Deficits: Then And Now

[ogibillm]

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!

you link to the cbo, but not to a cbo report. please link to the report that you pulled the quote from.

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

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!

you link to the cbo, but not to a cbo report. please link to the report that you pulled the quote from.

does it matter? A liberal will lack the IQ to know that the more govt grows the less the wealth producing private sector does.

 

[PoliticalChic]

So....how do deficits and debt get this far out of line?

Simple...bureaucrats lie, promise one thing, and then the reality sets in.

6. " Progressives, unchecked, leave those budget time bombs: the New Deal gave us Social Security, Obama gave us Obamacare, and the Great Society left us Medicare. Beck, Balfe, “Broke," p. 207

a. The Republicans are more fiscally responsible? In the House, 81 Republicans supported the Social Security Act in 1935; in 1965, 70 Republicans voted for Medicare, and the Republican-controlled Congress passed Medicare Part D, by 54-44. Dean claims Social Security and Medicare were passed without Republican support PolitiFact



7. Prior to passage, estimates for Medicare were about $1.1 billion for the following two years, and “several billion over this decade.” And this, just after passage, “The first full-year cost was estimated as $6.5 billion.” Medicare 1965 Legislative Chronology Journihilism and “The House Ways and Means Committee estimated that Medicare would cost only about $ 12 billion by 1990 (a figure that included an allowance for inflation).” The Medicare Monster - Reason.com

a. “But in 1990 Medicare actually cost $107 billion.” Ibid.

1. 1. Current annual budget for Medicare: $498 billion. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/02/01/us/budget.html

8. ‘As background to its estimates, the CBO notes that spending on Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security will rise rapidly in the future, pushing up "primary" federal spending (excluding interest payments on the debt) from 18.2 percent of GDP today to 28.3 percent in 2050 and 35.3 percent in 2082. With interest payments included, spending will hit 41.8 percent of GDP in 2050 and 75.4 percent by 2082…."[t]he tax rate for the lowest bracket would have to be increased from 10 percent to 25 percent; the tax rate on incomes in the current 25 percent bracket would have to be increased to 63 percent; and the tax rate of the highest bracket would have to be raised from 35 percent to 88 percent. The top corporate income tax rate would also increase from 35 percent to 88 percent." Peter R. Orszag, Director, Congressional Budget Office, letter to Representative Paul Ryan (R–WI), May 19, 2008, eons



a. “Spending on the three major entitlements, Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, will more than double in the next 40 years. Without major reforms, entitlement spending will consume all federal tax revenues by 2052.” http://www.issues2010.com/pdf/Entitlements.pdf

 

[NYcarbineer]

The author of this thread attacks a state with a surplus, thinking she is making some sort of a point about deficits and Democrats.

That is actually quite sophisticated political parody, but I'm guessing it wasn't intended to be.

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

The author of this thread attacks a state with a surplus, thinking she is making some sort of a point about deficits and Democrats.

the simple point is that Democrats favor deficits to keep the welfare flowing to their ever growing dependent voting constituency and so killed every Republican effort to make deficits illegal.

 

[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!

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.

Isn't it dangerous to use one's entire vocabulary in a single answer?
Your incompetence is an inspiration to idiots everywhere.




"Where does the California economy rank? Is it the worst?"
Yup.

So...now that we've established that you can't read....

...here it is again:


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-...




If you come across anyone who would have anything to do with you...have them read and explain this to you:
"California: CEOs Rate It Worst U.S. Business Climate For 8 Years Running"
RealClearMarkets - California CEOs Rate It Worst U.S. Business Climate For 8 Years Running




As an improvement, have each and every one of your posts accompanied by "Yackety Sax."....

 

[Moonglow]

The fall of the USSR was 1991, three years after Saint Reagan left office...And several shots were fired, just not at the US...

 

[PoliticalChic]

Another example of the sort of lies told to the public to advance one boondoggle or another....

" The system in California that is now receiving $2.4 billion in stimulus funding was originally sold to voters in 2008 with a price tag of $33.6 billion. Almost immediately the cost estimate jumped to $43 billion. “Estimates of ticket prices between Los Angeles and San Francisco have nearly doubled in the project's latest business plan, pushing ridership projections down sharply and prompting new skepticism about data underpinning the entire project.”
Some fear California s high-speed rail won t deliver on early promises - Los Angeles Times
Round trip is now far more expensive than flights.


Many folks rail against union contracts that break the bank....but how do they miss this sort of thing???

The same solution applies to both: elected officials should have both civil penalties for overruns....and should have to take out insurance to pay for same- paid for by themselves.

 

[PoliticalChic]

The fall of the USSR was 1991, three years after Saint Reagan left office...And several shots were fired, just not at the US...

Another example of "stream of unconsciousness" posting.

 

[Toronado3800]

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'...

California has one heck of a debt and seems over populated to a Midwestern boy who can water his lawn all the time here in a place where we have to pump water AWAY from our houses.

They are interesting though. What is the ratio of Republican vs Democrat govenors over the last whatever years?

 

[PoliticalChic]

1. To get an idea of the characteristics of public fiscal calculations, take a look at state budgets. State, unlike federal, budgets, cannot run as deficits. “Virtually all states have balanced budget requirements, so they must take actions to close these deficits.” (State Budget Deficits for Fiscal Year 2004 are Huge and Growing Revised 1 23 03) So, what to do? Simple: conjecture a better world!
   1. In 2008, states reported that their public-employee pensions were underfunded by a total of $438 billion. But independent estimates say the underfunding is closer to $3 trillion. Why? The states make up estimates of return at unbelievable levels: the median investment return factored in by state pensions is 8% a year! http://www.aei.org/outlook/100948
   2. “The official state estimate in underfunded pension liabilities to New Jersey’s public workers stands at $46 billion. It is one of the highest liabilities in the nation, averaging $5,200 per capita. The estimate is based on an assumed rate of return on pension assets of 8.25 percent –“ National Taxpayers Union - Overvalued and Underfunded New Jersey s Pension Time Bomb

Now, what happens if the state cannot pay the pensions? Taxpayers are legally obligated to make up any difference between what’s been promised and what can actually be paid. Pension Pulse Pension Woes May Deepen Financial Crisis

 

[PoliticalChic]

1. Let’s see all of the debt in one place!

a. National debt $13 trillion

b. State and Local debt $2.5 trillion

c. State and Local pensions (underfunded) $3 trillion

d. Social Security $7.7 trillion*

e. Medicare $ 38 trillion*

f. Total US debt $64.2 trillion

g. Total GDP of entire world $61.0 trillion

*covers commitments for 75 years

b., c. http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/229942/other-national-debt/kevin-williamson

d., e. The 81 Tax Increase - Forbes

f. The Final Hour 65 Trillion - U.S. Financial Obligations Exceed The Entire World s GDP

g. Silver Declining supply increasing demand Resource Investor

 

[NYcarbineer]

The author of this thread attacks a state with a surplus, thinking she is making some sort of a point about deficits and Democrats.

the simple point is that Democrats favor deficits to keep the welfare flowing to their ever growing dependent voting constituency and so killed every Republican effort to make deficits illegal.

That is simply false.

 

[PoliticalChic]

"The federal government has spent at least $20 billion in taxpayer money this year on items and services that it is permitted to keep secret from the public, according to an investigation by the News4 I-Team.

The purchases, known among federal employees as “micropurchases,” are made by some of the thousands of agency employees who are issued taxpayer-funded purchase cards. The purchases, in most cases, remain confidential and are not publicly disclosed by the agencies. A sampling of those purchases, obtained by the I-Team via the Freedom of Information Act, reveals at least one agency used those cards to buy $30,000 in Starbucks Coffee drinks and products in one year without having to disclose or detail the purchases to the public."
Federal Government Made 20 Billion in Secret Purchases in Recent Months NBC4 Washington

 

[Saigon]

Can someone tell me what the deficit was when Reagan entered office, and what it was when he left office?

Thanks.

 

[PoliticalChic]

Can someone tell me what the deficit was when Reagan entered office, and what it was when he left office?

Thanks.

Thank you for bringing up the name of a real President.


Maybe this will help:

1. Under Reagan, the debt went up $1.7 trillion, from $900 billion to $2.6 trillion.
2. But….the national wealth went up $ 17 trillion
3. Reagan's near-trillion-dollar bulge in defense spending transformed the global balance of power in favor of capitalism. Spurring a stock-market, energy, venture-capital, real-estate and employment boom, the Reagan tax-rate cuts and other pro-enterprise policies added some $17 trillion to America's private-sector assets, dwarfing the trillion-dollar rise in public-sector deficits and creating 45 million net new jobs at rising wages and salaries.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444914904577621083163383966.html

and
Reaganomics - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia



Let me help you with the math: his return for the nation was ten time what he invested.


Then there's this:
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Barack Obama pledged Monday to cut the nation's $1.3 trillion deficit in half by the end of his first term
Obama pledges to cut nation s deficit in half - Feb. 23 2009

a. “The total national debt now stands at $15.8 trillion, up from $10.6 trillion when Mr. Obama took office, an increase of nearly 50 percent. A commonly cited and more economically important subset, debt held by the public, has grown to $11 trillion from $6.3 trillion, a 75 percent increase —
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/20/u...d-romney.html?pagewanted=all&_moc.semityn.www

b. Of course, today the debt is about $18 trillion.
U.S. National Debt Clock Real Time


So.......who'd ya' vote for?

 

[Saigon]

P. Chic -

So the lesson we can learn from this is that you can make the economy boom if you max out all the credit cards....you just have to get out of office before the bills arrive.

 

[PoliticalChic]

P. Chic -

So the lesson we can learn from this is that you can make the economy boom if you max out all the credit cards....you just have to get out of office before the bills arrive.

I need to see if you are capable of learning....

So.......who'd ya' vote for?

 

[Saigon]

So.......who'd ya' vote for?

I voted Vihreä last time out, but this time probably SDP or RKP.

I'm not an American, remember!!

I vote for whoever has the best policies at the time....I don't care what party that is.

 

[PoliticalChic]

So.......who'd ya' vote for?

I voted Vihreä last time out, but this time probably SDP or RKP.

I'm not an American, remember!!

I vote for whoever has the best policies at the time....I don't care what party that is.

C'mon now....you're not gonna hide behind that technicality, are you?

Step up to the plate: Obama supporter?