Where The Debt Comes From, In One Chart

Tweet

Written By:
Rob Port

Dec 1, 2012
1:11pm

Via Reason, here’s a chart showing federal revenues and outlays since 1999.

This dispels a lot of myths about the debt and deficit debate. For one thing, the idea that Bush-era tax cuts created the deficits. That’s not true. Tax revenues grew after the implementation of the Bush tax cuts in 2001 and 2003.

Debt accumulated in the Bush-era because of Bush-era spending.

Also, we have a tendency to attribute spending to Presidents, but it’s more accurately attributed to Congress. The Republican Congress under Bush from 2000 – 2006 was pretty bad on spending, but note the explosion in spending after the Democrat Congress was seated in 2007.

We don’t need tax hikes. We need spending cuts. Big, across-the-board spending cuts.