Gop candidates will reduce the deficit? Think again

Memnoch

Electing a republican to reduce the defecit?

http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/23/news/economy/gop_candidates_deficits/index.htm

Rick Santorum's plan
Debt over next decade: Adds $4.5 trillion, increasing debt to GDP to 104%.

Newt Gingrich's plan
Debt over next decade: Adds $7 trillion, increasing debt to GDP to 114%.

Mitt Romney's plan
Debt over next decade: Adds $250 billion, increasing debt to GDP to 86%.

While Romney said his tax plan would not add to the deficit, he didn't offer specifics as to how he'd pay for his newly proposed tax cuts. Absent those offsets, the CRFB roughly estimates that his plan could add $2.6 trillion in debt, boosting debt to 96% of GDP by 2021.

Ron Paul's plan
Debt over next decade: Reduces it by $2.2 trillion, lowering debt to GDP to 76%.

Of course Paul is not going to get the nomination. But it just shows the hutspa of the republican candidates, talking about defecit and how Obama has ballooned it. Wonder how much attention right leaning media outlets will give this story. If it was Obama, you can be sure it would be front page news everywhere.

RichieC

Wait and see, the moment a republican gets back into the white house any talk of the deficit will evaporate over night in the media and go back to being a fringe topic for the die hard libertarians.

matthew8

Rick/Newt clearly don't care. Ron clearly does care about the deficit. Who knows about Mitt.

Some_Person

Memnoch wrote: »

Of course Paul is not going to get the nomination.

Says who? Stop listening to mainstream media.

Denerick

Some_Person wrote: »

Says who? Stop listening to mainstream media.

I'm afraid this has nothing to do with the mainstream media. Its that annoying thing called 'reality'.

Ron Paul, while undoubtedly an honourable man with firm convictions, will completely shatter the American social fabric, institute draconian cuts in public spending, and he espouses an ideology that is confined to a small fringe of the electorate. He has exactly 0% chance of winning the nomination, to think otherwise is insane. He doesn't think he'll win the nomination either. He is running in order to promote libertarianism, and can rely on a solid yet small proportion of the GOP vote.

Memnoch

RichieC wrote: »

Wait and see, the moment a republican gets back into the white house any talk of the deficit will evaporate over night in the media and go back to being a fringe topic for the die hard libertarians.

Not sure. They could do what the Conservatives are doing in the UK and use the deficit to push a hard-right economic agenda.

matthew8

Denerick wrote: »

I'm afraid this has nothing to do with the mainstream media. Its that annoying thing called 'reality'.

Ron Paul, while undoubtedly an honourable man with firm convictions, will completely shatter the American social fabric, institute draconian cuts in public spending, and he espouses an ideology that is confined to a small fringe of the electorate. He has exactly 0% chance of winning the nomination, to think otherwise is insane. He doesn't think he'll win the nomination either. He is running in order to promote libertarianism, and can rely on a solid yet small proportion of the GOP vote.

Or the fact that he hasn't won any contest yet and it's nearly March. But I wouldn't put his chances at 0. He is known for his fanatical supporters and I have heard some people say that if these supporters can become delegates for the other guys, a brokered convention would let them vote for Paul. One in a million chance, but not 0%.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

Memnoch wrote: »

Not sure. They could do what the Conservatives are doing in the UK and use the deficit to push a hard-right economic agenda.

yeah I was shocked when I heard the tories were introducing a flat tax and abolishing the NHS, never actually thought they'd have the stones

matthew8

Memnoch wrote: »

Not sure. They could do what the Conservatives are doing in the UK and use the deficit to push a hard-right economic agenda.

No they won't. I think that for all the republicans rhetoric, when you look at what they do in power the conservatives are more right wing economically, while far more left wing socially.

southsiderosie

Memnoch wrote: »

Not sure. They could do what the Conservatives are doing in the UK and use the deficit to push a hard-right economic agenda.

Hard-right in which sense though?

I think they would cut a great deal of social spending, and hit departments like the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Education pretty hard. But they are a soft touch on defense, Medicare, and social security - the three spending streams that eat up a majority of the federal budget.

The other things that conservatives are fond of is privatization of services, which may take personnel and program responsibility away from the government, but doesn't hugely impact government spending. One could imagine a world where a President Santorum redirects a great deal of social spending to religious voluntary organizations - but again, a re-direct is not a reduction.

The other thing is that most of them aren't really deficit hawks, and they are too in-hock to anti-tax lobbying groups like the one run by Grover Norquist to focus on the revenue side of the deficit-reduction equation.

I guess this is a long-winded way of saying that they would pursue a hard-right agenda on the taxation side, but I don't think they are actually that hard core about reducing entitlement spending, and it wouldn't surprise me if privatization proposals would simply result in spending transfers, rather than overall reductions.

RichieC

matthew8 wrote: »

No they won't. I think that for all the republicans rhetoric, when you look at what they do in power the conservatives are more right wing economically, while far more left wing socially.

you would care to expand on this, as it appears to be completely wrong.

Republicans, contrary to their rhetoric do not historically reduce the deficit.

socially left wing?

southsiderosie

RichieC wrote: »

you would care to expand on this, as it appears to be completely wrong.

Republicans, contrary to their rhetoric do not historically reduce the deficit.

socially left wing?

I think he is comparing the Conservatives in the UK to the GOP.