Serious...
Humorous...
Serious...
Humorous...
Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire. ― Gustav Mahler
MisterVeritis (03-18-2018)
The debt is so depressing that I don't ever even want to think about it.
donttread (03-18-2018)
If the USD loses its reserve currency status, we will have a Greeek-style crash. We will be able to recover from it because our economy is so big and we can provide most of what we need on our own- but we will not be able to afford our current level of spending in the future- not by a long shot.
ΜOΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
donttread (03-18-2018),Kalkin (09-15-2017),MisterVeritis (09-14-2017)
Walter Williams, We're All to Blame
The largest threat to our prosperity is government spending that far exceeds the authority enumerated in Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution. Federal spending in 2017 will top $4 trillion. Social Security, at $1 trillion, will take up most of it. Medicare ($582 billion) and Medicaid ($404 billion) are the next-largest expenditures. Other federal social spending includes food stamps, unemployment compensation, child nutrition, child tax credits, supplemental security income and student loans, all of which total roughly $550 billion. Social spending by Congress consumes about two-thirds of the federal budget.
Where do you think Congress gets the resources for such spending? It's not the tooth fairy or Santa Claus. The only way Congress can give one American a dollar is to use threats, intimidation and coercion to confiscate that dollar from another American. Congress forcibly uses one American to serve the purposes of another American. We might ask ourselves: What standard of morality justifies the forcible use of one American to serve the purposes of another American? By the way, the forcible use of one person to serve the purposes of another is a fairly good working definition of slavery.
Today's Americans have little appreciation for how their values reflect a contempt for those of our Founding Fathers. You ask, "Williams, what do you mean by such a statement?" In 1794, Congress appropriated $15,000 to help French refugees who had fled from insurrection in Saint-Domingue (now Haiti). James Madison, the "Father of the Constitution," stood on the floor of the House to object, saying, "I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article in the federal Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents." Most federal spending today is on "objects of benevolence." Madison also said, "Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government."
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Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire. ― Gustav Mahler
MisterVeritis (03-18-2018)
Since college in the 80's I have railed against the debt. I think it's our number one national issue (yes, above transgender bathrooms). I think that it will have national security implications and ultimately lead to the economic enslavement of our future generations. I think that eventually we'll have to deal with it. I have called for a managed wind-down of the mandatory spending of the federal government to a manageable level for years. The point is -- it's going to happen, will it be planned or crashed? When the Tea Party was in its primacy the D's talked about debt reduction for a cup of coffee but once they got the MSM turned against the TP, that went out the window.
It is a repugnant disgrace that prior generations have placed this burden on our yet-to-be-conceived grandchildren. It is a disgrace that when serious people talk about getting the cost of government under control, they are ridiculed and marginalized by the politicians.
Any time you give a man something he doesn't earn, you cheapen him. Our kids earn what they get, and that includes respect. -- Woody Hayes
Chris (09-15-2017),Kalkin (09-15-2017),MisterVeritis (03-18-2018),Peter1469 (09-15-2017)
We won't lose our currency status. What else would the world use?
Most of our debt is owed to our own citizens. Countries always but our bonds when thing get shaky. They know our strength.What would they do? Cash them in and do what with the cash? Why, they'd buy our bonds back.
Granny says is `cause o' all dem politicians spendin' money like dey's no tomorrow...
National debt hits $21 trillion
March 16, 2018 - The national debt exceeded $21 trillion for the first time on Thursday, a little more than six months after it hit first $20 trillion on Sept. 8.
The national debt was $21.031 trillion on Thursday. The government releases total debt figures each business day, but it lags by one day. Federal borrowing has been on the rise again since February, when Congress passed legislation to suspend the debt ceiling. That move allowed the government to borrow as much as it needs to fund the activities approved by Congress.
Under the law passed in February, the government will not face any borrowing limit until March 1, 2019. At its current pace, the government is on track to add at least $1 trillion to the national debt by then. For example, the debt grew by more than half a trillion dollars in the six weeks since the debt ceiling was lifted on Feb. 9.
Federal borrowing has been on the rise again since February, when Congress passed legislation to suspend the debt
A large part of the national debt reflects the federal budget deficit, or the amount of spending above the revenues collected by the government. But the debt is rising faster than the amount of the budget deficit, as it also reflects things like federal lending for student loans and mortgage programs.
Peter G. Peterson Foundation President Michael Peterson said the milemarker is just the beginning, as Congress has just agreed to spend even more. "Our national debt reached a staggering $21 trillion today, having grown by $1 trillion in just the past six months," he said. "Worse yet, this unfortunate milestone has only just begun to include the effects of the recent fiscally irresponsible tax and spending legislation, which added more debt on top of an already unsustainable trajectory."
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/n...ts-21-trillion
If things don't change, by 2028 1 in 5 federal dollars will be paid to service the debt (interest).
ΜOΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
MisterVeritis (03-18-2018)
No organization worth it's salt spends more than it makes for 17 straight years. The federal government is a complete failure
DGUtley (03-18-2018),MisterVeritis (03-18-2018)
Rand Paul says...
Republicans, Democrats 'Joining Hands Together to Blow a Hole in the Debt'
March 23, 2018 | Some conservative Republicans, including Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), voted against the massive $1.3 trillion spending bill produced by Republicans and cheered by Democrats.
See also:But enough Senate Democrats and Republicans joined together to pass the bill early Friday morning. "It's Republicans and Democrats joining hands together to blow a hole in the debt," Sen. Paul told Fox News's Tucker Carlson on Thursday. "This could have been written by President Obama and liberal Democrats," Paul said. "When I ran in 2010, when we had that tea party tidal wave, we were opposed to President Obama's spending, and we were opposed to President Obama's trillion-dollar deficit. This bill will give us a trillion-dollar deficit this year."
Paul said passage of the $1.3 trillion bill explains why people are "so upset" with politics: "Because when the Republicans are out of power, they are the conservative party. But then when they get in the majority, there is no conservative party. Democrats don't care about spending any of the time. Republicans seem to care about it when they are criticizing Democrats, but now that Republicans are in charge Republicans are like Katie bar the door."
Paul said Democrats and Republicans have forged what he called an "unholy alliance." "Republicans are not fiscally conservative on the military. They want unlimited spending on the military. Democrats say, we'll give it to you. We're not really opposed to it. We'll give you the military spending if you give us the domestic spending. So really, the unholy alliance, the unholy compromise has been going on for decades is, we really have actually too much compromise in Washington. They're always compromising to raise spending and increase the debt."
Paul said Republicans should stand for balanced budgets, limited spending, less debt -- and reading the bills: "You know, I'm kind of old school," Paul said. "I think you ought to read the bills before you vote on them. This was a 2,200-page bill we got it last night at midnight. I have been working all day diligently through the bill and I'm up to page 600. But you know, I've still got quite a bit of ways to go to read the bill."
None of the lawmakers who voted for the bill or against it had time to read all the way through it. In the end, the bill that funds the government through Sept. 30 passed 65-32 in the Senate (23 Republicans, 8 Democrats and 1 independent voted no.) The bill passed 256-167 in the House. President Trump is expected to sign it today.
https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article...blow-hole-debt
Trump Defends $1.3T Spending Plan, Points to Military Gains
25 Mar 2018 -- President Donald Trump on Sunday defended his decision to sign a $1.3 trillion federal spending bill despite his misgivings, pointing to billions in new funding for the military and national security.
Trump said on Twitter from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida that because of the military funding, "many jobs are created and our Military is again rich." He said building his signature border wall "is all about National Defense." Since grudgingly signing the bill on Friday after threatening a veto, Trump has faced fierce criticism from conservatives who have accused him of caving in to congressional Democrats. The president said Friday at the White House he was "very disappointed" in the package, in part because it didn't fully pay for his border wall. But Trump said he had "no choice" because the nation needed to fund the military.
Trump sought $25 billion for his border wall, but the plan included much less -- $1.6 billion for building new sections of wall and replacing older sections. Trump tweeted Sunday that much can be done with the money and it's "just a down payment." He said the "rest of the money will come" and again reiterated that Democrats "abandoned" young immigrants seeking protections. Trump on Friday noted that the bill failed to extend protection from deportation to some 700,000 "Dreamer" immigrants due to lose coverage under a program the president himself has tried to eliminate.
Trump's veto threat had put him at odds with top members of his administration and Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan, who urged him to sign the bill. But prominent conservatives have criticized the massive spending plan, warning that it could add to the nation's debt. The president on Friday warned Congress that he would "never sign another bill like this again." He called for the Senate to overhaul its rules to allow for simple-majority votes on all bills, and urged Congress to provide him with a line-item veto power to kill specific spending items he disagrees with. The Supreme Court ruled in 1998 that a line-item veto was unconstitutional.
https://www.military.com/daily-news/...ary-gains.html
Last edited by waltky; 03-25-2018 at 11:33 PM.