IMHO, the deficit started increasing again after the Conservatives took control of the Federal government and instituted tax cuts. When the new Conservative mayor took office last year, one of the first things he did was to appease the car driving folks and cut back the vehicle registration tax, a big source of revenue for the city. Now he is complaining about the city being in deficit. Who really benefits from these tax cuts? I read somewhere it is really the corporations and the rich folks. What do they do in return? Do they reinvest the profits back to the people? Nope, instead they outsource jobs to other countries and pocket the rest of the proceeds. No wonder the middle class keeps getting squeezed. Despite the recovery, there are not enough jobs to go around.
The reason there appears to be no repercussions in the US is because they keep on borrowing money from other countries. Just like a student saddled with education loans, a single mother saddled with thousands of credit card bills, or a family neck deep in mortgage, car loan debts, etc. Sooner or later that money needs to be repaid.
Sometimes I wonder if democracy/capitalism is actually like a ponzi scheme... everything is alright at first but sooner or later there will be a big collapse; the few at the top get to bail out and keep their proceeds while those at the bottom are left to pick up the pieces.
So, we can fix this problem if we were running the show. I wonder if Obama thought the same thing as he watched Bush go down in the popularity straw polls. (Obama is down to a 40 percent approval rating.) It was easy to just say I can fix it - just vote me in. Then, the financial problems became visible. The easy to qualify loans were foreclosed upon, the jobs went away because people couldn't buy any more Chinese stuff from Walmart. Here we are today wondering if we'll get those Social Security checks - let alone finding a new job. We can point the finger at Bush doing the less taxes thing. We can blame Bush, also, for starting the wars and increasing the military budget. But, wait a minute, Bush isn't there any more. So, whom do we blame today? Just not us - the people - we know what's going on. Do the politicians buy all those Chinese computers, big screens, entertainment DVDs, etc? Maybe we've outspent our own budget and given it to China - who can come over and buy the whole country from us with the debt owed to them directly from the banks. Is it Wall street who gets the blame? GM?
Yeah, there's always a silver lining. I don't think it's time to buy that expensive car or the expensive house with the big mortgage. I think we're gonna run out of jobs, cash, and potato chips. I'm planting potatoes and it looks like we've have a bumper crop of tomatoes. We'll be canning a lot of tomatoes.
I believe the States had a surplus during the Clinton administration. That went away when Bush cut the taxes for the rich - temporarily because we had the surplus. Now, those tax breaks are to become permanent - thank you Republican Congress. But, the surplus is long gone. Bush gave the tax money back to the rich because he was one of them along with Chaney. We voted in Texas oil tycoons and they helped themselves. When will the middle-class notice where the money is and vote for those who want to redistribute it back to them?
Well, I guess no one should be surprised that the stock market took a plunge. Passing a "budget" with no spending cuts and only more borrowing beyond our means does not help.
I guess my question would be are these true conservatives by definition or conservatives in name only. Sorry, but I just do not take things like that at face value.
U.S. loss of AAA credit rating 'inevitable': BMO - FP Trading Desk network.nationalpost.com/.../u-s-loss-of-aaa-credit-rating-ine... - Canada - Cached May 22, 2009 – S&P and Moody's both slashed Canada's credit rating three times in the early '90s before restoring the country to AAA status a few years ago ...
Comments
The reason there appears to be no repercussions in the US is because they keep on borrowing money from other countries. Just like a student saddled with education loans, a single mother saddled with thousands of credit card bills, or a family neck deep in mortgage, car loan debts, etc. Sooner or later that money needs to be repaid.
Sometimes I wonder if democracy/capitalism is actually like a ponzi scheme... everything is alright at first but sooner or later there will be a big collapse; the few at the top get to bail out and keep their proceeds while those at the bottom are left to pick up the pieces.
* Corporation for Public Broadcasting Subsidy. $445 million annual savings.
* Save America 's Treasures Program. $25 million annual savings.
* International Fund for Ireland . $17 million annual savings.
* Legal Services Corporation. $420 million annual savings.
* National Endowment for the Arts. $167.5 million annual savings.
* National Endowment for the Humanities. $167.5 million annual savings.
* Hope VI Program. $250 million annual savings.
* Amtrak Subsidies. $1.565 billion annual savings.
* Eliminate duplicate education programs. $1.3 billion annual savings
* U.S. Trade Development Agency. $55 million annual savings.
* Woodrow Wilson Center Subsidy. $20 million annual savings.
* Cut in half funding for congressional printing and binding. $47 million annual savings.
* John C. Stennis Center Subsidy. $430,000 annual savings.
* Community Development Fund. $4.5 billion annual savings.
* Heritage Area Grants and Statutory Aid. $24 million annual savings.
* Cut Federal Travel Budget in Half. $7.5 billion annual savings
* Trim Federal Vehicle Budget by 20%. $600 million annual savings.
* Essential Air Service. $150 million annual savings.
* Technology Innovation Program. $70 million annual savings.
* Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP)Program. $125 million annual savings.
* Department of Energy Grants to States for Weatherization. $530 million annual savings.
* Beach Replenishment. $95 million annual savings.
* New Starts Transit. $2 billion annual savings.
* Exchange Programs for Alaskan and Hawaiian Natives . $9 million annual savings
* Intercity and High Speed Rail Grants. $2.5 billion annual savings.
* Title X Family Planning. $318 million annual savings.
* Appalachian Regional Commission. $76 million annual savings.
* Economic Development Administration. $293 million annual savings.
* Programs under the National and Community Services Act. $1.15 billion annual savings.
* Applied Research at Department of Energy. $1.27 billion annual savings.
* FreedomCAR and Fuel Partnership. $200 million annual savings.
* Energy Star Program. $52 million annual savings.
* Economic Assistance to Egypt . $250 million annually.
* U.S. Agency for International Development. $1.39 billion annual savings.
* General Assistance to District of Columbia . $210 million annual savings.
* Subsidy for Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. $150 million annual savings.
* Presidential Campaign Fund. $775 million savings over ten years.
* No funding for federal office space acquisition. $864 million annual savings.
* End prohibitions on competitive sourcing of government services.
* Repeal the Davis-Bacon Act. More than $1 billion annually.
* Require collection of unpaid taxes by federal employees. $1 billion total
* Prohibit taxpayer funded union activities by federal employees. $1.2 billion savings over ten years.
* Sell excess federal properties the government,does not make use of. $15 billion total savings.
* Eliminate death gratuity for Members of Congress.
* Eliminate Mohair Subsidies. $1 million annual savings.
* Eliminate subsidies to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. $12.5 million annual savings
* Eliminate Market Access Program. $200 million annual savings.
* USDA Sugar Program. $14 million annual savings.
* Subsidy to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development $93 million annual savings.
* Eliminate the National Organic Certification Cost-Share Program. $56.2 million annual savings.
* Eliminate fund for Obamacare administrative costs. $900 million savings.
* Ready to Learn TV Program. $27 million savings..
* HUD Ph.D. Program.
* Deficit Reduction Check-Off Act.
TOTAL SAVINGS: $2.5 Trillion over Ten Years
When will the middle-class notice where the money is and vote for those who want to redistribute it back to them?
network.nationalpost.com/.../u-s-loss-of-aaa-credit-rating-ine... - Canada - Cached
May 22, 2009 – S&P and Moody's both slashed Canada's credit rating three times in the early '90s before restoring the country to AAA status a few years ago ...