Where the Money Is
By Bob Herbert
A trillion here, a trillion there …
President-elect Barack Obama is warning us to expect trillion-dollar budget deficits “for years to come.”
The economy is in a precipitous downturn and no one, on the left or right, is advocating tax increases that would jeopardize a recovery.
In the meantime, we’re spending money as fast as we can: the Troubled Asset Relief Program ($700 billion and counting); Mr. Obama’s proposed stimulus program ($800 billion and counting); and important initiatives still to come, like an overhaul of the way we pay for health care.
China, which has purchased more than $1 trillion of American debt, is getting antsy. As Keith Bradsher of The Times has reported, the global downturn has prompted Beijing “to keep more of its money at home, a move that could have painful effects for U.S. borrowers.”
Mr. Obama has tried to assure the public that his administration will be as careful as possible with its monumental spending, promising to invest wisely and manage the expenditures well. And he has made it clear that he is aware of the minefields that accompany mammoth long-term deficits.
At some point, however, someone is going to have to talk about raising revenue. The dreaded T-word is going to come up: taxes.
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