Largest federal monthly deficit in history

[matt0611]

Yes roll your eyes. So you are the expert on macro-economics? lulz.

Compared to the Obama and the idiots in congress I'm Adam Smith.

 

[JSt0rm]

Yes, because when you're unemployed and living on unemployment benefits, you obviously want invest serious capital (potentially going into debt) in the extremely high risk of opening up a small business in a bad economy. Never mind that many of the laid off don't have the skills or knowledge to open and run their own business successfully in the first place.

So what? Negative Nancy. You don't need a ton of money to open up a small business. Clean houses or wash cars if you have no skills.

 

[Doppel]

totally but the alternative is worse (right now). What we need is to grow the economy. Once we do this and get it burning properly again we can raise taxes and cut spending.

Do you really believe this? The US has not had a balanced budget in decades (arguably a small surplus for a tiny shot at the end of Clinton) despite spending most of that time out of recession.

Sure, but kill Growth and the problem gets worse.

We probably need to define problems because when I look at Europe I see some big ones, Ireland, Greece, etc. These countries have yet to see the worst of their debt crises. Their debt-growth (that's all it is in the US, too, with the deficit more substantial than the positive GDP) is costing them massively.

 

[JSt0rm]

Compared to the Obama and the idiots in congress I'm Adam Smith.

Thats a bold statement. How about LK comes in and challenges your claim

 

[JSt0rm]

Do you really believe this? The US has not had a balanced budget in decades (arguably a small surplus for a tiny shot at the end of Clinton) despite spending most of that time out of recession.

Yeah. Bush really fucked us. He should of raised taxes to pay for his war(s) instead he lowered them and added to the problems in ways we are just starting to feel. There was a bit of boom time there and the republicans squandered it.

 

[JSt0rm]

We probably need to define problems because when I look at Europe I see some big ones, Ireland, Greece, etc. These countries have yet to see the worst of their debt crises. Their debt-growth (that's all it is in the US, too, with the deficit more substantial than the positive GDP) is costing them massively.

I'm not an expert but those countries have no control over the money they use. I dont think we will encounter the same problems that they have. However as I said i am not an expert on this subject so I defer to those that are.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Yeah. Bush really fucked us. He should of raised taxes to pay for his war(s) instead he lowered them and added to the problems in ways we are just starting to feel. There was a bit of boom time there and the republicans squandered it.

I'll agree about the Republicans but the Dems haven't been very keen on sound fiscal policy. No one is.

 

[JSt0rm]

I'll agree about the Republicans but the Dems haven't been very keen on sound fiscal policy. No one is.

Havent been keen when? During the boom is the time to save money. You spend during the bust. Thats how it works in real life too. If I go 3 weeks without a gig I use my credit card more. If I'm working for 3 months straight I have a stack of money in the bank.

The republicans want to do it backwards. Thats just stupid.

 

[irishScott]

So what? Negative Nancy. You don't need a ton of money to open up a small business. Clean houses or wash cars if you have no skills.

Being negative has nothing to do with it. You don't know many small business owners do you? Here's a hint, most usually take out loans to get started. Meaning their profits have to cover living expenses, taxes, in most cases a few employees, and pay back the freaking loans.

As for cleaning houses and washing cars, have fun trying to make a living off of said when competing with illegals who don't even pay taxes. Unless you mean opening a cleaning business with multiple employees, which requires capital for equipment, salaries, vehicles and so forth, not to mention the skills required to manage said.

In an economic boom it often works. In this economy it's a major risk, and in many locations nigh impossible.

 

[PeshakJang]

Havent been keen when? During the boom is the time to save money. You spend during the bust. Thats how it works in real life too. If I go 3 weeks without a gig I use my credit card more. If I'm working for 3 months straight I have a stack of money in the bank.

The republicans want to do it backwards. Thats just stupid.

Do you go out and buy a new car when you are out of gigs for a while?

Do you double the amount you spend on food?

Do you move into a bigger house?

Do you take out twice your yearly salary in a loan?

That is literally what Democrats are advocating. They want to spend unimaginable amounts of money on shit that has NOTHING TO DO WITH HELPING THE ECONOMY, to somehow jump start an economy that will eventually completely collapse due to the pile of debt that is now literally impossible to get out of.

When Democrats are willing to spend $1.5 TRILLION that we DON'T HAVE... how the fuck can anybody expect them to NOT spend any money that we do have? Evidenced by the fact that they are claiming a $2 billion cut will destroy the recovery... so what are we spending $1.5 TRILLION that we don't have on NOW, that will be cut when the economy does recover?

Fucking nothing. The Democrats have managed to lower the standards so much, and completely destroy perceptions about quantities of money, so that now, $1 TRILLION isn't such a big number. That means an extra hundred billion here, extra hundred billion there... who cares.

Of course, they'll cry like little girls about the wars and tax cuts... but mention to them that the deficit this year is more than 10 years of war in 2 countries? They'll call you an idiot.

At least Liberal policies are folding like lawn chairs all over the nation.

 

[BoberFett]

So what? Negative Nancy. You don't need a ton of money to open up a small business. Clean houses or wash cars if you have no skills.

Yo ese, those gringos took our jobs, mang!

 

[Jhhnn]

Havent been keen when? During the boom is the time to save money. You spend during the bust. Thats how it works in real life too. If I go 3 weeks without a gig I use my credit card more. If I'm working for 3 months straight I have a stack of money in the bank.

The republicans want to do it backwards. Thats just stupid.

I'm sure they don't run their own affairs that way, but when trying to break the govt, it's a sure route to success. Republicans view govt as incompetent, and when they're running it, it is.

 

[lupi]

chicago style politics be damn expensive.

 

[HomerJS]

Our federal government posted in February the largest monthly deficit in history - $223 billion. In one month.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/mar/7/government-posts-biggest-monthly-deficit-ever/

Just to put that into perspective, the yearly deficit in 2007 was about $161 billion.
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2007/10/05/deficit-for-fiscal-2007-slides/

Remember, the recession is over!

Contrast that level of deficit with the Republican plan that says reduce spending by $100 billion a year and we're okay. Then contrast it with Obama's plan to spend even more but tax more heavily, so that after he's out of office a miracle will happen and the deficit will go down. And add in a rapidly aging population demanding more bennies from the federal government.

Then tell me which of these plans avoids a collapse of Great Depression proportions.

Just to put this entire post into perspective the yearly deficit in the year 2000 was -230 billion. Ooops!

 

[JSt0rm]

In an economic boom it often works. In this economy it's a major risk, and in many locations nigh impossible.

I dont have all the answers for you. You CAN start a small business with little or nothing down. Hell I started cutting sound on a macbook with a 80 dollar sound card and 32 voices of protools. Now I have 65k in gear and no loans.

 

[irishScott]

I dont have all the answers for you. You CAN start a small business with little or nothing down. Hell I started cutting sound on a macbook with a 80 dollar sound card and 32 voices of protools. Now I have 65k in gear and no loans.

Well I'm glad it payed off for you, just saying that route isn't available for everyone or even mostly everyone.

 

[JSt0rm]

Do you go out and buy a new car when you are out of gigs for a while?

Do you double the amount you spend on food?

Do you move into a bigger house?

Do you take out twice your yearly salary in a loan?

No I don't but that isn't good spending. I notice your examples are all discretionary spending items. Why didnt you give examples that are INVESTMENTS. Do all investments pay off? Hell No. But some do and thats what is going on right now we are investing in our economy.

Excuse me if I dont play follow the leader into the basement and hide out while the world crumbles around me. I'm going to make sure I'm not the one crumbling. I'm going to fight and our government is also trying to fight right now. If we left it up to you fucks we would be shooting each other over potatoes.

 

[Jhhnn]

When Democrats are willing to spend $1.5 TRILLION that we DON'T HAVE... how the fuck can anybody expect them to NOT spend any money that we do have? Evidenced by the fact that they are claiming a $2 billion cut will destroy the recovery... so what are we spending $1.5 TRILLION that we don't have on NOW, that will be cut when the economy does recover?

Fucking nothing. The Democrats have managed to lower the standards so much, and completely destroy perceptions about quantities of money, so that now, $1 TRILLION isn't such a big number. That means an extra hundred billion here, extra hundred billion there... who cares.

I didn't hear you whining when the Bush Admin oversaw the first $1T increase in the national debt for FY2008, or when they crafted a "budget" $2T in the red for FY2009...

Major recessions/depressions don't just fall out of the blue like an asteroid from outer space. They inevitably follow periods of unsustainable growth made possible by credit bubbles and financial elite looting sprees.

Gee, how'd that happen, anyway? Ebil Democrats?

What the financial leadership of the Republican party wants now is hard money, very hard money, because they're the only ones who have any liquidity. They've been hoarding it to complete the down side of the business cycle, the part where they buy up distressed assets for pennies on the dollar, and solidify their hold on the govt purse strings. They'll gladly destroy the United States of America with class warfare to create the Corporate States of America, and are doing their damndest to achieve it.

 

[JSt0rm]

Well I'm glad it payed off for you, just saying that route isn't available for everyone or even mostly everyone.

It takes sacrifice and passion. Something we lost with the baby boomers. Life isn't supposed to be easy. Fucking china is competing on the low end garbage? Don't make low end garbage then. Make something that will stand the test of time and have value in someones life. Then you will have success and I think you will find that money is secondary anyhow.

 

[Jhhnn]

It takes sacrifice and passion. Something we lost with the baby boomers. Life isn't supposed to be easy. Fucking china is competing on the low end garbage? Don't make low end garbage then. Make something that will stand the test of time and have value in someones life. Then you will have success and I think you will find that money is secondary anyhow.

Oh, please. The vast majority of boomers have gone to work every stinkin' day for the last 40-50 years for an ever decreasing share of national income. They've paid for the care of their elders, lifted millions out of poverty, and even attempted to set aside funding for their own retirements in the form of a $3T SS trust and huge support of & ownership in corporate America via other retirement vehicles. And they got screwed by what they believed in- Ronnie Rayguns and the promises of trickle down economics, GWB and the Ownership Society.

Anybody who can't figure that out really can't figure out much of anything.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Havent been keen when? During the boom is the time to save money. You spend during the bust. Thats how it works in real life too. If I go 3 weeks without a gig I use my credit card more. If I'm working for 3 months straight I have a stack of money in the bank.

The republicans want to do it backwards. Thats just stupid.

Here's how it really works. Spend when times are bad and spend when times are good. There's an old joke that goes -"What do you mean Im overdrawn, I still have checks!" That's uncle sam.

 

[soccerballtux]

1) the Recession is over
2) the Economy hasn't recovered all its' Losses yet
3) Obama has suggested Cuts
4) Taxes must be raised
5) $100 billion in Cuts doesn't amount to a hill of beans, but could harm the Economy causing it to Stall at this point. Thus making things even worse.

haha

 

[JSt0rm]

Oh, please. The vast majority of boomers have gone to work every stinkin' day for the last 40-50 years for an ever decreasing share of national income. They've paid for the care of their elders, lifted millions out of poverty, and even attempted to set aside funding for their own retirements in the form of a $3T SS trust and huge support of & ownership in corporate America via other retirement vehicles. And they got screwed by what they believed in- Ronnie Rayguns and the promises of trickle down economics, GWB and the Ownership Society.

Anybody who can't figure that out really can't figure out much of anything.

I always deeply offend some babyboomer when I say that. I wont go into debating this point again. We can leave it to history to write

 

[JSt0rm]

Here's how it really works. Spend when times are bad and spend when times are good. There's an old joke that goes -"What do you mean Im overdrawn, I still have checks!" That's uncle sam.

Yes and the republicans spent when times were good. So that doesn't mean we stop spending now when we are close to getting out of this shit.

 

[Doppel]

I'm not an expert but those countries have no control over the money they use. I dont think we will encounter the same problems that they have. However as I said i am not an expert on this subject so I defer to those that are.

Admirable humility. I think the US is flirting with a debt spiral, which is what the aforementioned nations appear already to be in. Some experts agree with that assessment, some don't. Unlike medicine, where you'll never find one brain surgeon who removes your brain tumor from your skull and another goes through your knee to remove it, economists seem to almost all throw darts randomly at dart boards when predicting anything.

The US has brought itself into a terrible situation in which coming within earshot of a balanced budget necessitates a major drawback and serious recession if not depression and on the flip side structural debt that shows no real chance of ebbing before the debt reaches catastrophic levels some time in the future. Most Western nations are on this path to varying degrees.

So that doesn't mean we stop spending now when we are close to getting out of this shit.

Given that the US is out of recession when is it too soon to cut back the spending?

In any case, answering that question doesn't really matter since the overwhelming consensus among voters is that they don't want taxes raised on them and they don't want spending cut from the biggest spenders (defense, etc.), so there really is no solution.