It matters very much, Shehatesme.
People that'd vote for Obama, have given up...
People that'd votte for Romney, hope we can assert ourselves as indiviuduals again.
-John
I am so proud
Our Government has left each and every one of us with $50,900 a piece in debt. Thanks guys and gals.
Romney isn't Obama.
File that under "good reasons."
-John
Does the debt even matter at this point? The US has been in deep debt since forever...so, I have no idea why people think its some type of revelation that the debt is getting deeper. We have had TWO republican presidents that served two terms each...the debt still went up..did anyone say anything about it? Is anyone saying anything now?
More importantly, why is it such a big fucking deal that the debt has went up by 6 trillion dollars? It would have only gone up under another President. It will continue to go up until we find a way to plant Money trees.
*eats popcorn*
At this point, no, it doesn't matter.
Compared to the tax cut republicans want to expand even further.
So if I've got my foot to the floor going 130 mph and up ahead the bridge is out, I'm not in trouble until the second I run out of roadway? As the car runs off the road and starts the downward plunge into the gulley, at that point I can simply stop and turn the car around?At this point, no, it doesn't matter. Not that it's not potentially an issue, but until inflation starts running rampant, borrowing rates start going sky high, and folks start dropping the US dollar as a reserve currency any alarms of debt "crisis" are quite premature and politically motivated.
It's not like that debt is coming due soon, or ever. The debt-to-GDP ratio is not great right now and should be addressed long-term, but there's no immediate crisis that has to be solved NOW NOW NOW DAMN YOU OBAMA.
Considering interest rates are well below inflation and people are still eagerly buying government bonds, we're essentially borrowing money at a negative interest rate - that is, getting paid interest to borrow money. As long as there are meaningful ways to spend that money, such as building infrastructure, it would be criminally incompetent NOT to borrow more money right now.
The deficit could also be almost completely closed by letting the "temporary" Bush tax cuts expire. (But shouldn't be done during a recession. We should be deficit spending during a recession.)
So I'm assuming then that the first thing obummer did when he got into office was to get rid of the tax cut completely, since it is costing us so much. Oh wait, no, he didn't. He set up an annual dog and pony show of trying to raise taxes on the "rich" (which would not even be a rounding error on the deficit) without removing the enter tax cuts.
If it's Bush's fault (but but but booooooosh!) for enacting such a horrible cut, why hasn't the dear leader fixed it yet after 4 years?
We both know why. He needs the middle class vote. Same reason Republicans wouldn't go for removing it on the rich, they need their donations.
So? Do you have an argument to make here? A solution to propose? If not, then you are merely fishing for responses and contributing nothing. Numbers are meaningless without context. Perhaps I should ask you to put that number into scientific notation or give me the prime factorization of that number or something. It would be just about as useful. :/
So why then keep blaming boooooosh for something obummer hasn't fixed in 4 years? It's hypocrisy. Either own up to it and say "we don't want the tax cuts to expire", or "the deficit is mostly booooosh's fault", but not both. Blaming booosh at this point is stupid.
And ignoring that Bush had any impact on the deficit is even more stupid.
So if I've got my foot to the floor going 130 mph and up ahead the bridge is out, I'm not in trouble until the second I run out of roadway? As the car runs off the road and starts the downward plunge into the gulley, at that point I can simply stop and turn the car around?
Your statement sir, is politically motivated. Your president in in office and you want him to remain there. We are to ignore the signs that we're traveling at a much higher rate of speed than we were until now, ignore that we have now rapidly closed in on the bridge that no longer exists. Ignore that the man driving the car has exponentially increased our danger level. After all, we're not out of road - yet. This is the nature of our political system. Common sense is to be thrown out the window.
I am a fiscal conservative. I understand that our federal government does not have to be run the same as my household does. There are constraints on my borrowing put in place by lenders. They were greatly relaxed and we ended up with a crisis on our hands. I was not caught up in that. I did not suffer the loss of my home and the uncertain future that comes with that. I recognize when the federal government has ignored its constraints and is spending beyond it's ability to repay. $16 Trillion is our debt. Bonus points if you know the total of our unfunded liabilities here at home. You can't separate these two although far too many want to.
Edit: And by the way, "my guy" pushed for $4T in deficit reduction
We (the voters) are responsible. We punish politicians who say anything about trying to reign in one of the big 3 drivers of the deficit (Medicare/Medicaid, SS, Military spending), and we reward those who overspend or promise to spend money on the things we like without explaining where that money will come from.
Ultimately, the voters are to blame. The two parties have shrewdly figured out that by having the voting public bicker about meaningless stuff and cheer on their team as if it were a football squad they can maintain power and control.
Until the voters say "that's enough" and take action by voting out irresponsible spenders, we're going to continue down this path.