I don't entirely understand this point from former Bush strategist Pete Wehner in his critique of Obamaism:
On top of this almost $5 trillion figure we need to add the $250 billion the Obama administration has already signaled is likely to be needed for the second installment of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). More is sure to follow. Obama has also established a 10-year fund for health care which will cost more than $630 billion. Because of Obama's plans, we will need to borrow anywhere from $3 -- $4 trillion over the next three years and, based on the Congressional Budget Office's figures, the President will add around $9.3 trillion to our debt from 2009 to 2019. To put it another way: Obama will double the national debt in five years and nearly triple the national debt in ten years. And for good measure, the President wants to impose a tax increase of well over a trillion dollars over 10 years. [emphasis added.]
For good measure? I thought the point of the graf was that Obama is running up massive amounts of debt. Doesn't a trillion dollars in new revenue lower our debt burden?
(Via RCP.)
--Noam Scheiber