We have currently gone from a budget surplus to the largest budget deficit ever, and this NewsHour report says it will get worse before it gets better. A down economy; increased spending in Iraq, and Afghanistan; as well as the Bush tax cuts have all helped to increase the deficit. In fairness the GDP is also up, so to just look at the absolute numbers is a little misleading, however in any case the numbers still are not good.

It will be interesting to see how this all plays in the 2004 elections, and how this will affect how we remember Pres. Bush. As it stands now his legacy may be: uncertainty in Iraq; intelligence reports that are anything but; a down economy and this huge deficit; oh and tax cuts.

Speaking of tax cuts: let me go on record as saying I think tax cuts are a bad idea. It is a gamble to say that if you give people extra money (tax-cuts) that they will go out and spend that money and in turn stimulate the economy. In this down economy I think everyone is just going to hang on to their tax-cuts, and you won’t see the kind of growth it was intended to created.