Article • Dean Baker’s Beat the Press
Fact-based, data-driven research and analysis to advance democratic debate on vital issues shaping people’s lives.
Center for Economic and Policy Research
1611 Connecticut Ave. NW
Suite 400
Washington, DC 20009
Tel: 202-293-5380
Fax: 202-588-1356
https://cepr.net
The Post wrongly implied that the problem of a large national debt has been longstanding. It told readers that the Congressional supercommittee is trying to “break the impasse over taxes that has long blocked aggressive action to tame the national debt.”
Actually, the budget deficits prior to the downturn were relatively modest. The Congressional Budget Office actually projected that the deficit would turn to a surplus after the Bush tax cuts were scheduled to expire this year. The large deficits were caused by the downturn, not inadequate taxation or excessive spending.
The NYT made the same mistake earlier in the week. The budget reporters and editors at these paper should familiarize themselves with the official deficit projections so they do not continue to make this mistake.