Brad Delong is furious:
Their reference to "near-record levels" of the deficit doesn't give a full and fair account of the magnitude of what can only be called a clown show. The headline deficit number ought to be $738 billion--we have a $331 billion Social Security surplus for 2009, and an honest and honorable administration would be using that surplus to pay down the government debt in order to get ready for the challenges that our aging population will pose for the federal budget over the next two generations. The headline number shouldn't be 2.7% of GDP; it should be 4.8% of GDP. That is how far Bush fiscal policy is from what a prudent and responsible fiscal policy should be.
Lawrence Kudlow wants to know what Romney and McCain plan to do:
What will McCain and Romney do? They both want to expand the defense budget and the size of the military services, as they should, to strengthen our national security in the war on terror. But of course this costs money. Big money. President Reagan argued successfully in the 1980s that low tax rates reignite economic growth growth that was absolutely essential to generate the resources necessary for a strong national-security posture.
My question is whether McCain and Romney will adopt the Reagan approach, or will they see higher tax rates as a tradeoff to a stronger military à la Eisenhower?
Ah, Eisenhower. Now there was a conservative.