Is Bush's recovery worth it?

The economic news cycle experienced a bit of a change of pace last week. For once, it was good. The news was that our Gross Domestic Product (GDP -- the measure of economic output) grew by 7.4 percent in the third quarter of this year.\nThis growth was the largest of its kind since 1984 (you could just see the glee on the faces of the Fox News anchors as they pronounced that we hadn't seen such growth since Reagan was president) and it provided a needed piece of good news for the Bush administration.\nMany have explained this encouraging growth as a sign that President Bush's economic plan (tax cuts, in particular) is working. We've lost 2.6 million jobs during President Bush's tenure, but it seems that 7.4 percent makes it all better.\nIt sounds like a stretch to me. What's more, it probably sounds a little ridiculous to those 2.6 million jobless Americans -- until we start seeing more jobs, at least. But, for the purposes of this column, I'll agree with this assertion.\nLet's say that the president's tax cuts had everything to do with this record growth. What about that? Even if the tax cuts worked, would they be worth it?\nI don't think so.\nI say this even assuming that the jobless recovery becomes a jobs-a-plenty one. Jobs are important. But, jobs and economic growth could have been attained at a much lower cost and with much greater efficiency than by Mr. Bush's massive tax cuts for the rich.\nLet's talk debt. Presidential candidate Howard Dean has rightly called this administration the "credit card presidency." While President Bush has attempted to pull our economy out of the doldrums, he has done so with red ink. Red ink to the tune of $374 billion this year, according to the White House. Overall, our federal debt is more than $6 trillion (with a "t"), according to the Department of the Treasury. \nNow, $6 trillion (or, $370 billion, this year) is a very nice number, but what does it mean? It means that, in addition to your car payments and your Visa bill, the federal government has taken the liberty of shouldering you with a little more debt. If you divide the $374 billion that President Bush gave you last year by approximately 287 million Americans, it comes to about $1,300 for each of us -- plus interest.\nAt the same time, the President's tax cuts -- which went predominantly to the wealthy -- made him resist Democratic attempts to fully fund programs such as homeland security and education. The stimulus package, it seems, was costly in many ways.\nPutting all of this information into perspective, it is tough to argue that the tax cuts were worth it, even if they did cause this recent economic growth. There is no question that the multibillion dollar tax cuts lead to an increase in economic output, though no one can be sure how much. \nTo jobless Americans, however, 7.4 percent means little. Even if all of the jobs come back (and we can hope they will), the cost that President Bush has shouldered us with will forever weigh down our generation. Cutting taxes massively while not reducing spending at the same degree is a poisonous brew for the taxpayers of the future. We can only hope for a new president with an antidote.