TightWind is written by Kyle Baxter. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Kevin Drum’s “simple truth”:

But hey — sometimes the truth hurts. And all Obama did was speak the simple truth. In the past decade, Republicans slashed taxes, started two wars, approved a big unfunded entitlement, and presided over an economic collapse that cratered tax revenues and required massive government spending to counteract. That’s pretty much 100% of our existing deficit problem right there. All we’re doing now is trying to clean up the mess the GOP has left us.

And sometimes what someone calls “the truth” is actually a bunch of lies. Or, if I’m generous, a surprising misunderstanding of what’s going on for someone who should know better.

According to Drum’s glossing of what’s caused our fiscal deficit and debt, it’s due to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, a new Medicare prescription drug program spearheaded by Republicans and loved by Democrats, and Bush’s tax cuts. In other words, the Republicans caused the mess, and if we just solve these issues, we’re golden.

One problem. Well, two; first, Democrats fully supported the Afghan war he’s now blaming, and Democrats want to make permanent the vast majority—3.1 trillion of 3.8 trillion total dollars—of the Bush tax cuts they so love to deride. So there’s a lot more responsibility to go around than Drum (and the President) would like to admit, but that’s not really the point.

The biggest problem is that, mid to long-term, our problem isn’t what Drum’s listed. Our problem is that entitlement spending, e.g. Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security, are out of control. That’s what needs fixed.

Drum is focusing on the present so he can pass blame on the other guys. That’s a fun game, maybe, but incredibly irresponsible.