It all started with Ronald Reagan (see chart). The National Debt as a percentage of GNP had steadily declined since Truman, reaching its lowest point to around 30% of GDP in 1981 when Reagan first took office. At the end of the Reagan/Bush Administrations it had reached a high of nearly 70% of GDP and four times as large as when Reagan came to power. The Clinton Administration reversed this upward trend of increasing National Debt, and brought it down to less than 60% and promising Budget Surpluses ‘as far as the eye could see’. Thanks to another Republican Administration of George W. Bush this was once again reversed with Budget Deficits now ‘as far as the eye can see’. George W. has managed to top even Reagan’s ‘golden years’ of more government spending and even lower taxes for the rich. So what happened to the Republican Fiscal Conservative Ideology? What happened to the endless calls for a Balanced Budget Amendment? Were these nothing more than political ploys to win elections, just like similar calls for Term Limits and Line Item Vetoes? Yes and no. No doubt Republicans used such hot button issues to win elections and power. But I believe the National Debt and Budget Deficits (along with Lower Taxes) have become key parts of the ‘new’ New Right. It’s not the Deficit, stupid! It’s Lower Taxes for the Rich! has become the new mantra of Republican Administrations.

So why Republican Administrations love Budget Deficits? Budget Deficits reflect an imbalance between Government Spending and Government Revenues. Deficits means lower taxes for the rich, as well as government guaranteed Treasury Notes for their secure long-term investments. Budget Deficits in effect hock the Future of our country to the rich and powerful. Budget Deficits over time also help dismantle and divest Government programs and weaken the Government’s ability to help ordinary people. It is Gingrich’s ‘wither on the vine’ proposal for Social Security and Medicare. By making Government small and powerless to help people improve their lives, it gives those that already have wealth and power more wealth and power. It tilts the playing field even more in favor of the rich who can buy the best education, have the best health care, best neighborhoods to raise their families in safety, deregulated investments and businesses, etc. The divide between the rich and the rest is wider and wider. Lower taxes aim to ‘protect the rich’ while Republican political rhetoric seeks to ‘blame the poor’ — as if ‘individual responsibility’ alone is the cause of their plight and the solution to their problems. Republican laws and policies have redefined America, leaving most ordinary Americans behind without a country. America is no longer defined by its geographical boundaries or citizenship, but by the laws that protect the powerful special interests (domestic or foreign) that Government serves. No wonder ‘border security’ has become an oxymoron for the ‘new’ New Right!