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Sure the debt was higher as a percentage of GDP after WW II but these are different times. This isn't exactly a world that was decimated after the war. In these times the rest of the planet is growing exponentially and there's a race for resources which at the current rate of expansion will quickly be used entirely up.
It's simply not apples to apples to compare these times with times of the past. It doesn't even make sense to. This is effectively tie-down-the-hatch time. Position yourself, your family and your country for tough times. It would be a tragedy when things finally equalize out for you, your family and your country to be in debt up to your eyeballs compared to the rest of the world. The "west" is essentially trying to keep the party going with debt but the lights are out, the music has stopped and the beer is out. Americans still seem to be dancing around and shaking their booties even in the face of all that.
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Sure the debt was higher as a percentage of GDP after WW II but these are different times. This isn't exactly a world that was decimated after the war. In these times the rest of the planet is growing exponentially and there's a race for resources which at the current rate of expansion will quickly be used entirely up.
It's simply not apples to apples to compare these times with times of the past. It doesn't even make sense to. This is effectively tie-down-the-hatch time. Position yourself, your family and your country for tough times. It would be a tragedy when things finally equalize out for you, your family and your country to be in debt up to your eyeballs compared to the rest of the world. The "west" is essentially trying to keep the party going with debt but the lights are out, the music has stopped and the beer is out. Americans still seem to be dancing around and shaking their booties even in the face of all that.
I fully recognize that this is NOT 1945 and the world IS a different place - this is a big part of the reason that we've not bounced back from the recession the way we have in the past. However, it's NOT the end of the world either and we WILL get through this - and in fact we're already one our way - with the economy slowly bouncing back, the UE rate slowly dropping and even housing coming back - all of which will go a longggg way towards the initial goal of stopping the rise of the deficit. The fact is however, that to meaningfully reduce it, our tax rates are just plain tooooooo low - especially on the upper classes (ridiculously so in fact by historical terms). All of these things WILL be dealt with and we'll get through it. The US will NOT collapse, the dollar will NOT disappear and we will NOT default on the debt.
I fully recognize that this is NOT 1945 and the world IS a different place - this is a big part of the reason that we've not bounced back from the recession the way we have in the past. However, it's NOT the end of the world either and we WILL get through this - and in fact we're already one our way - with the economy slowly bouncing back, the UE rate slowly dropping and even housing coming back - all of which will go a longggg way towards the initial goal of stopping the rise of the deficit. The fact is however, that to meaningfully reduce it, our tax rates are just plain tooooooo low - especially on the upper classes (ridiculously so in fact by historical terms). All of these things WILL be dealt with and we'll get through it. The US will NOT collapse, the dollar will NOT disappear and we will NOT default on the debt.
Ken
I'm not claiming any of that in the latter part of your post, just for the record.
Why? We have a debt mainly because of the Bush tax-cuts. So, to fix the debt we need to raise the SSA age and Medicare age, an act that raises only bout $30 billion a year and costs seniors $2 for each government dollar saved?
Besides, overall life expectancy is rising but the people who really depend on Social Security, those in the bottom half of the distribution, aren’t living much longer. So you’re going to tell janitors to work until they’re 70 because lawyers are living longer than ever.
I think all one has to remmeber is who cretaed this cliff. Both parties with Obama signing off o it. They can then balme each toehr for not legislating a fix to the deficit problem. From everythig I see neither has a plann to really address the deficit probelm so it does continue down the road.
This should defeat Obama's plot...and its time the left start making some common sense demands on cutting spending with their go to talent, lots of noise.
Last edited by stargazzer; 12-08-2012 at 09:13 PM..
this is crazy talk! just a week ago, the 70 "T-party" GOP reps were gleefully threatening to take us all -- conservative and liberal americans alike -- over the fiscal cliff. they were doing a dance. now, the insider gop can't reign in these cowboys in their own party, so they're hitting the airwaves & talking-head shows to SPIN this thing so that THEY aren't the ones excitedly trying to precipitate financial armageddon... it's the PRESIDENT!!! what do these "chuckleheads" (their own word that they used recently to describe these 70 nitwits) think the people of this country are?... stupid? not listening to the news? not able to remember what they said just last week?... YES! and they're tragically correct, as many of the comments above indicate. as a liberal, all i can say is that obama has bent over and taken it up where the sun don't shine one time too many for my tastes. compromise? how 'bout total capitulation... and the gop still isn't satisfied. what a bunch of sore losers... and boneheads who don't seem to understand that a majority of this country's citizenry thinks they are a corrupt bunch of syncophants to Wall Street & the BIG global money behind it!
Last edited by julie_jj57; 12-26-2012 at 07:53 AM..
Reason: misspelling
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