Soggy in NOLA
Diamond Member
- Jul 31, 2009
- 40,565
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Like spending too much money?
What a dumb question.
What a dumb question.
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That too.
Michelle Obama's servants
That too.
Don't forget her trip to Spain
Those damn parties they keep throwing
The 'People's President Celebrates ' Pork Bill or Jimmy Carter Remembrance Bill' with $100/lb steaks at a Swank White House party -so much for Shared Sacrifice or Post Modern 'Let Them Eat Cake'
As told to ABCs Jake Tapper, the menu included alcoholic beverages (vodka martinis are an Obama favorite, reportedly) and wagyu steak ($100/lb).
Coming off of the most expensive inaugural celebration in American history and passage of a trillion-dollar 'Pork bill or Jimmy Carter Remembrance Bill' that will
saddle future generations with unprecedented debt, should not the Messiah consider cutting back on such indulgences.
Didn't read #1 did ya, dumbass?how anyone can be so brain twisted as to pretend this whole mess was not nudged along by the Bush policies is beyond the pale.
No wonder this country is so screwed up.
What caused the national debt? 6 culprits - The Week
1. The Bush tax cuts
The biggest culprit? The 2001 and 2003 tax cuts under then-president George W. Bush, says the Associated Press. They have added an estimated $1.6 trillion to the national debt. It's pretty clear, says Brian Beutler at Talking Points Memo, that Bush-era policies, "particularly debt-financed tax cuts," make up "the lion's share of the problem." And they're ongoing, so the tab for them builds every year.
2. Health care entitlements
Democrats "constantly harp" about the Bush tax cuts, says Peter Morici at Seeking Alpha, but those rates were in place in 2007, and the deficit that year was one-tenth this year's budget shortfall of $1.6 trillion. So what has changed since then? Added "federal regulation, bureaucracy, and new Medicaid and other entitlements have pushed up federal spending by $1.1 trillion $900 billion more than required by inflation." And down the road, says Yuval Levin at National Review, our "health-entitlement explosion" will account for "basically 100 percent" of our debt problem.
3. Medicare prescription drug benefit
Another piece of the pie: George W. Bush's addition of Medicare's prescription drug benefit. That has added $300 billion to the debt, according to the AP. Expanding entitlements like Medicare, or last year's health-care reform package, is a particularly tempting way for Congress to run up debt, says Jagadeesh Gokhale at The Daily Caller. Since lawmakers don't typically map out a revenue strategy to fund those benefits, they are "shielded from the political costs of actually paying for the new programs."
4. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
The tab for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan comes to $1.3 trillion, another major chunk of new, unexpected spending over the last decade. "These wars cost us plenty," says Nake M. Kamrany at The Huffington Post, and they "have to be financed with borrowing, which adds up to national debt."
5. Obama's economic stimulus
The 2009 stimulus package enacted by President Obama cost $800 billion. And the 2010 tax-cut compromise between Obama and Republicans, which extended jobless benefits and reduced payroll taxes, added another $400 billion to the debt. Add another $200 billion for the 2008 bailout of the financial industry, and the government's efforts to soften the blow of the Great Recession amount to one of the largest chunks of the debt build-up. The "federal budget was one good year away from balancing" after 2007, says Tom Blumer at News Busters. But in the years since, Obama and Democrats in Congress put that goal out of reach.
6. The Great Recession
Some of the spending gap came from factors outside the control of Congress and the White House. As the government spent heavily to boost the economy, says the AP, it took in hundreds of billions less in tax revenue than expected, because the Great Recession eroded Americans' income and spending.
Does the article mention the Trillions in Banker bailouts for the Derivatives they made? Hint: 1,500 Trillion.
Really? The bankers paid back 1,500 Trillion? That's more than the entire worlds GDP! You have proof of this of course!Does the article mention the Trillions in Banker bailouts for the Derivatives they made? Hint: 1,500 Trillion.
The bank bailouts have been repaid, at a profit to the Treasury.
how anyone can be so brain twisted as to pretend this whole mess was not nudged along by the Bush policies is beyond the pale.
No wonder this country is so screwed up.
Really? The bankers paid back 1,500 Trillion? That's more than the entire worlds GDP! You have proof of this of course!Does the article mention the Trillions in Banker bailouts for the Derivatives they made? Hint: 1,500 Trillion.
The bank bailouts have been repaid, at a profit to the Treasury.
What caused the national debt?
Our elected leaders spent too much.
how anyone can be so brain twisted as to pretend this whole mess was not nudged along by the Bush policies is beyond the pale.
No wonder this country is so screwed up.
Really? The bankers paid back 1,500 Trillion? That's more than the entire worlds GDP! You have proof of this of course!Does the article mention the Trillions in Banker bailouts for the Derivatives they made? Hint: 1,500 Trillion.
The bank bailouts have been repaid, at a profit to the Treasury.
Yeah. And don't get me started on Fannie and Freddie......