What Really Caused Our Deficits

This ia an amazing chart.  It comes from an article posted at Investors.com.  As you can see, the Iraq War represents a very small part of the current deficit. 

 

According to the article:

“As President Obama celebrates the official end of combat operations in Iraq, a war and a strategy he both opposed, the Congressional Budget Office tells us that in terms of national treasure, the president’s economic strategy has resembled Pickett’s Charge during the Civil War more than the surge of Gen. David Petraeus that turned the tide in Operation Iraqi Freedom.”

It also needs to be pointed out that if we keep enough troops in Iraq to give the government a chance to stabilize (as we did in Germany and Japan after World War II), the positive change in Middle East politics and balance of power will be well worth it.  Would someone please tell me what President Obama’s economic stimulus has accomplished?

The article further points out:

“The CBO’s Budget and Economic Outlook published this month puts the cost of Operation Iraqi Freedom at $709 billion for military and related activities, including training of Iraqi forces and diplomatic operations. The projected cost of the stimulus, not counting interest on the added debt, is $862 billion.”

The Democrats have been in charge of Congress since January 2007.  Admittedly, it would have been nice if President Bush had vetoed their budgets, but the fact remains that Congress sets the budget–not the President.  If you want to see deficits spin further out of control, re-elect Democrats in November.  If you believe that federal spending can be restrained, vote Republican.