In light of the current economic crisis, I think many of us had given up any hope of reducing the annual deficit in the foreseeable future. First things first: We've got to bring the economy back to life, and then we can worry about the deficit.
But, as it turns out, President Obama believes that he can fix both at once.
As the New York Times reported over the weekend, Obama "will set a goal this week to cut the annual deficit at least in half by the end of his term." This will be done primarily by reducing our very expensive involvement in Iraq and by once again requiring the very rich to pay their fair share of taxes.
This makes sense. After all, George W. Bush's actions in those two areas -- funding the unnecessary war on Iraq and cutting taxes on the rich (his base) -- are arguably the two biggest factors in how Bush turned Bill Clinton's record surplus into a record deficit.
It's ironic. The Republicans love to describe the GOP as the party of fiscal responsibility. However, our economic history of the past 25 years -- since the imposition of Reaganomics, no coincidence -- strongly suggests otherwise.
If Obama manages to pull this off, might it be the final nail in the Reaganomic coffin?
Stay tuned, and keep fingers crossed.
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