“In addition to a soaring stock market, 6.6 million jobs have been created since tax relief measures went into effect in 2003. Our deficit situation has also improved as tax revenues have increased at double-digit rates over the past two years.” YearsHas BeensTwoJobsPastSituationMillionsEffectsTaxesRateReliefTwo YearsSoarRevenueDeficitOver The Past Author:Randy Neugebauer
“It is day after day in this institution, borrow money, run up the debt, run up the deficits and then with a straight face say, we are going to repeal a tax that affects 1 percent of the American people, just 1 percent of the American people.” PeopleRunningFacesTaxesPercentInstitutionsDebtDeficitStraight Face Author:Richard Neal
“Maybe that first, gigantic deficit the Reaganites piled up was an accident, just a combination of deluded 'supply side' tax cuts and a huge bag of good stuff for the Pentagon. But pretty quickly conservatives discovered that deficits, when done correctly, did something really cool: deficits defunded the Left.” FirstsDoneLeftStuffSidesCuttingHugeTaxesAccidentsCombinationBagsDeficitReally CoolTax CutsPentagonDeluded Author:Thomas Frank
“Congress had the opportunity to extend tax relief to working families without increasing the deficit. Instead, we were handed a bill that favors the wealthy and eliminates deductions that benefit the middle class.” OpportunityClassMiddleTaxesBenefitsBillsCongressFavorsReliefMiddle ClassWealthyDeficitDeductions Author:Rick Larsen
“Near-term deficits are temporary and manageable if - and only if - we keep spending in check, the tax burden low and the economy growing.” IfsTermEconomyGrowingTaxesLowsBurdenSpendingChecksTemporaryDeficitManageableIfs AndTax Burden Author:Jim Nussle
“I lowered taxes in New York. I reduced the size of government in New York. I took a $2.4 billion deficit and turned it into a $3.2 billion surplus. And I reduced taxes over 23 times or 23 times.” GovernmentNew YorkTaxesSizeBillionsDeficitSurplusSize Of Government Author:Rudy Giuliani
“If you're really concerned about deficits, you cannot take seriously a budget that would give $30 billion a year worth of tax cuts to not just the top 1 percent but the top 0.1 percent.” IfsGivingYearsCuttingTaxesPercentConcernedBillionsBudgetsDeficitTax Cuts Author:Barack Obama
“Our practical choice is not between a tax-cut deficit and a budgetary surplus. It is between two kinds of deficits: a chronic deficit of inertia, as the unwanted result of inadequate revenues and a restricted economy; or a temporary deficit of transition, resulting from a tax cut designed to boost the economy, increase tax revenues, and achieve -- and I believe this can be done -- a budget surplus. The first type of deficit is a sign of waste and weakness; the second reflects an investment in the future.” FirstsBelieveKindTwoDoneChoicesI BelieveResultsEconomyCuttingAchieveTypeTaxesWasteWeaknessEconomicsIncreaseInvestmentDebtPracticalsBudgetsTemporaryTransitionTaxationRevenueDeficitInadequateBoostInertiaTax CutsSurplusUnwanted Author:John F. Kennedy
“To avoid large and unsustainable budget deficits, the nation will ultimately have to choose among higher taxes, modifications to entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare, less spending on everything else from education to defense, or some combination of the above.” NationsSocialSecurityHigherTaxesProgramSpendingDefenseCombinationBudgetsSocial SecurityDeficitEntitlementMedicareModificationEntitlement ProgramsBudget Deficit Author:Ben Bernanke
“It has been obvious all along, to anyone paying attention, that the politicians shouting loudest about deficits are actually using deficit hysteria as a cover story for their real agenda, which is top-down class warfare. To put it in Romneyesque terms, it's all about finding an excuse to slash programs that help people who like to watch Nascar events, even while lavishing tax cuts on people who like to own Nascar teams.” PeopleHas BeensRealHelpingStoriesTermAttentionClassWatchesCuttingTeamEventsPoliticianTaxesFindingsProgramObviousExcusePay AttentionAgendasWarfareDeficitShoutingHysteriaTax CutsClass WarfareTop DownNascar Author:Paul Krugman
“Arnold was on the 'Today' show today, he was a little light on specifics. He said he could solve California's $38 billion budget deficit, without cutting spending or raising taxes because there was a third way. What is it? Let's just say it involves a robot going back in time to convince Gray Davis to go into dentistry.” WayLittlesSaidShowsLightTodayCuttingTaxesThirdsSolveSpendingBillionsBudgetsCaliforniaConvinceGrayRobotsDeficitBack In TimeSpecificsGo Back In TimeDentistryRaising TaxesBudget Deficit Author:Bill Maher
“The United States has a huge budget deficit so taxes are going to have to go up and I certainly agree they should go up more on the rich than everyone else. That - that's just justice.” ShouldStatesJusticeUnitedUnited StatesRichHugeTaxesAgreeBudgetsDeficitBudget Deficit Author:Bill Gates
“The challenge for any government is how do you do two things at the same time. How do you put money forward for things like the payroll tax holiday, for things like getting a jump-start on infrastructure, for building schools, and make the decisions for long-term deficit reduction.” LongTwoGovernmentSchoolTermChallengesDecisionBuildingTaxesLong TermTwo ThingsHolidayInfrastructureDeficitReductionPayrollPayroll Tax Author:Jacob Lew
“Democrats in Washington predicted that tax cuts would not create jobs, would not increase wages, and would cause the federal deficit to explode. Well, the facts are in. The tax cuts have led to a strong economy. Real wages were on the rise, and deficit has been cut in half three years ahead of schedule.” YearsWellsHas BeensRealFactsJobsThreeStrongCausesHalfEconomyCuttingTaxesIncreaseDemocratThree YearsSchedulesWagesDeficitTax CutsStrong Economy Author:George W. Bush
“When Republicans used reconciliation in 2001 for the Bush tax cuts, they used it to increase the deficit. The whole purpose of reconciliation is for deficit reduction!” WholeUsedPurposeCuttingRepublicanTaxesIncreaseDeficitReconciliationReductionTax Cuts Author:Kent Conrad
“When [Republicans] say they can reduce taxes and trim deficits at the same time, they are either deluded or deceptive, and they are playing voters for fools.” FoolRepublicanTaxesVotersDeficitDeceptiveDeluded Author:E. J. Dionne
“In almost every enterprise, government has provided business with opportunities for private gain at public expense. Government nurtures private capital accumulation through a process of subsidies, supports, and deficit spending and an increasingly inequitable tax system.” GovernmentPoliticalOpportunityProcessSupportTaxesGainsSpendingEnterpriseExpensesNurtureDeficitAccumulationSubsidiesTax SystemDeficit Spending Author:Michael Parenti
“Canada is in budgetary deficit now only because of the recession, only because of stimulus measures, and we will come out of it. We will go back into surplus position when the economy recovers. So there is no need in Canada to raise taxes.” NeedsEconomyPositionTaxesRaisesCanadaDeficitStimulusRecessionsSurplus Author:Stephen Harper
“He [Barack Obama] talked about deficit reduction. This got me he was talking about how the deficit's being reduced faster in the last 60 years. That's because he's collected more taxes. That's like bragging that you paid your rent after you robbed a bank. It makes no sense.” YearsLastsTalkingTaxesPaidBarackFasterDeficitReductionBragging Author:Barack Obama
“If the US government spends 40 percent of the nation's income, as it does through either borrowing or taxes, that income is not available for people to spend. The deficit is an indirect method of taxation. Of course, politicians prefer to borrow instead of tax because then someone down the road has to deal with the consequences.” PeopleIfsDoeGovernmentCoursesNationsDealsPoliticianTaxesPercentConsequenceMethodAvailableIncomeTaxationDeficitDown The RoadBorrowingIndirect Author:Milton Friedman
“If you raise taxes on millionaires and billionaires, you'll do nothing to address the debt and the deficit. And the thing you might do is you might finally put this economy over another cliff. These millionaires and billionaires are the folks that try to create jobs and help grow the economy.” IfsTryingHelpingMightJobsGrowsEconomyTaxesRaisesFolksDebtAddressesDeficitCliffsMillionaireBillionaire Author:Joe Walsh
“Ben Carson says his flat tax will be around 15 percent. And by God, if he ever shows you the details, you'll see how awesome and deficit-killing it is.” IfsShowsTaxesPercentKillingDetailsFlatsDeficitKilling ItFlat TaxBen Carson Author:Kevin Drum
“I love listening to these guys give us lectures about debt and deficits. I inherited a trillion-dollar deficit. ... This notion that somehow we caused the deficits is just wrong. It's just not true. ... If they start trying to give you a bunch of facts and figures suggesting that it's true, what they're not telling you is they baked all this stuff into the cake with those tax cuts and a prescription drug plan that they didn't pay for and the wars.” IfsGivingTryingWarFactsGuyStuffPayCuttingPlansFiguresListeningDrugTaxesDollarsNotionDebtBunchCakeDeficitLecturesPrescriptionsSuggestingTax CutsPrescription Drugs Author:Barack Obama
“Budget cuts if you're not rich, tax cuts if you are. Less money for those who don't have any and more to those who do. That's how President Fredo says we're going to get out of the giant deficit hole he's dug. You can't put it any more simply. Rich people richer. Poor people poorer.” PeopleIfsPresidentPoorRichCuttingTaxesHolesBudgetsGiantsPoor PeopleDeficitRich PeopleTax CutsBudget Cuts Author:Will Durst
“Ronald Reagan cut taxes to raise the deficit to stop liberals in future years from increasing spending. Obama will raise spending to raise the deficit to stop conservatives in future years from cutting taxes. As he funds every liberal dream - from alternative energy production to infrastructure renovation to more federal revenue sharing - he will force a massive expansion in the size of government for a decade to come.” YearsDreamGovernmentEnergyForceCuttingTaxesRaisesSizeProductionsSpendingDecadesAlternativesFundMassiveExpansionRevenueInfrastructureDeficitRenovationAlternative EnergySize Of GovernmentEnergy Production Author:Dick Morris
“With a congressional mandate to run the deficit up as high as need be, there is no reason to raise taxes now and risk aggravating the depression. Instead, Obama will follow the opposite of the Reagan strategy. Reagan cut taxes and increased the deficit so that liberals could not increase spending. Obama will raise spending and increase the deficit so that conservatives cannot cut taxes. And, when the economy is restored, he will raise taxes with impunity, since the only people who will have to pay them would be rich Republicans.” PeopleNeedsReasonWould BeRunningPayEconomyRichCuttingRiskRepublicanTaxesOppositesIncreaseRaisesStrategySpendingNo ReasonDeficitMandatesImpunityAggravating Author:Dick Morris
“The time will come, and probably during 2009, that the only way the U.S. will be able to fund its deficits is to create money by printing it. The Treasury will have to sell bonds, and, in the absence of foreign buyers, the Fed will have to print the money to buy them. The consequence will be runaway inflation, increasing interest rates, recession, and inevitable tax increases on all Americans.” WayAbleInterestTaxesConsequenceIncreaseSellsRateAbsenceInevitableFundFedsPrintInflationDeficitPrintingRecessionsTreasuryInterest RateBuyersRunawayTax Increases Author:Doug Casey
“If you can look at a crime where everything points to one answer and not see it, you're a dumb-ass. And if you can look at the deficit and not see that the problem is that the rich stopped paying taxes, you're a Republican.” IfsLooksProblemAnswersRichCrimeRepublicanTaxesAssDumbDeficitPaying TaxesDumb Ass Author:Bill Maher
“When Congress votes for all sorts of benefits, without voting for enough taxes to pay for them, they get the support of those who have been promised the benefits, without getting grief from the taxpayers. It's strictly win-win as far as the welfare-state politicians are concerned. But it is strictly lose-lose, big-time, for the country, as deficits skyrocket.” Has BeensCountryStatesEnoughBigsWinningLosesGriefPaySupportPoliticianTaxesBenefitsConcernedVoteCongressWelfareVotingDeficitTaxpayersWelfare StateWin Win Author:Thomas Sowell
“Only dramatic cuts in the federal deficit, a rollback of regulations that cripple small and community banks, a cancellation of future tax increase plans, a big reduction in federal spending, repeal of Obamacare, freeing manufacturing from the prospect of carbon taxation and unleashing out domestic energy potential can solve our problems. But Obama is not about to undo his legacy of disaster for the American people.” PeopleProblemBigsEnergyCommunityCuttingPlansTaxesIncreaseSolveSpendingDisasterLegacyDramaticRegulationCarbonTaxationDeficitManufacturingObamacareReductionCripplesTax IncreasesCancellationUnleashingFederal Spending Author:Dick Morris
“Even if Bush could be forgiven for taking America, and much of the rest of the world, to war on false pretenses, and for misrepresenting the cost of the venture, there is no excuse for how he chose to finance it. His was the first war in history paid for entirely on credit. As America went into battle, with deficits already soaring from his 2001 tax cut, Bush decided to plunge ahead with yet another round of tax "relief" for the wealthy.” IfsWorldFirstsWarAmericaCuttingBattleCostTaxesDecidedPaidRoundsExcuseCreditFinanceReliefWealthyVentureForgivenSoarDeficitPretensePlungeNo ExcusesTax Cuts Author:Joseph Stiglitz
“The House okayed the gasoline tax cut, which will increase the deficit, line the pockets of the oil companies, and hurt the environment; Dole said that if there was just some way this could interfere with people's sex lives, it would be perfect legislation.” PeopleIfsWaySaidWould BeHouseSexHurtLinesPerfectCompanyEnvironmentCuttingTaxesIncreaseOilPocketsInterfereLegislationDeficitTax CutsGasolineOil Companies Author:Bill Maher
“It seems to me that instead of cutting taxes, we ought to be increasing the taxes to pay off the deficit, rather than let that thing build up to the point where our grandchildren's grandchildren are going to be paying for our period of time and our years at the helm.” YearsSeemsPayCuttingOughtPeriodsTaxesGrandchildrenDeficitHelm Author:Walter Cronkite
“Put simply, the rich pay a lot of taxes as a total percentage of taxes collected, but they don't pay a lot of taxes as a percentage of what they can afford to pay, or as a percentage of what the government needs to close the deficit gap.” NeedsGovernmentPayRichTaxesGapsDeficitPercentages Author:Ben Stein
“Trickle down economics is a fraud. Giving tax breaks to the rich and large corporations does not create jobs. It simply makes the rich richer, enlarges the deficit and increases income and wealth inequality. We need economic policies which benefit working families, not the billionaire class.” NeedsGivingDoeJobsWealthClassBreakRichEconomicPolicyTaxesBenefitsEconomicsIncreaseIncomeInequalityCorporationsFraudDeficitBillionaireEconomic PolicyTax BreaksTrickle DownWealth InequalityTrickle Down Economics Author:Bernie Sanders
“The Democrats - Democrats on board, the Congress said tax policy.But their tax policy was pretty bad, that added $800 billion to the deficit.” SaidPolicyTaxesDemocratCongressBillionsBoardsDeficit Author:Lawrence O'Donnell
“Health care is still the number-one issue out there. Someone who seizes it, I think, will do very well in an election. Let's face it: Clinton's two big issues were the middle class tax cut, which he dropped, wisely, at the time to help reduce the deficit, and health care. That's what he ran on.” ThinkingWellsStillsTwoHelpingBigsCareFacesNumbersClassIssuesCuttingMiddleTaxesElectionClintonHealth CareRanMiddle ClassDeficitTax Cuts Author:Russ Feingold
“I should say the leadership's proposal in the Senate and the House are very unpopular. And when people realize it will raise taxes, raise their insurance premiums cost and explode the deficit, they think twice about it.” PeopleThinkingShouldHouseRealizingCostTaxesRaisesSenateDeficitProposalThink Twice Author:Rahm Emanuel
“The president elect [Donald Trump] says that will lead to more investment and growth. Skeptics say the tax plan would explode deficits.” GrowthPresidentPlansTrumpTaxesInvestmentDeficitSkeptic Author:Kelly McEvers
“If we can’t puncture some of the mythology around austerity, politics or tax cuts or the mythology that’s been built up around the Reagan revolution, where somehow people genuinely think that he slashed government and slashed the deficit and that the recovery was because of all these massive tax cuts, as opposed to a shift in interest-rate policy - if we can’t describe that effectively, then we’re doomed to keep on making more and more mistakes.” PeopleIfsThinkingGovernmentInterestMistakeCuttingPolicyRevolutionTaxesBuiltRateMythologyRecoveryMassiveDoomedDeficitTax CutsInterest RateAusterityPuncture Author:Barack Obama
“We're in a very Orwellian situation where when we - we've slashed defense. And we've raised taxes. And we consider $600 billion annual deficit success because it's not $1 trillion.” SituationTaxesRaisedDefenseBillionsDeficitAnnualsOrwellian Author:Victor Davis Hanson
“In New Mexico, I inherited the largest structural deficit in state history, and our legislature is controlled by Democrats. We don't always agree, but we came together in a bipartisan manner and turned that deficit into a surplus. And we did it without raising taxes.” StatesTogetherTaxesAgreeDemocratControlledMexicoDeficitLegislatureSurplusBipartisanNew MexicoRaising Taxes Author:Susana Martinez
“Obama and the Democrats' preposterous argument is that we are just one more big tax increase away from solving our economic problems. The inescapable conclusion, however, is that the primary driver of the short-term deficit is not tax cuts but the lack of any meaningful economic growth over the last half decade.” ProblemBigsLastsGrowthTermHalfCuttingEconomicTaxesArgumentIncreaseDemocratDecadesMeaningfulConclusionPrimariesJust OneDriversDeficitShort TermEconomic GrowthTax CutsEconomic ProblemsTax Increases Author:Bob Beauprez
“No party has a monopoly on wisdom. No democracy works without compromise. But when Governor Romney and his allies in Congress tell us we can somehow lower our deficit by spending trillions more on new tax breaks for the wealthy - well, you do the math. I refuse to go along with that. And as long as I'm President, I never will.” WellsLongPresidentPartyBreakDemocracyTaxesCongressRefuseMathSpendingCompromiseWealthyAlliesGovernorsDeficitMonopolyRomneyTax BreaksGovernor Romney Author:Barack Obama
“To reduce deficit spending and our enormous debt, you reign in spending. You cut the budget. You don't take more from the private sector and grow government with it. And that's exactly what Obama has in mind with this expiration of Bush tax cuts proposal of his.” MindGovernmentGrowsCuttingTaxesDebtSpendingEnormousBudgetsReignDeficitProposalPrivate SectorTax CutsBudget DeficitDeficit Spending Author:Sarah Palin
“Deficits mean future tax increases, pure and simple. Deficit spending should be viewed as a tax on future generations, and politicians who create deficits should be exposed as tax hikers.” ShouldMeanSimpleGenerationsPoliticianPureTaxesIncreaseSpendingExposedDeficitFuture GenerationHikerTax IncreasesDeficit Spending Author:Ron Paul
“What we're discussing privately and publicly, is a budget which is a blueprint for the future which creates jobs, which educates our children, which provides healthcare for all Americans, which takes our deficit down, which gives a tax cut for 95% of the American people.” PeopleGivingChildrenJobsCuttingTaxesOur ChildrenBudgetsEducateHealthcareDeficitDiscussingTax CutsBlueprintsBudget Deficit Author:Nancy Pelosi
“We had a $10 billion budget deficit when we got here in January of 2003. We cut that budget deficit; we did not raise taxes; we came back in '05, and we had an $8 billion surplus. That's how fast it can happen.” HappensCuttingTaxesRaisesBillionsBudgetsDeficitJanuarySurplusBudget Deficit Author:Rick Perry