President Obama’s recent budget proposal has been a frequent target of rhetoric during the recent GOP debates. Not only do the plans of Romney, Gingrich, and Santorum raise the debt, they do it even more so than Obama’s budget proposal – this is according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.  All three of these candidates would continue the Bush Tax Cuts for the wealthy, while Obama has stated that he wishes to restore those tax rates to 1990s levels.

Also, over the next ten years, in typical neo-con fashion, their tax cuts outweigh the spending cuts. This stems from the line of thinking that tax cuts will boost economic growth, or “supply side economics”. Unfortunately, many have claimed that this theory is flawed.

Each tax proposal’s debt to GDP % over the next decade:

• President Obama:     80%
• Newt Gingrich:     114%
• Rick Santorum:     104%
• Mitt Romney:     85-96% (varies)
• Ron Paul:     76%

This is evidence of just how hard it will be to reduce the deficit over the next ten years – especially with the predicted increase in Medicare costs in the future. It also undermines the GOP candidates’ criticisms of President Obama’s budget.