Deficits: Then And Now

[PoliticalChic]

H. L. Mencken once called politics “the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere,diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies.”

No where is that more true than Liberal's economic policies.


It might be interesting to view Liberal Democrat economic policies longitudinally. The following was from 2009.

1. " California tried the Obama soak-the-productive "stimulus" plan years ago and was hailed as the perfect exemplar of Democratic governance.

In June 2002, the liberal American Prospect magazine called California a "laboratory" for Democratic policies, noting that "California is the only one of the nation's 10 largest states that is uniformly under Democratic control."

They said this, mind you, as if it were a good thing. In California, the article proclaimed, "the next new deal is in tryouts." As they say in show biz: "Thanks, we'll call you. Next!"

In just a few years, Democrats had turned California into a state -- or as it's now known, a "job-free zone" -- with a $41 billion deficit, a credit rating that was slashed to junk-bond status and a middle class now located in Arizona.

Democrats governed California the way Democrats always govern. They bought the votes of government workers with taxpayer-funded jobs, salaries and benefits -- and then turned around and accused the productive class of "greed" for wanting not to have their taxes raised through the roof."
Coulter
Obama s Recipe For Change Not My Cup of Tea Human Events




So....how's that workin' out?

a. California leads the pack with $778 billion in state debt, mostly as a result of the state's $584 billion unfunded public pension liability. New York ($388 billion), Texas ($341 billion), Illinois ($321 billion), and Ohio ($321 billion) round out the top 5 states with the largest amounts of state debt.State Budget Solutions' Fourth Annual State Debt Report www.statebudgetsolutions.org/.../state-budget-solutions-fourth-annual-state-...


"It's a scientific fact that if you stay in California you lose one point of your IQ every year."
Truman Capote



And....a related note: Tuesday is election day.
Just sayin'...

 

[Moonglow]

So we should save the redwoods?

 

[PoliticalChic]

So we should save the redwoods?

I'm gonna have to start a petition to give you the 'greatest number of posts' award in perpetuity....just to stop you from having to throw out the Scrabble tiles to form some inane post.

Just remember the little people when you accept your reward.

 

[DGS49]

The predictions of California's demise have been spread widely, but have not come to fruition.

Having visited California recently for the umpteenth time, I am reminded that that great state juxtaposes two perverse realities (ignoring the vast differences between the urban coastal areas and the hinterlands): (1) The worst legal government imaginable for our society, and (2) the most desirable natural and cultural environment in which to live.

California residents above the poverty level have to make the decision of whether to put up with an oppressive and stupid state government, in exchange for living in a state with almost infinite recreational and cultural possibilities, and a climate that is in most cases near perfect.

We Conservatives want to think that middle-class "whites" are abandoning the state in huge numbers - and there is some of that - but it's just a trickle, really.

Don't worry about coll-ee-fornya; it will do fine.

 

[NYcarbineer]

FYI, Arnold was governor through 2010, when he was replaced by Jerry Brown.

 

[NYcarbineer]

a. California leads the pack with $778 billion in state debt, mostly as a result of the state's $584 billion unfunded public pension liability. New York ($388 billion), Texas ($341 billion), Illinois ($321 billion), and Ohio ($321 billion) round out the top 5 states with the largest amounts of state debt.State Budget Solutions' Fourth Annual State Debt Report www.statebudgetsolutions.org/.../state-budget-solutions-fourth-annual-state-...
QUOTE]

.

CA, NY, and TX are also the top three states in population.

 

[PoliticalChic]

The predictions of California's demise have been spread widely, but have not come to fruition.

Having visited California recently for the umpteenth time, I am reminded that that great state juxtaposes two perverse realities (ignoring the vast differences between the urban coastal areas and the hinterlands): (1) The worst legal government imaginable for our society, and (2) the most desirable natural and cultural environment in which to live.

California residents above the poverty level have to make the decision of whether to put up with an oppressive and stupid state government, in exchange for living in a state with almost infinite recreational and cultural possibilities, and a climate that is in most cases near perfect.

We Conservatives want to think that middle-class "whites" are abandoning the state in huge numbers - and there is some of that - but it's just a trickle, really.

Don't worry about coll-ee-fornya; it will do fine.

2. From 2013:

" Gov. Jerry Brown is telling everyone that California’s state budget problems are “fixed” and predicting surpluses for years to come.


For all of Gov. Brown’s talk about spending cuts and “fiscal discipline,” his budget forecasts a 5 percent jump in state spending, rising from $93 billion in 2012‑13 to $97.7 billion in 2013‑14. But as Walters notes, you need to add in all the other spending that is not included in those numbers: nearly $41 billion in special funds and over $7 billion in bond funds. Suddenly, the state is spending over $145 billion in 2013-14,...


Stanford University research, however, pegs the unfunded liabilities of California’s largest state pension systems a lot higher:

The combined unfunded liability for CalPERS, CalSTRS, and UCRP under the 6.2 percent discount rate is $290.6 billion, equal to more than three state General Fund budgets. That figure represents an unfunded amount per household of nearly $24,000. Using a low-risk, or risk free, discount rate, the combined unfunded liability for these three systems reaches $497.9 billion.


....unfunded state retiree healthcare liabilities too, which a 2012 Pew Center on the States report set at $77.4 billion and growing.


.... instead of fixing the fundamental problems, lawmakers are off doing victory laps for a state budget that has largely been balanced with smoke, mirrors and tax increases." Gov. Brown Uses Tricks to Balance CA Budget



Not so sure I see those stats as the definition of "....coll-ee-fornya; it will do fine."

 

[NYcarbineer]

In just a few years, Democrats had turned California into a state -- or as it's now known, a "job-free zone" -- with a $41 billion deficit, a credit rating that was slashed to junk-bond status and a middle class now located in Arizona.

That was about the same time period over which GW Bush and the Republican majority busted the federal budget, isn't it?

lol

 

[PoliticalChic]

3. Democrats/Liberals, with their deep and abiding faith in their god, "big government," will not consider reality, experience, evidence, or....in fact, ....anything!

Keynesian spending, over and over, failure be damned!



Shall we prove that?


So....Obama hired 'economics depressions expert,' Christine Romer ..."Professor Romer heads the White House Council of Economic Advisers, which analyzes government programs and the economic environment and recommends policy to the president"....and ignored her!

a. In 1994, the husband-and-wife team released a study concluding that the economy responds when the Federal Reserve acts, for example, by lowering interest rates. They also noted, however, that fiscal policy -- stimulus packages for example -- had not helped lift the U.S. economy out of past recessions.
Francis, David R. ‘The Fed Stands Alone As Recession Rescuer,’ The Christian Science Monitor, July 15, 1994(4)



The Romers released another study in November 2008 that showed a tax increase equal to one percent of gross domestic product reduces output by 3 percent over the next three years. Republicans have used this study to argue against Obama's ambitions to change the tax code.
Evans, Kelly, ‘U.S. News: Obama Gets Depression Scholar in Romer,’ The Wall Street Journal, Nov. 26, 2008



Romer has said that fiscal policy, such as government stimulus packages, doesn't help economies recover from recessions.
Post Politics Breaking Politics News Political Analysis More - The Washington Post




b. Along with hubby, David, Romer wrote a fascinating paper on the wonder working power of tax cuts. Their analysis found that "tax increases appear to have a very large, sustained, and highly significant negative impact on output ... [and] that tax cuts have very large and persistent positive output effects." The key, they found, is to also cut spending so you won't get lured into raising taxes down the road. Bottom line: Cutting taxes good. Raising taxes bad.
Christina Romer Obama s Secret Tax Cutter - US News



So he hired an expert on finances.....she explained the positives of tax cuts....which Liberals/Democrats abhor!

....and she explained how 'stimulus' does nada.....spending, which Liberals/Democrat love!


She's gone.

Wish he was.

 

[Mr. H.]

I hope we have a Republican governor next week. Illinois can't take any more of this horse shit.

 

[PoliticalChic]

4. Obama doggedly pursued the opposite policies of Reaganomics. Social Security and Medicare parts A, B, C, and D, alone represent unfunded liabilities of over $100 trillion, or about seven times the entire economy. This is besides federal military pensions, veterans benefits, federal civil service retirees, FDIC, FHA, mortgage backed securities, etc, etc.

a. So, this President decided that this is the time to add the entitlement promises of Obamacare with welfare subsidies for families making as much as $88,000, climbing to over $100,000 within a couple of years. While Obama won enactment of Obamacare on the promise that it would reduce deficits, it will add another $4-$6 trillion to the nation’s deficits and debts over the first twenty years alone.


b. [State and municipal] outstanding debt has soared to $2.2 trillion today from $1.4 trillion in 2000. State and local borrowing as a percentage of the country's GDP has risen to an all-time high of 22% [$3.2 trillion] in 2010 from 15%, with projections that it will reach 24% [$4 trillion] by 2012. Unfunded liabilities of state and local pensions total $3.8 trillion. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704269204575270802154485456.html



c. Like all Leftists, President Obama races ahead with regulation. The EPA’s “global warming” carbon dioxide regulations will impose trillions in new costs in higher energy costs. Then there is Interior Secretary Salazar shutting down oil drilling, and other excessive regulations on natural gas, coal and nuclear production. Constraining energy supplies raises energy costs.
Obama: Energy Prices Will Skyrocket Under My Cap and Trade Plan
Obama Energy Prices Will Skyrocket Under My Cap and Trade Plan


Obama.....whatta guy.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

So we should save the redwoods?

I'm gonna have to start a petition to give you the 'greatest number of posts' award in perpetuity....just to stop you from having to throw out the Scrabble tiles to form some inane post.

Just remember the little people when you accept your reward.

It would save a lot of electrons a needless death in forming yet another Moonbat Moonglow post

 

[ogibillm]

4. Obama doggedly pursued the opposite policies of Reaganomics. Social Security and Medicare parts A, B, C, and D, alone represent unfunded liabilities of over $100 trillion, or about seven times the entire economy. This is besides federal military pensions, veterans benefits, federal civil service retirees, FDIC, FHA, mortgage backed securities, etc, etc.

a. So, this President decided that this is the time to add the entitlement promises of Obamacare with welfare subsidies for families making as much as $88,000, climbing to over $100,000 within a couple of years. While Obama won enactment of Obamacare on the promise that it would reduce deficits, it will add another $4-$6 trillion to the nation’s deficits and debts over the first twenty years alone.


b. [State and municipal] outstanding debt has soared to $2.2 trillion today from $1.4 trillion in 2000. State and local borrowing as a percentage of the country's GDP has risen to an all-time high of 22% [$3.2 trillion] in 2010 from 15%, with projections that it will reach 24% [$4 trillion] by 2012. Unfunded liabilities of state and local pensions total $3.8 trillion. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704269204575270802154485456.html



c. Like all Leftists, President Obama races ahead with regulation. The EPA’s “global warming” carbon dioxide regulations will impose trillions in new costs in higher energy costs. Then there is Interior Secretary Salazar shutting down oil drilling, and other excessive regulations on natural gas, coal and nuclear production. Constraining energy supplies raises energy costs.
Obama: Energy Prices Will Skyrocket Under My Cap and Trade Plan
Obama Energy Prices Will Skyrocket Under My Cap and Trade Plan


Obama.....whatta guy.

cap and trade isn't in force, and to my knowledge isn't being pursued. oil drilling has not been shut down. Medicare part d was a bush program

 

[LoneLaugher]

I am pretty sure that, if asked, most governors would trade places with California, economically, in a "New York Minute".

Great economies are either liberal.....or fueled by natural resources.

 

[PoliticalChic]

I am pretty sure that, if asked, most governors would trade places with California, economically, in a "New York Minute".

Great economies are either liberal.....or fueled by natural resources.

Congrats!

I see you never wasted any valuable time studying either mathematics or economics.

Probably you time was better spent learning how to change the oil in your deep fryer.

 

[LoneLaugher]

I am pretty sure that, if asked, most governors would trade places with California, economically, in a "New York Minute".

Great economies are either liberal.....or fueled by natural resources.

Congrats!

I see you never wasted any valuable time studying either mathematics or economics.

Probably you time was better spent learning how to change the oil in your deep fryer.

Weeeeeeeeeeee! The idiot responded to me! Weeeeeeeeeeee!

 

[Moonglow]

So we should save the redwoods?

I'm gonna have to start a petition to give you the 'greatest number of posts' award in perpetuity....just to stop you from having to throw out the Scrabble tiles to form some inane post.

Just remember the little people when you accept your reward.

I will shower them with a golden affirmation.....

 

[PoliticalChic]

I am pretty sure that, if asked, most governors would trade places with California, economically, in a "New York Minute".

Great economies are either liberal.....or fueled by natural resources.

Congrats!

I see you never wasted any valuable time studying either mathematics or economics.

Probably you time was better spent learning how to change the oil in your deep fryer.

Weeeeeeeeeeee! The idiot responded to me! Weeeeeeeeeeee!

The idiot is the one who cheered for the most debt ridden economy in the nation.

That would be....you.


It's time to pull over and change the air in your head!

 

[PoliticalChic]

5. From the end of WWII until 2008, federal spending as a percent of GDP hovered around an average of 20%. (Even with the Reagan defense buildup, which, remember, won the Cold War without firing a shot, total Federal spending as a percent of GDP declined from a high of 23.5% of GDP in 1983 to 21.3% in 1988 and 21.2% in 1989. That's a real reduction in the size of government relative to the economy of 10%.
http://www.americansolutions.com/economy/2009/06/when-the-republicans-cut-spending.php)
Under Obama, it soared by another 25% in just two years, up to 25% of GDP.


a. Federal, state and local welfare spending is now projected to total $10.3 trillion over the next ten years. Welfare was originally the province of the states, but the federal government now has some 185 means-tested welfare programs. And Obamacare spending doesn’t even start until 2014!


b. Under current policies, federal spending will be over 40% of GDP by 2040, and “the growing imbalance between revenues and noninterest spending, combined with spiraling interest payments, would swiftly push debt to unsustainable levels. Debt as a share of GDP would exceed its historical peak of 109 percent by 2025 and would reach 185 percent in 2035.”
Congressional Budget Office Nonpartisan Analysis for the U.S. Congress



And, for sure....some idiot would cheer about it!

 

[LoneLaugher]

I am pretty sure that, if asked, most governors would trade places with California, economically, in a "New York Minute".

Great economies are either liberal.....or fueled by natural resources.

Congrats!

I see you never wasted any valuable time studying either mathematics or economics.

Probably you time was better spent learning how to change the oil in your deep fryer.

Weeeeeeeeeeee! The idiot responded to me! Weeeeeeeeeeee!

The idiot is the one who cheered for the most debt ridden economy in the nation.

That would be....you.


It's time to pull over and change the air in your head!

There you go. I'm sure Mississippi' idiot governor wouldn't trade his economy with Jerry Brown.

You suck so bad....you can't even TRY to address what I said.

Where does the California economy rank? Is it the worst? You retard.