WHILE President Bush has been criticized for many ofhis policies, too few people have questioned President Bush's biggest domestic policy failure.
Indeed, while issues such as gay marriage or stem cell research will be resolved within the next few years, President Bush's half-trillion dollar budget deficit threatens to create a climate of higher taxes, reduced government services and lower economic growth for decades to come.
Furthermore, although President Bush may try to blame the deficit on Sept. 11 or a flagging economy, the truth is that it primarily stems from his policy of slashing taxes while dramatically increasing domestic spending. This policy has caused President Bush to go from inheriting a budget surplus of $280 billion to leaving a deficit of $422 billion after his first term in office.
President Bush's record of fiscal irresponsibility began when he acted as the driving force behind the adoption of a massive tax cut in 2001 that will cost the government $2.2 trillion over the next 10 years.
Over time President Bush has accompanied this $2.2 trillion tax cut with a series of expensive new government programs. Because of his new programs ranging from No Child Left Behind, to the prescription drug bill, to a slew of new agriculture subsidies, President Bush has become one of the most free-spending presidents in U.S. history. Indeed, as an August issue of The Economist magazine points out, President Bush's discretionary spending has been the largest of any president in 30 years and amounts to three times the percentage growth that occurred during President Clinton's second term in office.
Moreover, although President Bush has blamed the budget deficit on Sept. 11 and the economic recession, most of the blame for this budget quandry must be assigned to the president's tax cuts and domestic initiatives. Indeed, as the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reported in 2004, more than 40 percent of the deficit can be attributed to President Bush's tax cuts and non-defense spending increases, while only about 20 percent can be attributed to costs associated with the war on terror.
While the president's role in this matter may seem abstract, itis important to remember that budget deficits have a major impact on the everyday lives of all Americans. Indeed, as President Bush's deficit forces the government to spend a greater percentage of its budget on paying the interest on its debt, Congress will have to raise taxes and cut back programs in order to meet its financial obligations.
In addition to this, as former Secretary of Treasury William Simon pointed out, high budget deficits also draw investment away from the private sector and consequently hurt the economy's long-term growth potential.
In short, President Bush's budget deficit will force our generation to cope with lower growth, higher taxes and higher levels of unemployment, as the excesses of today's government are paid for by tomorrow's taxpayer.
With the grave consequences of President Bush's expanding budget deficit in mind, it is clear that young voters must vote for change on Nov. 2. Indeed, while George Bush has endorsed a policy of making all of his tax cuts permanent and holding the line on the most expensive of his domestic programs, John Kerry has stated that he would repeal the most expensive of President Bush's tax cuts that go to households earning greater than $200,000 per year, while also capping the growth of all non-defense, non-education discretionary spending at the rate of inflation.
Moreover, even though Republicans have claimed that Kerry's health care plan will cost $650 billion over the next 10 years and balloon the deficit, Kerry has declared that he will only back this program if it can be funded through the closing of corporate tax loopholes.
The wisdom behind Kerry's policy of revoking the most expensive Bush tax cuts while holding the line on domestic spending is echoed by a 2004 Congressional Budget Office briefing. This briefing stated that the budget deficit will be around $312 billion dollars in 2009 if major policy changes are not made, while it will shrink to zero over the same time period if President Bush's tax cuts are repealed and discretionary spending grows no faster than the rate of inflation.
With this in mind, young voters should consider themselves forewarned that if they choose to elect President Bush on Nov. 2, they will be paying for this decision for decades to come.
Adam Keith is a Cavalier Daily viewpoint writer.
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