Death by Budget Cut: Why Conservatives and Some Dems Have Blood on Their Hands | | AlterNet

Death by Budget Cut: Why Conservatives and Some Dems Have Blood on Their Hands | | AlterNet

Politicians, the media and the power elite tell us that state and local government budget shortfalls are the result of lavish compensation packages paid to teachers, police officers and firefighters along with "entitlements" such as Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. The truth is that the economic crisis, sparked by decades of deregulation and greedy financial firms, caused high levels of unemployment that dramatically reduced state and local tax revenues. Add to that years of tax cuts for the wealthy and decades of corporate tax-dodging, and you've got yourself a budget crisis.