One year after the passage of the Recovery Act, the Obama administration continues to come under fire from Republicans over the size of the deficit. The administration’s propensity for spending, these critics argue, are behind the eye-popping deficits we see today. But as the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities makes clear in a new report, that is simply not true. Analyzing debt projections based on Congressional Budget Office estimates, the report found that the recession that began in 2008 battered the budget by driving down tax revenues and forcing an increase in government spending programs. In the near-term, the Obama administration contributed to the deficit with its financial rescues and stimulus plan, which economists agree saved the country from plunging into a deeper recession. But the effects of those programs pale in comparison to the long-term harm done by the Bush tax cuts and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the CBPP.
