Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
There is no debt ceiling, it is only smoke and mirrors. I too am betting on another worldwide crash and temporary dollar strenghtening before hyperinflation takes out the dollar for good. There is a lot of leverage still out there and the commercial real estate crash should put some deflationary pressures on things like real estate. If not for the worthless elite we would never have been put in this position.
We were the ones who allowed it to happen, but letting short term "security" take precedence over liberty. Consequently, we have less freedom and less security.
And that is likely to continue unless Americans get over this Democrat/Republican split and start admitting that the spending is out of control on both sides of the aisle.
Obama is spending money to try and fix the economy, where as Bush borrowed money to go play GI Joe across the world. This is not a Democrat/Republican issue, its an issue of reality. Obama's job is much harder both politically and economically because of how badly Bush managed things.
The easiest way to reduce spending in the US? Cut the military budget.
In terms of health care, saying "We ought to..." does not say much. How does one transform the current system into a system that has over all lower costs? This is the question and both sides have an idea about how that should be done. Your characterization of Obama's plan is just typical partisanship, despite trying to pretend to be non-partisan.
So I see that commenters on this piece want to know why I’m blaming Obama’s deficits on Bush, and why I think Obama deficits are good, while Bush deficits weren’t.
So, in order:
First of all, I wasn’t blaming Bush for future deficits: I was blaming him for debt — debt that was incurred on Bush’s watch. If you don’t think that’s fair, let me echo Barney Frank and ask on what planet you spend most of your time.
Second, now that you mention it, surely much of the current deficit can be attributed to the previous administration’s policies. I mean, we’re all of seven months into the Obama administration; nearly all federal spending, all federal taxes, are dictated by laws that were in effect before Obama took office. Both Bush and before him Reagan spent years blaming all their problems on the failures of their predecessors; I think we can give Obama a few months.
Finally, about the stimulative effects of deficits: as I’ve explained a number of times, it’s the zero bound that makes all the difference. There was a case for temporary fiscal stimulus in 2002, when the economy was close to the zero bound, but most of the Bush tax cuts took effect during a period in which interest rates were well above zero, in fact during which the Fed was raising rates to keep the economy from overheating. This means that fiscal expansion wasn’t needed. Now, by contrast, we’re hard up against zero and have run out of monetary ammunition.
I don’t know if this helps, or whether I’m just (Barney Frank) arguing with a dining room table (/Barney Frank). But anyway, that’s the underlying logic.
As for me, I agree the debt is not good, but I am pretty tired of Republicans who now are just now concerned with costs, when Bush went wild with spending. It is an argument that is convenient to use to prevent health care reform, when in reality, if you consider the benefits of a healthy population who will no longer have to spend their life savings to save their life and businesses who no longer shoulder the burden of premiums rising 3x faster than incomes, well, reform kinda sells itself.
Obama is spending money to try and fix the economy, where as Bush borrowed money to go play GI Joe across the world. This is not a Democrat/Republican issue, its an issue of reality. Obama's job is much harder both politically and economically because of how badly Bush managed things.
The easiest way to reduce spending in the US? Cut the military budget.
In terms of health care, saying "We ought to..." does not say much. How does one transform the current system into a system that has over all lower costs? This is the question and both sides have an idea about how that should be done. Your characterization of Obama's plan is just typical partisanship, despite trying to pretend to be non-partisan.
the reality is that obama INCREASED Bush-era defense spending by $21 billion in the new fiscal year( Olbermann)
the easiest way to reduce spending in the US? stop spending on illegal immigrant benefits. that would not hurt one working american!
the reality is that obama INCREASED Bush-era defense spending by $21 billion in the new fiscal year( Olbermann)
In inflation adjusted terms that is not really an increase, but I never suggested that Obama cut military spending so what is your point?
Quote:
Originally Posted by floridasandy
the easiest way to reduce spending in the US? stop spending on illegal immigrant benefits. that would not hurt one working american!
Why are some people so fixated on this issue? Most of this spending is state level and hence cutting it will do nothing for the federal budget. Furthermore, its small fish. You could cut any sort of support to illegal immigrants in California and it would not even touch the state deficit.
illegal immigrants cost taxpayers on both the federal and state levels. here is an estimate of how much it would cost if they were incorporated into the "new" national health care plan: Op-Ed - TheHill.com
also, illegal immigrants pull money out of the country to send back to their home countries, taking that money out of america and funneling it into other countries, while using the US taxpayer to support their efforts!
The only way to fix things would be to cut the web of corruption that links the elite to suck the life out of the productive economy. You would have to have a mass burning of every law created from the days of the Constitution and the ousting of 99% of all legislatures. Who can guarantee that the new representatives would be any better? The Constitution would have to be restored and all new laws written in plain American English and tested through the Constitution. The national debt would have to be erased after all military operations were returned to the US. In order to survive the onslaught by the parasites like the Rothchilds, etc a massive re-education of the American public about how they were robbed and duped into being slaves and the meaning of being free would be needed. A new energy structure would have to be in place. Then tell the world we refuse to pay any more of the national debt and let them try and force us to do otherwise. A worldwide cascade of economic crashes would result thus resetting the system. If a way could be found for the world's disenfranchised to target the elite through boycotts, sabotage and in some cases assasination the hold could be broken. However, since 90% of the world's people are sheep, this is never going to happen.
illegal immigrants cost taxpayers on both the federal and state levels. here is an estimate of how much it would cost if they were incorporated into the "new" national health care plan: Op-Ed - TheHill.com
Yawn, this has nothing to do with how much is currently spent on them. Furthermore, nobody is suggesting that the government provide free health insurance to illegal immigrants.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
A thought re: deficit
