On the recordFebruary 4, 2010
I recommend to my colleagues a Robert Robb column, published in the Arizona Republic, February 3, 2010. In it, Robb points to the massive deficits in President Obama's budget and argues that the administration has no grounds on which to pass the blame. He explains that the deficits President Obama recommends from 2011 on are entirely his own, driven by vast new spending, and that they are far higher than historical deficits. Robb writes that, even though President Obama's budget projects that the recession will be over by 2011, he proposes that Federal spending continue at nearly 24 percent of gross domestic product through 2020, far beyond the historical average of around 20.5 percent. He also points out an enormous increase in the debt as a share of GDP: After the World War II debt was reduced, accumulated federal debt never exceeded 50 percent of GDP until 2009, when it reached 53 percent. Under Obama's recommendations it would grow to 77 percent by 2020. Robb recommends returning spending to its historical average as a means of getting the deficit under control.
