Another example of how Republicans lie about the deficit

A little while ago we saw this chart about what is creating our federal deficit going forward.



Now, with numbers produced by the Senate Appropriations Committee, TPM made this one looking back at revenue and spending over the last decade.



Here's their summary:

In the wake of the Bush tax cuts, and the Great Recession, tax revenue has fallen through the floor to near-historic lows. As a percentage of GDP, it's fallen 24 percent since 2001, and if you correct for inflation, the government is collecting nearly 20 percent less per person than it was a decade ago. At the same time, the population-adjusted costs of mandatory spending programs -- driven by Medicare, including its new prescription drug benefit, and Medicaid -- have increased by over 30 percent. And, of course, defense spending has skyrocketed. But if you isolate domestic discretionary programs, a decade later we're spending no more on a per-person basis than we were back then.

This all lines up perfectly with Obama's proposals about how to deal with the problem:

1. Increase revenue by cutting corporate tax subsidies and increasing taxes on the wealthy,
2. End the wars and reduce military spending,
3. Over the long haul, reduce health care costs through reform - not simply by shifting them to seniors, the poor and the disabled.

Of course, Republicans have different ideas that make no sense when you look at the actual facts. In that sense, I think Richard Cohen might be on to something.

Someone ought to study the Republican Party. I am not referring to yet another political scientist but to a mental health professional, preferably a specialist in the power of fixations, obsessions and the like. The GOP needs an intervention. It has become a cult...

This intellectual rigidity has produced a GOP presidential field that’s a virtual political Jonestown. The Grand Old Party, so named when it really did evoke America, has so narrowed its base that it has become a political cult. It is a redoubt of certainty over reason and in itself significantly responsible for the government deficit that matters most: leadership. That we can’t borrow from China.