The part you missed is 1) spending cuts are obvious 2) we are in a permanent state of shit based on to much government spending 3) bankrupcies are not the end of the world 4) it's time to bankrupt the failures (including failed government programs) and move on. Your fear of worsening the economic downturn by suddenly using common sense on spending is FUD.Your argument is incomplete without talking about how the government is able to lower taxes.
Taxes are by definition the cost part of the equation. I am not aware of anyone that is arguing otherwise but you seem to think pointing this out is somehow important.
What you seem intent on ignoring is whether or not you are advocating for shifting the cost away from taxation to debt or you are suggesting that we simply cut spending. Without considering those things you really don't establish whether the economy would grow or not.
In the case of debt spending I think there are a fair number of economists that would agree that debt spending during a down period is a good idea. They may not all agree that tax cuts are the best choice but your argument doesn't logically preclude that option.
In the case of spending cuts there is rather clear evidence that spending cuts during a down period hurt economic growth. In the long term and with regards to spending cuts in good times the result depends on the spending in question.
If there is some other option I missed then talk about it.
Government spending cuts will hurt the economy in the short run. Especially during a recession. Austerity has only slowed our current recovery.
Depending on what is cut it may or may not hurt the economy in the long run. I think there is plenty of reason to believe we can cut defense spending for example. The military certainly thinks so.
The argument presented did not specify any position on spending cuts. I am not aware of anyone advocating specific spending cuts. Probably because it is easier to blindly assume that the cut makes sense than being specific.
Make up your mind, are we in recovery or recession. You can't have both.
Yes we could cancel the wars on fear uncertainty and dbout and non-prescription drugs and save a ton of money.
How can you "not be aware of anyone advocating specific spending cuts?" Maybe if you pull your head out of the sand?