| Index | Recent Threads | Unanswered Threads | Who's Active | Guidelines | Search |
 |
World Community Grid Forums
Category: Community
Forum: Chat Room
Thread: The US budget debate: why a little knowledge is worse than none |
| No member browsing this thread |
|
Thread Status: Active Total posts in this thread: 33
|
|
| Author |
|
|
SuperMecha
Cruncher Joined: Apr 25, 2011 Post Count: 12 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
|
@nanoprobe
Austerity in the short term is not the solution. Look at Europe versus the US, many European countries that implemented austerity measures are now in recession while the US is not. Also Obama has not massively increased spending; he inherited a trillion dollar deficit from Bush who inherited a budget surplus. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-cesca/repea...-obama-cut_b_1955561.html |
||
|
|
nanoprobe
Master Cruncher Classified Joined: Aug 29, 2008 Post Count: 2998 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
|
Austerity in the short term is not the solution. Look at Europe versus the US, many European countries that implemented austerity measures are now in recession while the US is not. European countries form of government is vastly different than ours so it's not really a good comparison. All you have to do is look at Europe to see where we're headed. Also Obama has not massively increased spending; Really? 6 trillion in new debt in 5 years is not a massive increase? WOW. Our debt will go from $10,000,000,000,000 (<-- that's what 10 trillion looks like) to an estimated 20+ trillion before Obama gets done and that's not a massive increase? It took 43 presidents to get to 10 trillion in debt and only 1 president to double it and your OK with that? *leaves shaking head* Huffnpuff post? You really think that uber liberal rag has any credibility? Too funny. We may have a deficit of less than 1 trillion this year. Sounds like party time to me.
In 1969 I took an oath to defend and protect the U S Constitution against all enemies, both foreign and Domestic. There was no expiration date.
  |
||
|
|
twilyth
Master Cruncher US Joined: Mar 30, 2007 Post Count: 2130 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
|
I think everybody realized that HuffPo has a liberal bias, but they are at least credible which is more than I can say for that Phoenix Center. They try to look like a peer review journal when they're a complete sham.
----------------------------------------So the moral here is that it's important to pay attention to one's sources. If you look at the sources in the HuffPo article for example, this chart  is from a comment piece in in Marketwatch which in turn claims to get the numbers from the OMB and CBO - as in Office of Mngmt and Budget and the Congressional Budget Office - both of which are regarded as reliable and non-partisan.   |
||
|
|
nanoprobe
Master Cruncher Classified Joined: Aug 29, 2008 Post Count: 2998 Status: Offline Project Badges:
|
We could debate this forever. In the end one of us will be right, the other wrong. If you're right, and the government can find a way to repay 20 trillion in debt we're golden. If I'm right, things will probably get very ugly. Only time will tell. If we're both still around in 2016 maybe we can revisit this. Over and out.
----------------------------------------
In 1969 I took an oath to defend and protect the U S Constitution against all enemies, both foreign and Domestic. There was no expiration date.
|
||
|
|
twilyth
Master Cruncher US Joined: Mar 30, 2007 Post Count: 2130 Status: Offline Project Badges:
|
This was never about being right or wrong my friend. THAT was the one and only point that I REALLY wanted to make here. Things are far too complex too ever boil it down to the point where you could call a *cough*"wiener"*cough* or loser unless you did it with a big helping of subjectivity like judging a boxing match.
----------------------------------------I think it's much, much, much more important to look very carefully at EXACTLY what is being said, in detail, by whom and what data they have to back it up than worry about who deserves more blame. That's a distraction. Bread and circuses . If they're keeping you entertained and distracted, then it will just be business as usual. |
||
|
|
Movieman
Veteran Cruncher Joined: Sep 9, 2006 Post Count: 1042 Status: Offline |
In a word, not even close, or rather: no. If you really think things are that simple, I'm not even sure where to start. Well I've found over my 61 years is that things that appear to be complicated many times aren't. Are there many,many issues involved with this? Yes. Will what I suggested help solve the problem? Yes Will either party do what I suggest? No and therein lies the problem. This is in no way any different than you or I overspending our income only it's on a huge scale. To see it as nything else says to me a desire not to solve the problem. Will there be repercussions? Most assuredly both short term and long term but to continue to pay 42 cents on every dollar the USA brings in just to pay the interest on the national debt to me is insane. You bite the bullet now, live on a tight budget nationally until this debt is paid off and then you have the "whole buck" and not just 58 cents of it to use for this country.. yea, it's tough love but the alternative is having the USA wind up looking like Greece. Not quite that bad because of our huge GDP but on the same idea.. Again, to me this is simple math and the cure is also simple, spend less than you take in and toss say 10% per year towards that outstanding debt..  |
||
|
|
SuperMecha
Cruncher Joined: Apr 25, 2011 Post Count: 12 Status: Offline Project Badges:
|
I don't think a Greece style outcome is possible for the US because the US has control over its currency unlike Greece. Look at Japan, their debt to GDP ratio has been over 100% for over a decade and is currently over 200%, twice that of the US. Moreover Japan's economic growth is anemic, the population is aging and declining, 6 prime ministers in 5 years, yet their economy hasn't collapsed. I'm not saying that such enormous debts are sustainable but thinking that the US will turn into Greece in 3 years time is untrue.
Long term plans to reduce the debt need to be put worked out but implementing austerity too rapidly will reduce economic growth and reduce tax revenues and increase deficits. This happened/is happening to the UK, which lead to their credit rating being downgraded. |
||
|
|
nanoprobe
Master Cruncher Classified Joined: Aug 29, 2008 Post Count: 2998 Status: Offline Project Badges:
|
----------------------------------------
In 1969 I took an oath to defend and protect the U S Constitution against all enemies, both foreign and Domestic. There was no expiration date.
|
||
|
|
nanoprobe
Master Cruncher Classified Joined: Aug 29, 2008 Post Count: 2998 Status: Offline Project Badges:
|
More good news.
----------------------------------------http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-01/cons...s-taxes-hurt-incomes.html Consumer spending in the U.S. rose in January even as incomes dropped by the most in 20 years, showing households were weathering the payroll-tax increase by socking away less money in the bank. Welcome to Obama's America comrade.
In 1969 I took an oath to defend and protect the U S Constitution against all enemies, both foreign and Domestic. There was no expiration date.
|
||
|
|
Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
hyle bozz0
|
||
|
|
|