And so, we get simultaneous cries of “Don't you dare cut my Medicare!” and “Don't you dare tax me one more penny!” It gets worse at the state level, particularly in states like California with robust/ridiculous initiative mechanisms. Via initiatives, Californians are perpetually adding to the number of services the government provides (and earmarking certain percentages of state revenue for various government functions), yet they continue to elect enough Republicans to consistently reject tax hikes to pay for all these mandates. (The two-thirds legislative majority required for any tax increase was instituted by the Mother Of All Idiotic Initiatives, Prop 13 in 1979.)

So, Republicans since Reagan have pandered to the low-tax crowd while acquiescing to (or, in the case of Medicare Part B, leading) spending increases. Meanwhile, Democrats since FDR have pandered to the people's instinct that government should do more (or, at least, continue to function), but acquiesce to the anti-tax anti-realists.

Add a couple wars and a couple bailouts to that scenario, and you arrive where we are now.

And so, we get simultaneous cries of “Don't you dare cut my Medicare!” and “Don't you dare tax me one more penny!” It gets worse at the state level, particularly in states like California with robust/ridiculous initiative mechanisms. Via initiatives, Californians are perpetually adding to the number of services the government provides (and earmarking certain percentages of state revenue for various government functions), yet they continue to elect enough Republicans to consistently reject tax hikes to pay for all these mandates. (The two-thirds legislative majority required for any tax increase was instituted by the Mother Of All Idiotic Initiatives, Prop 13 in 1979.)

So, Republicans since Reagan have pandered to the low-tax crowd while acquiescing to (or, in the case of Medicare Part B, leading) spending increases. Meanwhile, Democrats since FDR have pandered to the people's instinct that government should do more (or, at least, continue to function), but acquiesce to the anti-tax anti-realists.

Add a couple wars and a couple bailouts to that scenario, and you arrive where we are now.

And so, we get simultaneous cries of “Don't you dare cut my Medicare!” and “Don't you dare tax me one more penny!” It gets worse at the state level, particularly in states like California with robust/ridiculous initiative mechanisms. Via initiatives, Californians are perpetually adding to the number of services the government provides (and earmarking certain percentages of state revenue for various government functions), yet they continue to elect enough Republicans to consistently reject tax hikes to pay for all these mandates. (The two-thirds legislative majority required for any tax increase was instituted by the Mother Of All Idiotic Initiatives, Prop 13 in 1979.)

So, Republicans since Reagan have pandered to the low-tax crowd while acquiescing to (or, in the case of Medicare Part B, leading) spending increases. Meanwhile, Democrats since FDR have pandered to the people's instinct that government should do more (or, at least, continue to function), but acquiesce to the anti-tax anti-realists.

Add a couple wars and a couple bailouts to that scenario, and you arrive where we are now.

I was thinking more from the perspective of the luxury retailer. Before recessions, they say things like “our customers will always have money”, when really, a lot of their customers are pretending they have money. I'm sorry I didn't make that clearer.

But you cannot blame Obama for the deficit unless you are willing to blame Bush, too. That's my ground rule. It really pisses me off that so many people were hunky-dory about the deficit until Obama took office.

The stimulus pakage(s) are not bringing us out of this as more jobs continue to be lost, and the new administration is piling the deficit on at record levels. The #'s are staggering and beyond comprehension.

And to say “Some high-end customers never were rich; they were spending money they did not have, possibly borrowed against their houses.” C'mon, let's be honest. It isn't only 'high-end' people in America who are spending more than they can afford. Most of the middle class does as well. My neighborhood is still full of people who make 50 or 60k a year and who drive a 45k SUV. That's idiocy (on multiple levels), and they're in interminable debt. But they want everything, and they want it now. They're Americans and they need to keep up….