Would, Coulda, Shoulda Fiscal Policy

(Click image to enlarge)
TW: One challenge facing us in the current crisis is that the fiscal deficit was high prior to the Great Recession of '08-'09. From the graph one can see how the deficit had been brought under control in the 90's (thank u Bill, no thx to u Republicans). But W. Bush's tax cuts combined with his ubiquitous war on terror in particular Iraq ballooned the deficit so that when the credit crisis arose we are headed to trillion plus deficits. It did not have to be this way.