Quote:
Originally Posted by bebop
...Before I go any further, let's review what fixed the deficit under Clinton. Right-wingers like to say it's pure luck that Clinton fixed it. Wrong. A big part was the tax increase under Bush Sr. that pushed the deficit to balance level (combined with cuts under Clinton).
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I think that what helped Clinton with the deficit was the technology bubble economy that existed during his administration.
There is no need in trying to fix the budget deficit by raising or lowering taxes. The way to balance the budget is by having a healthy economy, and a little bit of inflation.
Lower taxes will not do much for the economy. The way to drive the economy is by having major investments (public and private) in infrastructure development (interstate highways did it in the 50s and the Internet did it in the 90s). Building a fossil-free energy infrastructure is the way to drive the economy forward. It calls for massive investment, lots of jobs in America (you can't build a power grid in India to deliver power to Cleveland), and eliminates the massive transfer of wealth to the ME and Venezuela. Obama seems to understand this and I expect that this is why he picked energy as his top priority when asked by Brokaw in the second debate (McCain said he was going to do everything at once).