Ah the deficit, the rallying point for the right to attack Obama’s agenda. President Obama’s first budget has a federal deficit of 1.75 trillion dollars. His predecessor’s budget has a short fall of 500 billion, but didn’t include the wars. The Iraq war is closing in on 750 billion dollar bill, all of which was off the books to make the Bush Administration look less reckless. The fact is spending has been out of control for the last 8 years, so this budget by Obama is nothing unprecedented if you view it in the context of spending versus GDP.

In 1993, despite hearing the same apocalyptic arguments we are hearing now, President Clinton signed the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. Part of this bill increased the taxes of the top 1.4% of Americans from 35% to 39.6%. Did this cause the economy to collapse? No. Did “small business” in American disappear? No. Well then, if the four horsemen didn’t appear as soon as Bubba picked up his pen, what happened? The largest economic expansion in American history, during his presidency, Bill Clinton with the help of Keynesian economic theory created 23 million new jobs, leading to a large budget surplus. Lots of these jobs, were so-called small businesses that not only survived the devastating 4.6% tax increase, but flourished. This is in direct confrontation with the rights assertion that any tax increases whatsoever on the people with the most money, the people not in danger of losing their homes, the people who can afford to have that surgery on their broken shoulder (yes, my shoulder is broken), is tantamount to economic suicide. It’s just not the case. Indeed, when Clinton took office, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was right around 3200. Eight years later, the average was a whopping 10,700. All of this was done under the tax rates that President Obama is suggesting we return to.

Overall I would say, we can’t just sit and do nothing. To trust the market to deliver us from a problem that market created is frankly ridiculous. Obama’s plan of action is exactly what he ran on, and what the American people chose in November, so until the right offers better ideas to solve this crisis then just tax cuts for the wealthy, President Obama will continue to enjoy public support for his agenda.