Balanced: Democrat Budget Increases Spending By 62%, Taxes By $1.5 Trillion

The ideological break down in the national budget debate has folks on the right arguing for deficit reduction through spending cuts and folks on the left arguing for deficit reduction through tax increases.

Yesterday Democrats unveiled a budget – their first in four years, a laughing matter apparently – which true to form proposes $1.5 trillion in tax increases:

Those dramatic tax increases are problematic enough, but setting aside the spending cuts vs. tax hikes debate, the Democrat budget doesn’t actually reduce long-term deficits at all. While they’re adding $1.5 trillion in tax hikes, they’re also increasing the national budget by $2.1 trillion, a 62% increase:

Democrats have made it clear that deficit reduction isn’t really their priority. “My goal is not to chase a balanced budget just for the sake of balance,” said President Obama. But this budget doesn’t show that deficit reduction is a low priority. It shows that deficit reduction isn’t even on the Democrats’ radar, outside of paying lip service to it.