Politics Thread

[noteggs]

Interesting times. Government is trying to increase the debt ceiling, at the same time trying to increase spending over 5 trillion. Yes I know the 3.5 is over 10 years. Obviously billions/trillions more will be spent on these programs for years upon years because entitlements do not magically disappear.

We’ve had the highest illegal border crossings in decades, but just canceled wall contracts.

FBI was instructed by the DOJ to investigate school board meetings while the NSBA said some actions at meetings “could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes.”

And…Trump still thinks he won the last election. Again interesting.

[Strange Brew]

Interesting times. Government is trying to increase the debt ceiling, at the same time trying to increase spending over 5 trillion. Yes I know the 3.5 is over 10 years. Obviously billions/trillions more will be spent on these programs for years upon years because entitlements do not magically disappear.

We’ve had the highest illegal border crossings in decades, but just canceled wall contracts.

FBI was instructed by the DOJ to investigate school board meetings while the NSBA said some actions at meetings “could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes.”

And…Trump still thinks he won the last election. Again interesting.

Sounds like an old Chinese saying.....

May you live in interesting times. Wasn't a blessing....

[xubrew]

Yes, we need to increase the debt ceiling. Has to be done. The reason we need to do this is because we are in so much debt.

Will there ever be a day where we stop saying things like "The reason we need to go deeper into debt is because of how deeply in debt we are."

Oh! Well, since you put it THAT way...sure!!

America is like that annoying friend we had in school. We all know who I'm talking about. They always needs to borrow money, and they then blow it on bullshit and never pay it back. He/she then promises that they will pay it back if we lend them some more. As a country, we have turned in to that annoying friend.

And, I'm not (necessarily) saying we shouldn't increase the debt ceiling, but we eventually need to come up with a plan on how we are going to get out of all the debt we are in.

[paulxu]

How about trying what we had in 2000, when we had an annual surplus stretching into the future?

[Masterofreality]

How about trying what we had in 2000, when we had an annual surplus stretching into the future?

That was actually crafted by Republicans John Kasich & Newt Gingrich through the “Contract with America” after The Republican Revolution when the Repubs captured both Houses of Congress. Clinton was forced to go along with the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 and 1996 Welfare Reform legislation.

Paul doesn’t realize he’s not making the point he thinks he is.

Obama screwed that pooch

[xubrew]

How about trying what we had in 2000, when we had an annual surplus stretching into the future?

Yes, let's do that.

I don't care which party played the biggest role in making this happen. I only care that it happened. I also don't care which party would play the biggest role in making it happen again. I would only be glad that it happened.

[paulxu]

Sure he went along with it, and with reasonable tax rates we had a balanced budget and surpluses.
Along comes 2 giant tax cuts mostly benefiting the very rich (who were doing just fine in 2000) along with 2 unfunded (one of which totally unnecessary) wars. Those were the greatest drivers of our descent back into mounting debt. And no, I don't give Obama a pass because he continued the military excursion.

[Strange Brew]

Sure he went along with it, and with reasonable tax rates we had a balanced budget and surpluses.
Along comes 2 giant tax cuts mostly benefiting the very rich (who were doing just fine in 2000) along with 2 unfunded (one of which totally unnecessary) wars. Those were the greatest drivers of our descent back into mounting debt. And no, I don't give Obama a pass because he continued the military excursion.

We never paid down the debt and everyone who paid taxes benefitted from the most recent cuts. Period Paul, stop parroting nonsense.

You notably left out the unfunded CRA and D budgets of the Obama years....

[paulxu]

We were on our way to paying it way down...until this happened:

When President Bush took office in January 2001, the federal budget was on a more promising course than any President had inherited in decades. The budget had run surpluses for three straight fiscal years (after running deficits for nearly 30 years in a row) and was on course for a surplus in fiscal year 2001. More importantly, both President Bush’s Office of Management and Budget and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected that if the policies in place when President Bush took office remained unchanged, the budget would generate surpluses that would total $5.6 trillion over the next ten years[2] — more than enough to pay off the entire outstanding federal debt held by the public.

https://www.cbpp.org/research/gettin...facts-straight

[paulxu]

You notably left out the unfunded CRA and D budgets of the Obama years....

I noted the "greatest drivers." You are correct there were others, for example the Medicare Drug program and tying the hands (which are still tied) of Medicare to negotiate drug pricing. That's just crazy.