Where Today's Large Deficits Come From

I'm posting another informative link. I hadn't realized just how significant the Bush tax cuts were - it caught me a bit off-guard.

However, to summarize, the economic downturn, Bush-era tax cuts, and (to a lesser extent) the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are what are producing the vast majority of the USA's current fiscal deficit - not TARP, as many conservatives seem to believe.

It's unfortunate that many average conservatives are apparently unaware of the actual numbers behind these two programs - there's a lot of populist anger about TARP, but most conservatives I talk to are strongly in favor of the tax cuts. The irony here is that TARP's cost is minuscule compared to the tax cuts, and the people who need tax relief the most barely got any. TARP, on the other hand, kept the economy running enough that fewer average Americans lost their jobs, which obviously affects the middle and lower classes the most strongly.

Link: Where Today's Large Deficits Come From: Economic Downturn, Financial Rescues, and Bush-Era Policies Drive the Numbers