.
And the point Robert Ariail makes in this cartoon.
Ditto for Bob Gorrell.
And Gary Varvel.
Last but not least, the great Michael Ramirez.
Gee, it’s almost like we’re seeing a pattern.
And if you like this spendaholic-in-denial theme, you can click here and here for further amusement.
P.S. Oh, by the way, if anybody’s actually interested in how to solve the spending problem (you know, the one that doesn’t exist), we do know the answer.
P.P.S. Remember when Obama claimed the private sector was doing fine? Well, here’s how cartoonists mocked him for that absurd comment.
The % of GDP thing again. Do not use the spenders’ phony stat. It was invented to argue thay tax revenue went down after rate cuts. They do not spend percentages of GDP. They spend dollars. On people. Use constant dollars per capita. If revenue goes up and spending goes up faster, in constant dollars per capita, then the problem is solely on the spending side.
And do not use “baseline” either. Even worse.
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