The Conservative Deficit Creation Strategy
The conservative deficit creation strategy is clearer every day. Not long ago we heard conservatives scream that deficits were bad. Now conservatives control the United States House of Representatives, the Senate and Presidency, and they are eagerly creating $1.5 trillion dollars in deficit spending. Why would they do that?
Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) explained his deficit strategy. “We’re going to have to get back next year at entitlement reform, which is how you tackle the debt and the deficit… Frankly, it’s the health care entitlements that are the big drivers of our debt…â€
Ryan knows that he can’t blame Medicare and Medicaid for our debt.  Instead he says “entitlement.† Wage earners pay for these two popular liberal programs with every paycheck, planning for their retirement.  By creating a deficit with tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires, conservatives will turn right around and demand cuts in Medicare and Medicaid. Will they be there for you?
We don’t have to look far to see this plan in action. Conservatives just killed Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). This life saving program provided insurance for 9 million Americans. Senator Orin Hatch (R-UT) said the federal government doesn’t have the money anymore.   Hatch said that he liked it “[b]ut I have a rough time wanting to spend billions and trillions of dollars to help people who won’t help themselves, who won’t lift a finger and expect the federal government to do everything.â€
Remember, these are children from working families. These families are doing more than lifting a finger. They are living pay check to pay check and simply can’t avoid health insurance.  Hatch gave this excuse the very same week he voted to create $1.5 trillion in new deficits. The strategy is clear. Cut taxes. Create a deficit. Cut services to seniors and children.
Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) also admitted that tax cuts will not pay for themselves. He said, “We need to generate economic growth which generates revenue, while reducing spending. That will mean instituting structural changes to Social Security and Medicare for the future. â€Â  What are “structural changes†that reduce spending? Are you ready for cuts to Medicare and Social Security benefits?
You can also look at the deficit creation strategies in Oklahoma and Kansas. Conservatives in both states slashed taxes for wealthy individuals and corporations. They claimed the resulting job creation would bring in new taxes. Public school teachers and nursing homes in both states are suffering because the reality didn’t match the theory.
We know from personal and historical experience that debt is a tool. It provides leverage to lift heavy problems. Personally, we use debt to buy cars and houses. For liberals, governments use it in an emergency to lift the economy and pay debt off once the economy is growing on it’s own. For conservatives, the heavy problem is cutting Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security benefits.  Do you support creating $ 1 and $1.5 trillion in new deficits as an excuse to cut your entitlements?
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