- Dec 5, 2010
- 100,113
- 36,153
- 2,290
Repeal the Bush tax cuts, raise the top rate by 3%, and cut the defense budget.
Bill Clinton did it and balanced the budget.
No, Bill Clinton did not balance the budget on his own. He had help from the Republicans and even so it was not a success in lowering the debt load, simply a reduction in the penalties of interest on re-packaged debt. He attempted to balance the budget on his own, but his legislation was delayed so that his attempts would not have done any balancing until his term was over, so the Republicans led by Gingrich forced his hand in an attempt to starve the beast on his watch, and lower the deficit interest payments by purchasing debt with a few years left standing and repackaging it for longer term debt in order forgo the earlier debt load payments, so there were some surpluses for a few years however all they did was pay off some of the debt of the interest without any real movement towards a national debt reduction and no real balancing of the budget.
A fairly large portion of Slick Willie's cuts were to civilian infrastructure, maintenance and civil work, and it's a far different financial landscape than when Bill was attempting to reduce the debt load. To attempt this today would be not only be disastrous, but impossible since that method of repackaging was a pyramid structure and has been ended. It was supposed to be used for a short term effect but it was so useful a strategy (so they thought) that it was allowed to continue ad nauseam.
Now Europe might well depress when Italy comes due in another year or so, and the US has dealt with its toxic debt load to a great extent. Europe has stuck their head in the sand and pretended it did not exist.
easily.....
take all spending for the year, divide by the number of people over 18... add a bit to pay off some of the debt and send each a bill for the amount to make them face the true cost of government......
within 6 months all spending will be drastically cut........
^
Exactly!
It wasn't the Republicans OR the Democrats who brought you the economies of the 1980's and 1990's. It was The American Government in the 80's and 90's. The one YOU elected.
Why does politics always have to be like a sporting event with a winner and a looser?
Games and stupidity need the triumphant and those the triumphant make to feel like shit..... The American Marketplace simply needs balance.
Yes, however I'm a Canadian. My point of this being that the financial wheeling and dealing that led to the collapse did not come from Wall Street machinations.
But from the Government. So, this Canadian is simply saying that the US really needs to pull up its socks and deal with the issues in some form of bipartisanship.
However, that being said, the goose that laid the golden egg is no longer laying and the farmer better lock up his daughters because the town boys don't pay no never-mind to poor girls reputations.
And the Dems are a spending like crazy ....