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Economist Endorses Kerry, Reluctantly

Posted by michael on from the throw-caution-to-the-wind dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The Economist has picked John Kerry as its preferred presidential candidate, over George W. Bush. Though a British publication, the magazine points out that almost half of its readers are based in the U.S. The Economist leans right on trade issues and supported going to war in Iraq, but has been critical on Bush's policies on tax cuts and the deficit."

2 of 143 comments (clear)

  1. Re: Info by revscat · · Score: 3, Informative

    I blame the line item veto (the real reason the budget declined during the Clinton years), which was removed following the impeachment trial.

    The line item veto was never actually implemented. As soon as the bill was signed by Clinton it was challenged on constitutional grounds and kept from going into effect. The SCOTUS eventually ruled it unconstitutional, and the OMB afterwards announced that the 40 items that were line item vetoed would have their funds released.

    The budget deficit looked good because Clinton was a fiscally responsible president.

  2. Re: Info by lastninja · · Score: 4, Informative

    Increases in non-defense discretionary spending over the past six administrations:

    Nixon/Ford: 6.8% per year

    Carter: 2.0% per year

    Reagan: -1.3% per year

    Bush 1: 4.0% per year

    Clinton: 2.5% per year

    Bush Jr: 8.2% per year

    Source
    And here is a nice graph.

    --
    John Carmack fan, browsing at +5 since 1999.