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Deficits Don't Matter
| Article
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10808 |
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Section : |
MODERN THOUGHT
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| Issue
Date : |
3 / 1993 |
7,813 Words |
| Author
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Arthur Laffer
Arthur B. Laffer, an economic adviser to President Reagan and
the inventor of the "Laffer curve," is chairman of A.B.
Laffer, V.A. Canto and Associates, a financial consulting firm
in La Jolla, California. |
Lee Atwater, who managed George Bush's 1988 presidential campaign, told me how delighted he was when the Democrats went into orbit over the Republican vice presidential candidate, Dan Quayle. When I asked why he was so delighted at the unfounded hostilities the Democrats were heaping on Dan Quayle, he said, "Why Arthur, they're chasing the wrong rabbit." Making an issue of Dan Quayle guaranteed that the Bush/Quayle ticket would win. The opponents of the Bush/Quayle ticket were diverting their energies away from attacking Bush who was, after all, the presidential candidate. It allowed Lee to have a wide-open field to savage Michael Dukakis. Well, since then, Atwater died from a brain tumor, and Bush got in deep voodoo. But we're all still chasing the wrong rabbit. And believe me when I tell you that the budget deficit is the wrong rabbit.
At a December 1, 1988, conference in New York, Atwater said: "In the U.S. political process the winner takes all. Winning the presidency is the mandate, and the mandate was clear: no new taxes and a strong defense. As long as President Bush communicates with the people and talks common sense he will be fine. If the economy deteriorates, Bush will have a problem. Interest rates, inflation, trade and unemployment are the only issues voters understand. Protectionism and the deficit are too abstract for voters and will only become issues if they can be tied to the big four."
Lee Atwater also said: "As long as the Republicans have the South, they are in good shape. The Democrats cannot carry the South unless they have a southerner at the top of the ticket."
At that same conference, Michael Boskin said: "I expect the budget to meet the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings target. I do not favor a tax increase, as there is no guarantee a tax increase would go toward reducing the deficit. I am cautiously optimistic and expect government spending to increase by about 4.5 percent. To deal with the budget deficit, we have to enact spending controls. I believe in a supermajority for spending appropriations and in tying together spending and revenue measures."
And if you go chasing rabbits
You're looking for a fall
Tell'em a hookah-smoking caterpillar
Has given you the call
Go ask Alice
When she was just small.
--"White Rabbit"
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