It’s things like this that make me doubt whether the Democrats are serious about deficit reduction and avoiding the fiscal cliff.
Tag Archives: debt
Time, Politics, and Deficits
The 2012 presidential contest is the most important election since 1980. Our choice this year is more distinct than the one between Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter. In 1980 the economy was mired in stagflation, people were genuinely hurting, and our leader was clueless; even so, we were not facing, as today, national bankruptcy.
Obama’s “Buffett Rule” Won’t Even Dent The Deficit
So says this article from The Atlantic, hardly a bastion of supply-siders:
This week, President Obama announced a new way for the government to make more money: put a floor on the tax rates that millionaires face. He coined the idea the “Buffett Rule,” after billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who recently complained that he didn’t pay enough taxes. Even though incomes are taxed progressively, so those making more money are supposed to pay more, capital gains — like income from stock gains — can escape those marginal rates. That’s one way in which wealthier Americans enjoy lower tax rates than marginal rates would imply.
They even include a handy chart:
Romney Nails It
I may have my differences with the former Governor of Massachusetts, but this time, he really came up with a good line.
US Now Borrowing More Than We Make
Brought to you by the big spenders in both parties, but especially the Democratic Party (which presided over the so-called stimulus and ObamaCare), including the Spender-in-Chief in the White House, the US is officially underwater:
US debt shot up $238 billion to reach 100 percent of gross domestic project after the government’s debt ceiling was lifted, Treasury figures showed Wednesday.
Nancy Pelosi’s Debt Chart Is A “Pants On Fire” Lie
So says PolitiFact, a website that in the past has gone somewhat harder on conservatives than on lefties:
We find so much wrong with this chart that we don’t think it contains any significant approximation of the truth. It made a major calculation error that dramatically skewed the debt increase away from Obama and toward George W. Bush. It glossed over significant variations in time served in office. It cherry-picked the measurement that was favorable to its cause. And it is contradicted by statistics for GDP-adjusted debt, which show Obama to be the most, rather than the least, debt-creating president of the last five. None of this suggests that Obama can’t turn things around as the economy improves (and Democrats can also take some solace in the fact that Bill Clinton did remarkably well in all of our measurements). But in communicating which administrations contributed the most to growth of the debt, this chart is a failure. We rate it Pants on Fire.
US Credit Rating Officially Drops
Folks, this is what happens when you elect a less-than-one-term Senator with a penchant for voting “present” and troubling connections to lefties at the extreme end of the spectrum:
Credit rating agency Egan-Jones has cut the United States’ top credit ranking, citing concerns over the country’s high debt load and the difficulty the government faces in significantly reducing spending.
Boehner Walks Out Of White House Debt Talks
I’ll just reproduce his letter, because I can’t say it any better than he did (since his official website is giving “Server too busy” right now, I’ll use The Weekly Standard’s copy):
Dear Colleague,
Our economy is not creating enough jobs, and the policies coming out of Washington are a big reason why. Because of Washington, we have a tax code that is stifling job creation. Because of Washington, we have a debt crisis that is sowing uncertainty and sapping the confidence of small businesses. Because of Washington, our children are financing a government spending binge that is jeopardizing their future.
US Is In Worse Financial Shape Than Greece
As a nice follow-up to Jimmy using math, let’s look at what all that so-called “stimulus” spending has really bought us:
When adding in all of the money owed to cover future liabilities in entitlement programs the US is actually in worse financial shape than Greece and other debt-laden European countries, Pimco’s Bill Gross told CNBC Monday.
Much of the public focus is on the nation’s public debt, which is $14.3 trillion. But that doesn’t include money guaranteed for Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, which comes to close to $50 trillion, according to government figures.
The government also is on the hook for other debts such as the programs related to the bailout of the financial system following the crisis of 2008 and 2009, government figures show.
Taken together, Gross puts the total at “nearly $100 trillion,” that while perhaps a bit on the high side, places the country in a highly unenviable fiscal position that he said won’t find a solution overnight.
“To think that we can reduce that within the space of a year or two is not a realistic assumption,” Gross said in a live interview. “That’s much more than Greece, that’s much more than almost any other developed country. We’ve got a problem and we have to get after it quickly.”
I’m not sure if we’ll ever find a solution, especially as long as one entire party and at least a sizable minority of the other–yes, I’m talking about you, “moderate” Republicans–want to just stick their heads in the sand and pretend the problem doesn’t really exist.
H/T: Hot Air
Trump Is No Reagan
Given all the hoopla regarding Donald Trump’s flirtation with a Presidential run, it’s important to be reminded of two of his past policy positions:
Trump: “We must have universal healthcare”: We must have universal healthcare. Our objective [should be] to make reforms for the moment and, longer term, to find an equivalent of the single-payer plan that is affordable, well-administered, and provides freedom of choice. (Source: The America We Deserve, by Donald Trump, p.206-208 & 218)
Donald Trump favors a massive tax hike on Americans that would kill jobs and investment: I would impose a one-time, 14.25% tax on individuals and trusts with a net worth over $10 million. For individuals, net worth would be calculated minus the value of their principal residence. That would raise $5.7 trillion in new revenue, which we would use to pay off the entire national debt [and shore up the Social Security Trust Fund]. (Source: The America We Deserve, by Donald Trump, p.170-74)
Exit quote from Roger L. Simon:
What Donald Trump and Barack Obama have in common
They care much more about themselves than they do about America.
Indeed.