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“It’s funny how heated the discussion over fiscal policy is when in reality we’re generally talking about whether the government should spend 22% or 18% of GDP. That’s a significant difference but the way people talk about it you’d think we’re debating between 10% and 90%.”
“You might be interested in these two charts. Here, you can see that government spending has risen to unprecedented levels:
“But the U.S. economy has never been so large, either. As a share of the economy, federal government spending isn’t unbelievably high right now:
Question: “The next president is going to catch a lot of blame for a tanked economy unable to support this level of debt.”
Timiraos: “Yes, if the current patterns hold, then the next president, especially if he or she serves a second term, could really face some tough choices. A big part of the problem? Demographics. The retirement of baby boomers means the U.S. is going to have fewer people working, and a greater share of the population relying on safety-net programs such as Social Security and Medicare.”
Also, the military industrial complex is very very expensive.
Stop waging war on the poor, they already live hard lives: people look down on them, they can't buy a house, they don't get good health care, they cannot get out of debt.
Stop waging war on the poor, they already live hard lives: people look down on them, they can't buy a house, they don't get good health care, they cannot get out of debt.
When I think poor, I think poverty, and when I consider just about any definition of poverty (Google it), I have a hard time linking the middle-class in America to those circumstances, so I'm just curious. What do you mean by "poor?"
2016 Federal poverty level income for a family of four is $24,300 for the year, about 15% of Americans at or below that level.
Is that what you mean when you say the middle-class is "becoming poor?"
Future Unfunded Liabilities? $101,000,000,000,000.00 and counting!
Interest on the national debt is at historical lows, we will either face a Japan-like situation of decades of ultra low interest rates and the corresponding effects OR a return to normal interest rates, which would spike the annual deficit back above $1,000,000,000,000.00 a year due to the increase in interest payments.
Should the national debt be a bigger story in the 2016 campaigns?
Future Unfunded Liabilities? $101,000,000,000,000.00 and counting!
Interest on the national debt is at historical lows, we will either face a Japan-like situation of decades of ultra low interest rates and the corresponding effects OR a return to normal interest rates, which would spike the annual deficit back above $1,000,000,000,000.00 a year due to the increase in interest payments.
Should the national debt be a bigger story in the 2016 campaigns?
It absolutely should be, but the American people have absolutely no reason to trust anything either party says. The last Republican POTUS Dubaya ran up the debt at absolutely an absolutely terrifying rate, adding $5 trillion to the total. Obama seems to have thought, "Ha! You ain't seen nothin yet America!" and proceeded to make George W look like an amateur by adding $9 trillion and counting.
The really big problem with debt and deficit spending is simple. It feels nice. One apt comparison is being in a nice warm shower and not wanting to get out. It feels nice. You don't want the nice feeling to stop. Human nature is to keep doing the thing that feels good. Deficit spending allows the federal government to deliver to the American people vastly more than the federal government can afford. That feels nice for them. It feels like a win-win. No need to raise taxes and you can make and deliver grandiose promises to the American people. The whole of America is addicted to debt and that'll only change when the American people start demanding a government that does less, not more.
It absolutely should be, but the American people have absolutely no reason to trust anything either party says. The last Republican POTUS Dubaya ran up the debt at absolutely an absolutely terrifying rate, adding $5 trillion to the total. Obama seems to have thought, "Ha! You ain't seen nothin yet America!" and proceeded to make George W look like an amateur by adding $9 trillion and counting.
The really big problem with debt and deficit spending is simple. It feels nice. One apt comparison is being in a nice warm shower and not wanting to get out. It feels nice. You don't want the nice feeling to stop. Human nature is to keep doing the thing that feels good. Deficit spending allows the federal government to deliver to the American people vastly more than the federal government can afford. That feels nice for them. It feels like a win-win. No need to raise taxes and you can make and deliver grandiose promises to the American people. The whole of America is addicted to debt and that'll only change when the American people start demanding a government that does less, not more.
All easy enough to agree with, and I don't know how we don't all get awfully tired and bored agreeing with the same thing year after year, decade after decade, but then we get a little deeper into the mix, and we are confronted with the details...
We could all enter a room together singing kumbaya in the name of cutting our expenses, lowering our debt, but then as we all sit down at the table to consider the specific "menu" of what we will keep "eating" vs what we won't, and the singing stops.
Nobody leaves the room until consensus is reached!
Given what I read in these threads, I don't think we would ever leave the room...
All easy enough to agree with, and I don't know how we don't all get awfully tired and bored agreeing with the same thing year after year, decade after decade, but then we get a little deeper into the mix, and we are confronted with the details...
We could all enter a room together singing kumbaya in the name of cutting our expenses, lowering our debt, but then as we all sit down at the table to consider the specific "menu" of what we will keep "eating" vs what we won't, and the singing stops.
Nobody leaves the room until consensus is reached!
Given what I read in these threads, I don't think we would ever leave the room...
Any wonder no one is happy with Congress?
IMHO, this is where the Libertarian Party is destined to become a much bigger player. It's quite likely that the USA will have to experience catastrophe before we get serious about debt and deficit. At that point, the Libertarians will be the folks saying, "I told you so!" It's pretty pathetic that we need our debt addiction to blow up in our face before we get serious, but that's the way the wind is blowing.
If you locked everyone in a room and forced them to balance the budget as well as pay down the debt, you're probably right. We'd never leave the room. Underlying problem: Cutting any funding to anything inevitably hurts somebody. As human beings, we tend to be selfish. We're all in favor of cutting spending as long as it doesn't affect us directly. But if it costs us our job? If a close friend or family member loses their job?
I think the first step is to back ourselves into a corner by passing a Balanced Budget Amendment. Roughly 75% of Americans want a BBA. It's really just a matter of getting the ball rolling. Congress will never do it. The good news is that you don't need Congress for the Amendment process. All you need is two-thirds of the states to call for it -- a method that has never actually been used but absolutely is specified in the Constitution. Once you've forced the issue by putting a BBA in place, the painful process of cutting spending can begin.
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1.3 TRILLION in lost revenue for American citizens
Devil in the details...
