Odd, Liberal Policy Makes the Deficit Smaller

Oh, and the economy bigger...

I only selected the most liberal positions [available] and got a huge boost in the economy and a budget surplus in 3 years.  Weird.  Hell, even if I keep the defense spending where it is I get surpluses. 

Yes, there are conservative positions in there too, but they don't boost the economy or cut the deficit by as much, and they hurt the poor while benefiting the rich (including defense contractors).

Note: letting all the Bush tax cuts expire--though keeping the wage tax cut and all the stimulus spending, incl. tax cuts--has a large effect.  I also got rid of all the allowed tax deductions, raised the gas tax, implemented carbon tax, added a public option, sped up the health care excise tax, and raised the SS taxes as much as it allowed.  I ignored the 15% tax expenditure thing, mostly because I ended the other deductions, and want to encourage the rich to donate to charity at higher levels.

On the other hand, if you select all the conservative options, the economy recovers more slowly, and you are still running deficits at the end of the timeline (2021). 

The biggest "conservative" item is probably the VAT, which is only conservative, in that it is a regressive tax.  Some liberals kind of like VATs because they are more behind the scenes and people have notions (delusions) that they can be increased and made more progressive more simply than income taxes.  Without the VAT, however, the "conservative" options lead to higher deficits than current law (which is something that all smart people already know).