Democrats want you to think that the answer to the problem is increasing the tax rate on wealthy Americans. Well if they are referring to ending the Bush era tax cuts then yes it would help lower the deficit. The reason is because the Bush tax cuts are not just for the wealthy but for everyone.
Republicans want to argue that raising taxes would be a job killer. Despite these tax cuts being in effect jobs have been lost every year at a steady rate since 2006. Just think about this when has any of you been let go from a job and the companies reasoning was related to a tax increase.
The last time the federal deficit was in order the president and congress at the time raised taxes and cut spending. Neither party wants to do both and can't agree on one or the other. They are pandering to their special interest and fighting to impress donors for the 2012 election cycle. The reason they throw the economy and unemployment in this mix is because that is what relates to the average voter.
Here is the truth, the economy will eventually get better but we don't when that will be. Roosevelt had World War II to get him out of the depression and Clinton had the boom of the internet to propel his economics. Obama currently has nothing on the horizon and due to failed policies of previous years and selling out various special interest groups we don't have anything.
It is Not as Bad as You Think
I know its tough out there right now but it is not as bad as you think. We are not in danger of a 1930's great depression with people standing outside in soup lines. It is a slow process but the economy is actually getting better. The economy moves in cycles and it goes up and down. It today's super connected world with 24 cable news networks and constant internet news coming in it makes things seem worse than it may really be sometimes.The unemployment rate has actually dropped from its high in 2009 of 10.1% to the current 9.2%. When President Obama took office in January of 2009 Dow industrial average was at around 8077 where today it is at 12,446. Which means the value of stocks are going up which usually means that companies are making money.
News organizations and politicians like to manipulate how you feel about these subjects to push their agenda. What you have to do is decipher the real from the fake and evaluate the information for yourself.