Reply #6: Policy wonkdom at its worst

[ProSense]

Here's what the President said in a speech to the American public:

"For the last decade, we have spent more money than we take in. In the year 2000, the government had a budget surplus. But instead of using it to pay off our debt, the money was spent on trillions of dollars in new tax cuts, while two wars and an expensive prescription drug program were simply added to our nation’s credit card.

Here's what Dean Baker thinks he should have said:

...He apparently believes that there was a huge deficit on an ongoing basis as a result of the policies in place prior to the downturn. In fact, the deficits were relatively modest. The huge deficits came about entirely as a result of the economic downturn brought about by the collapse of the housing bubble.

Yeah, the President should have gone on television and said that the Bush tax cuts and the wars have nothing to do with the deficit, even though they're the largest driver.