By Scott Tibbs, August 28, 2012
I am frankly fed up with hearing Democrats whine about George W. Bush being fiscally irresponsible as a way to excuse Barack Obama's inexcusable budget deficits. The common complains are the two wars, the tax cuts and the prescription drug benefit. First, the budget deficit in 2008 was $458 billion. The budget deficits in 2009, 2010 and 2011 were all over a trillion dollars. There is no comparison between Bush's deficits and Obama's deficits. Furthermore, the whining is filled with hypocrisy.
First, let's examine the tax cuts. The premise that the tax cuts caused the deficit if flawed. Barack Obama's own website reveals the following facts about the tax cuts passed during the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.
- Federal revenue in 1981 was $599 billion
- Federal revenue in 1989 was $991 billion
And:
- Federal revenue in 2001 was $1.99 trillion
- Federal revenue in 2008 was $2.52 trillion
The problem is not a lack of revenue. The problem is that spending outpaced revenue.
Regarding the Medicare prescription drug benefit, following is a list of Democrats who voted for it in the U.S. Senate.
Akaka
Baucus
Bayh
Biden
Bingaman
Boxer
Breaux
Cantwell
Carper
Conrad
Corzine
Daschle
Dayton
Dodd
Dorgan
Durbin
Feingold
Feinstein
Inouye
Johnson
Kennedy
Landrieu
Lautenberg
Leahy
Lincoln
Mikulski
Miller
Murray
Nelson
Nelson
Pryor
Reid
Schumer
Stabenow
Wyden
As to the two wars that Democrats whine about, let's examine the roll call votes for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Here are the Democrats in the Senate who voted for the war in Afghanistan:
Lincoln
Boxer
Feinstein
Dodd
Lieberman
Biden
Carper
Graham
Nelson
Cleland
Miller
Akaka
Inouye
Harkin
Durbin
Bayh
Breaux
Landrieu
Kennedy
Kerry
Mikulski
Sarbanes
Levin
Stabenow
Dayton
Wellstone
Carnahan
Baucus
Edwards
Conrad
Dorgan
Nelson
Corzine
Torricelli
Bingaman
Reid
Clinton
Schumer
Wyden
Reed
Hollings
Daschle
Johnson
Leahy
Cantwell
Murray
Feingold
Kohl
Byrd
Rockefeller
Democrats in the House who voted for the war in Afghanistan:
Earl Hilliard
Robert Cramer
Ed Pastor
Vic Snyder
Mike Ross
Marion Berry
Mike Thompson
Ellen Tauscher
Pete Stark
Hilda Solis
Brad Sherman
Adam Schiff
Lucille Roybal-Allard
Nancy Pelosi
Grace Napolitano
George Miller
Juania Millender-McDonald
Robert Matsui
Zoe Lofgren
Tom Lantos
Michael Honda
Jane Harman
Bob Filner
Anna Eshoo
Calvin Dooley
Susan Davis
Gary Condit
Lois Capps
Howard Berman
Xavier Becerra
Joe Baca
Maxine Waters
Diane Watson
Henry Waxman
Lynn Woolsey
Mark Udall
Diana DeGette
James Maloney
John Larson
Rosa DeLauro
Karen Thurman
Carrie Meek
Alcee Hastings
Peter Deutsch
Jim Davis
Corrine Brown
Allen Boyd
Robert Wexler
Cynthia McKinney
John Lewis
Sanford Bishop
Patsy Mink
Neil Abercrombie
Janice Schakowsky
Bobby Rush
David Phelps
Jesse Jackson
Luis Gutierrez
Lane Evans
Danny Davis
Jerry Costello
Rod Blagojevich
Peter Visclosky
Timothy Roemer
Baron Hill
Julia Carson
Leonard Boswell
Dennis Moore
Ken Lucas
Christopher John
William Jefferson
John Baldacci
Thomas Allen
Steny Hoyer
Elijah Cummings
Benjamin Cardin
Albert Wynn
John Tierney
John Olver
Richard Neal
Marty Meehan
James McGovern
Edward Markey
Barney Frank
William Delahunt
Michael Capuano
Bart Stupak
Lynn Rivers
Sander Levin
Dale Kildee
John D. Dingell
David Bonior
James Barcia
Martin Olav Sabo
Collin Peterson
James Oberstar
Betty McCollum
William Luther
Bennie Thompson
Gene Taylor
Ronnie Shows
Ike Skelton
Karen McCarthy
Richard Gephardt
Wm. Lacy Clay
Shelley Berkley
Steven Rothman
Donald Payne
Bill Pascrell
Frank Pallone
Robert Menendez
Rush Holt
Robert Andrews
Tom Udall
Nydia Velazquez
Edolphus Towns
Louise Slaughter
Jose Serrano
Charles Rangel
Major Owens
Jerrold Nadler
Gregory Meeks
Michael McNulty
Carolyn McCarthy
Carolyn Maloney
Nita Lowey
John LaFalce
Steve Israel
Maurice Hinchey
Eliot Engel
Joseph Crowley
Gary Ackerman
Anthony Weiner
David Price
Mike McIntyre
Bob Etheridge
Eva Clayton
Mel Watt
Earl Pomeroy
James Traficant
Ted Strickland
Thomas Sawyer
Dennis Kucinich
Marcy Kaptur
Stephanie Jones
Tony Hall
Sherrod Brown
Brad Carson
Darlene Hooley
Peter DeFazio
Earl Blumenauer
David Wu
John Murtha
Frank Mascara
Paul Kanjorski
Tim Holden
Joseph Hoeffel
Chaka Fattah
Mike Doyle
William Coyne
Robert Brady
Robert Borski
James Langevin
Patrick Kennedy
John Spratt
James Clyburn
John Tanner
Bart Gordon
Harold Ford
Bob Clement
Jim Turner
Charles Stenholm
Max Sandlin
Ciro Rodriguez
Silvestre Reyes
Solomon Ortiz
Nick Lampson
Eddie Bernice Johnson
Sheila Jackson-Lee
Ruben Hinojosa
Ralph Hall
Gene Green
Charles Gonzalez
Martin Frost
Chet Edwards
Lloyd Doggett
Ken Bentsen
Jim Matheson
Bobby Scott
James Moran
Rick Boucher
Adam Smith
Jim McDermott
Rick Larsen
Jay Inslee
Norman Dicks
Brian Baird
Nick Rahall
Alan Mollohan
David Obey
Gerald Kleczka
Ron Kind
Thomas Barrett
Tammy Baldwin
Democrats in the U.S. Senate that voted for the war in Iraq:
Lincoln
Feinstein
Dodd
Lieberman
Biden
Carper
Nelson
Cleland
Miller
Harkin
Bayh
Breaux
Landrieu
Kerry
Carnahan
Baucus
Edwards
Dorgan
Nelson
Torricelli
Reid
Clinton
Schumer
Hollings
Daschle
Johnson
Cantwell
Kohl
Rockefeller
In addition, 81 Democrats voted for the war in Iraq in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Frankly, given the wide bipartisan support for the prescription drug benefit as well as the wide bipartisan support for both wars, I am sick and tired of hearing Democrats whine about how the wars increased the deficit and debt. Democrats need to stop blaming George W. Bush for policies that a wide swath of Democrats supported - especially the Democrats who voted for those policies themselves.
