W makes LBJ look like a fiscal conservative.

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Budget, Debt, and Deficits

So says Jim Cramer.

LBJ, to his credit, believed that there were limits to profligacy and that taxes had to be raised. Not President Bush. He's making Johnson look like a fiscal conservative, what with his insistence on waging a war in Iraq that's costing $177 million a day and rebuilding New Orleans by taking on a monstrous load of federal debt.

The article was simply too much fun for me not to join many others in linking to it.  According to Cramer, Wall Street is only just now realizing that W is part of the "no tax and still spend" branch of the Republican party.

For the longest time, because Bush is a Republican, we on Wall Street simply didn't believe that he could be a reckless spender. We knew only two paradigms: You either spent less and cut taxes or you spent more and raised taxes. Both courses at least presumed some sacrifice at some time. Not Bush's plan. He's gone on both the biggest spending binge and the lowest taxation course in U.S. history, which, alas, will produce gigantic liabilities down the road.

And Cramer even seems to be leaning toward the hard landing (or at least higher interest rates) camp.

But in a year or two or maybe less, I perceive that the government will throw a bond auction and nobody will show, including the Chinese, until rates shoot up dramatically.

We will see.  There is not yet much evidence that the US is having difficulties funding its deficits ... and some think the US consumer will give out before US external credit line runs dry. 

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Budget, Debt, and Deficits