Liberals Play Games Too

As the media wastes its and our time with 'one on one' "interviews" with the Prime Minister we get down to the nitty-gritty of things.

"...Experts say it’s not surprising that the Liberal government will blow through its initial projected deficit of $10 billion this coming year, and even less surprising that it won’t find its way back to balanced books by 2019.

Trudeau recently backed away from campaign vows to balance the public books before the end of his government’s four-year mandate and cap the deficit at $10 billion in the upcoming budget in a sit-down interview with Montreal’s La Presse newspaper.  The pledges had been central to the Liberal election platform..."

He lies, makes outrageous promises and smiles while Canadians shout 'Thank you! May I have another.'

Sometimes I wonder I tell ya.

Canadians will rue the day they voted based on 'getting Harper out' and charisma. Opponents of the Conservatives, among other things, complained of Harper's spending. What the heck do they think they'll get under Trudeau? Worse, Trudeau is doing it with demand for resources weakened, the dollar down off the USD to .71 cents while still talking about implementing climate system change policies.

If that's not a recipe for stagnation or worse, I don't know what is.

That the Liberals are all fluff should come as no surprise to anyone. This is their shtick. Trudeau is focused on the image of Canada. Rather than carefully steer the economy in its current sticky situation he sees some dated vision of us from Pearson's 60s or something. His idea of 'restoring' Canada's 'place' is via broken organizations like the UN Security Council - yes, like in today's context countries actually give a you now what about what Canada will say aloft a dysfunctional and immoral international body. FIFA has more credibility than the UN.

Guessing how they're going to spin things is easy enough.

Blame Harper. Just like Obama still blames Bush.

Easy, sneasy.

***

Oh about the U.S. debt/deficit.

People still confuse the debt with the deficit.

The popular nonsense among liberal/progressives (which only points to their financial and economic illiteracy) is that the deficit has gone down under Obama.

Right.

The total public debt in the United States has officially surpassed its GDP. Public debt stands at $19 trillion while the GDP $18 trillion.

First about growth. In simple, straight-forward math terms:

The economy grew 45% under Bush ($10 150 to $14 750 by the time he left). It has slowed down considerably under Obama to  22% going from $14 750 to the current $18 trillion.

Now the outstanding public debt (which really is just an accumulation of deficits over time).

Under Bush it expanded a whopping 77% from $ 5 674 to $10 025.

Can it get worse?

Yes.

Public debt under Obama grew by 89% from $10 025 (the time Bush left office) to $19 000.

Let's recap.

Under Bush the economy grew 45% but debt expanded by 77%.

Under Obama the economy grew 22% but debt expanded by 89%.

Any questions?

That's the bottom line, isn't it?

Don't get sucked into Media Matters 'one-shot' balance-sheet gotcha approach.

"Deficit as percentage of the size of the economy (GDP): The historical average annual deficit pre-2008 was about 3% GDP, with 18% GDP average tax revenues and 21% GDP average expenditures. However, in 2009 the deficit rose to 10% GDP due to a combination of economic conditions and policy choices. It then fell as a % GDP for five consecutive years back to 2.8% GDP in 2014. With GDP of $16.8 trillion in 2013, 1% GDP represents approximately $170 billion."

Nice pay close attention to what the above paragraph says.  Basically, the deficit reductions they boast about brings them in line with the historical average. One would think they actually cut the deficit but it still remains in negative territory. So, based on these facts and realities, if it's anyone being disingenuous it's The White House and progressive publications.