Do we care about budget deficits / national debt anymore?

[Proud Tiger 4,261]

I'm pissed that Trump signed this bill. BUT (I may be wrong) that since it is an omnibus bill he can spend whatever part of it he wants that is not entitlements.

[TexasTiger 12,940]

On 2/5/2018 at 2:38 PM, Grumps said:

I thought is was stupid when the dems said that increasing the debt was a good thing. I think it is stupid if the repubs thing that increasing the dept is a good thing. I am somewhat consistent in my views. Do the dems still think that more debt is good now that it is the other party who is increasing the debt?

Got a link to Dems saying it was a “good thing”? Cuz I suspect your memory is failing you, but I could be wrong.

[homersapien 11,382]

 

[DKW 86 7,425]

And there you have everything wrong with the Republican Party in 3 minutes. 

Talked about policy, made not one bit of sense on National Debt, and took zero responsibility for it.

[augolf1716 21,200]

On 3/25/2018 at 8:05 AM, bigbird said:

It seems to me that the biggest fault is not the taxing issues, but rather the spending issue.  We can't seem to get the spending under control.  We either cut taxes and spend too much or we increase taxes and spend too much. No matter who is in control, If we ever want to start and really arrest the balooning deficit, then the real necessity is to fix the spending issues. 

Again, to me, the two parties have more in common than they do differences. Both see power as a way to maintain their status and increase their wealth and neither really care about the issues they claim to champion.

They do its just worded differently

[RunInRed 16,422]

Quote

Uncle Sam needs to borrow a ton of money this week — in the middle of a fight with its biggest creditor.

The United States plans to sell about $294 billion of debt, according to the Treasury Department. That's the highest for a week since the record set during the 2008 financial crisis.

Federal revenue is declining because of President Trump's tax cuts, so the government needs to borrow more to make ends meet. At the same time, Washington's borrowing costs have climbed rapidly in recent months.

http://money.cnn.com/2018/03/27/investing/us-debt-sale-record-treasury/index.html

 

[Proud Tiger 4,261]

On 3/26/2018 at 5:32 AM, DKW 86 said:

And there you have everything wrong with the Republican Party in 3 minutes. 

Talked about policy, made not one bit of sense on National Debt and took zero responsibility for it.

Neither did the Dems

[Proud Tiger 4,261]

51 minutes ago, RunInRed said:

 

I never heard a peep out of you when Obama ran up more debt than all the previous POTUSs combined.

[RunInRed 16,422]

13 minutes ago, Proud Tiger said:

I never heard a peep out of you when Obama ran up more debt than all the previous POTUSs combined.

Turn your hearing aides up ...

 

[Proud Tiger 4,261]

11 minutes ago, RunInRed said:

Turn your hearing aides up ...

 

How did you know I wear hearing aids.But you forgot that my memory is worse than my hearing Seriously, I share you concern about the debt and as I said above, I'm pissed Trump didn't veto this budget.

[homersapien 11,382]

The people who actually run this country couldn't care less about the debt. 

It doesn't affect them.

[channonc 466]

Can we quit calling appropriations bills budgets? Appropriations provide legal authority for the government to enter into obligations, and these bills only address the discretionary spending (not mandatory or net interest). Budgets address all three, and the Congressional budget is not signed into law but rather agreed to by each Chamber through resolution.

Sorry, but using incorrect terminology on these things is a huge pet peeve of mine.

 

[Proud Tiger 4,261]

1 hour ago, channonc said:

Can we quit calling appropriations bills budgets? Appropriations provide legal authority for the government to enter into obligations, and these bills only address the discretionary spending (not mandatory or net interest). Budgets address all three, and the Congressional budget is not signed into law but rather agreed to by each Chamber through resolution.

Sorry, but using incorrect terminology on these things is a huge pet peeve of mine.

 

Most of us are not as knowledgeable as you in this area. I appreciate your knowledge of it but all most common folks like me just see budget, budget, budget,  in the news. Having said that, does that mean that Trump can spend money for whatever he wants to including entitlements?

[channonc 466]

13 hours ago, Proud Tiger said:

Most of us are not as knowledgeable as you in this area. I appreciate your knowledge of it but all most common folks like me just see budget, budget, budget,  in the news. Having said that, does that mean that Trump can spend money for whatever he wants to including entitlements?

Of course not, but you knew that. Entitlements are mandatory spending, just like interest on the debt and comes right off the top automatically. The only way to change that is to change the laws regarding mandatory spending.

[Proud Tiger 4,261]

37 minutes ago, channonc said:

Of course not, but you knew that. Entitlements are mandatory spending, just like interest on the debt and comes right off the top automatically. The only way to change that is to change the laws regarding mandatory spending.

OK now I see what you are saying. I did understand the entitlement /interest deal. It was late and my old brain wasn't at it's best

[RunInRed 16,422]

 

[DKW 86 7,425]

I swear i heard this in my head re-reading this thread. Can we not all see what is going on here? It is just pols enriching themselves.

 

[augolf1716 21,200]

12 hours ago, DKW 86 said:

I swear i heard this in my head re-reading this thread. Can we not all see what is going on here? It is just pols enriching themselves.

 

Now that bring some memories back.....................

[RunInRed 16,422]

Quote

Mamma Mia!

In five years, the U.S. government is forecast to have a bleaker debt profile than Italy, the perennial poor man of the Group of Seven industrial nations.

The U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio is projected widen to 116.9 percent by 2023 while Italy’s is seen narrowing to 116.6 percent, according to the latest data from the International Monetary Fund. The U.S. will also place ahead of both Mozambique and Burundi in terms of the weight of its fiscal burden.

The numbers put renewed focus on the U.S. deteriorating budget after the enactment in December of $1.5 trillion in tax cuts, and the passage more recently of $300 billion in new spending. President Donald Trump’s administration argues that the tax overhaul combined with deregulation will help the economy accelerate, which in turn will generate enough extra revenue to avoid any fiscal fallout.

Federal Reserve officials are skeptical about those growth expectations. The central bank’s most recent forecasts show a median estimate of 2.7 percent for this year’s expansion slowing to 2 percent in 2020.

Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, speaking in an interview Wednesday with Tom Keene on Bloomberg Television, said lowering corporate tax rates was a good move. “The trouble, unfortunately, is it’s unfunded,” he said, adding that Republicans should have done “spending cuts first before you try to do tax cuts.”

Spending, meanwhile, is rising. Treasury Department figures last week showed the nation’s budget shortfall widened to $600 billion halfway through the current fiscal year, compared with $527 billion in the October-March period a year earlier. Spending in March totaled $420 billion, the second-highest monthly level on record. The record-high month for government outlays was a total of $429 billion in June 2017.

“This president, obviously, is not a president that’s interested in fiscal issues,” Senator Bob Corker, a Republican from Tennessee, said in Washington earlier on Wednesday. “This issue is not going to be dealt with without a strong charismatic president who really wants to take it on. This is not going to be dealt with until we have a crisis. It’s not going to happen and that’s sad. It makes me despondent."

Corker voted for the tax cuts but against the spending increase.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-18/u-s-debt-load-will-be-worse-than-italy-s-by-2023-imf-predicts

 

[RunInRed 16,422]

 

[DKW 86 7,425]

All Republicans do is give BS Lipservice to balancing the budget. 

In 2005, Bush43 and Hastert spent $$$ like sailors on shore leave. They didnt care then, they dont care now. 

It is all just meaningless BS.

[bigbird 60,549]

On 10/2/2018 at 6:35 AM, DKW 86 said:

All Republicans do is give BS Lipservice to balancing the budget. 

In 2005, Bush43 and Hastert spent $$$ like sailors on shore leave. They didnt care then, they dont care now. 

It is all just meaningless BS.

Agree 100%.

How do you fix it when neither party wants to and any candidates that do have to run independently and will never have a real chance. 

I understand the pros and cons of it, but I think the government should end each fiscal year without a deficit. It'd be great if we could some how get Congress to be penalized 0.1% of their annual salary for each day we don't have a balanced budget.  Raise some taxes, but more appropriately, cut some of the bloated budget.  Yes, that means there would have to be a compromise over money and that's why it'll never happen.

[DKW 86 7,425]

4 hours ago, bigbird said:

Agree 100%.

How do you fix it when neither party wants to and any candidates that do have to run independently and will never have a real chance. 

I understand the pros and cons of it, but I think the government should end each fiscal year without a deficit. It'd be great if we could some how get Congress to be penalized 0.1% of their annual salary for each day we don't have a balanced budget.  Raise some taxes, but more appropriately, cut some of the bloated budget.  Yes, that means there would have to be a compromise over money and that's why it'll never happen.

Well, at this point, the Democrats are at least trying. THE REPUBLICANS, THEY DO NOT CARE AT ALL OR THEY WOULD FIX IT NOW. 

They do nothing but talk about it, but they never do anything. NEVER. When Gingrich was SOTH, he balanced the budget. Since then however? NOTHING

[bigbird 60,549]

2 hours ago, DKW 86 said:

Well, at this point, the Democrats are at least trying. THE REPUBLICANS, THEY DO NOT CARE AT ALL OR THEY WOULD FIX IT NOW. 

They do nothing but talk about it, but they never do anything. NEVER. When Gingrich was SOTH, he balanced the budget. Since then however? NOTHING

I'm not disagreeing.  I am saying it goes both ways.  '09-'11 Dems controlled the Senate 56-42 with two independents, Bernie Sanders and Joe Lieberman. They also controlled the house 255-179.  Nothing was done.

 

Look, I think both parties are corrupt and are run by the fringe. That said, there will never be a compromise to balance the budget because Dems won't cut spending and Repubs won't raise taxes.  I'm for doing both...

[homersapien 11,382]

On 3/27/2018 at 9:11 PM, Proud Tiger said:

I never heard a peep out of you when Obama ran up more debt than all the previous POTUSs combined.

There was a good reason for that, as I presume you already know.