Tuesday, September 6, 2011

GOP Favored Keynesian Stimulus When Bush Was President

This article reminds us that the GOP was in favor of using tax cuts to stimulate the economy when Bush was president. Even Paul (Mr. Deficit Hawk) Ryan favored the tax cuts in order to stimulate the economy which was in recession.

The article offers a psychological explanation for why Republicans changed their minds about stimulus when Obama assumed the presidency. I don't put much store in the explanation. Bush campaigned for the tax cuts when he ran for office by arguing that we had a budget surplus and that we should give the money back to the taxpayers. He changed his tune when he assumed office and used the recession to argue for the tax cuts. GOP leaders, like Paul Ryan, were all for it because cutting taxes for the super-rich is in their DNA. Their opposition to the Obama stimulus is based on politics. By raising the deficit issue they can run against Obama as the tax and spend liberal that they always use against Democrats. This also plays into the hands of conservatives who have been after entitlements, and all forms of government spending, that do not directly support their constituents.

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