The Case for Fiscal Conservatism

The timing on this one is strangely coincidental, considering the Obsidian Wings post last night.

It turns out David Leonhardt at the New York Times has offered a detailed analysis of CBO budget data going back to the Bill Clinton-ear surpluses, "For U.S., a Sea of Perilous Red Ink, Years in the Making":

Interestingly, pinning blame for the deficits on Repuplicans actually helps Republicans. Conservatives in 2012 will be running against both the Bush legacy of government expansionism and the Obama disaster of Democratic big-handout liberalism.

The U.S. has monumental economic, fiscal, and social issues to address. Democrats and netroots leftists spin the data on the budget and Social Security as if it's all a Republican problem, that it's all the GOP's fault. But America's unsustainable economic commitments are bipartisan. We're going to need a presidential candidate committed to restoring the founding vision of real fiscal federalism in the United States. Anything else will be a harbinger for national collapse. Think California on a national scale.

Graphic Credit: New York Times.