Althouse: Obama's plan to cut the deficit.

April 13, 2011

Obama's plan to cut the deficit.

"We will all need to make sacrifices. But we do not have to sacrifice the America we believe in. And as long as I’m president, we won’t."

227 comments:

«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 227 of 227

damikesc said...: Until a President decides to make the spending cuts immediately...rather than years later when they aren't in office, they can all rot in hell, for all I care.; 4/13/11, 7:22 PM
cubanbob said...: Jeremy said...
And the Democrats will run ads against whoever or whatever the GOP can scrounge up...that will ask:

..."does anybody remember the surplus Clinton left behind?

...or the two wars Bush got us into?

...or that little Georgie was sound asleep during the lead up to the economic collapse or the real estate meltdown?

...or that he left behind a massive deficit?

...or that he sidned a 700 Billion dollar bank bailout bill on the way out the door?"

"Vote Obama...he's the one who cleaned up the mess left behind!!"

4/13/11 4:33

FIne lets rollback the budget to the 1998 level and adjust for population and inflation and eliminate useless social fluff like NPR, PBS, planned parenthood and repeal the Davis-Bacon Act and civil servants unions and farm subsidies and credits. We will have a surplus and apply it to debt reduction.; 4/13/11, 7:22 PM
damikesc said...: Jeremy: Jay - No, it has the reserves.

"Reserves" being US bonds --- which Congress has to borrow money to honor.

So, yes, it IS adding to the deficit. Permanently.

gm: You say SS adds to the debt. In order to believe this, you must have seen actual numbers adding to this debt?

That they pay out more than they take in is not hidden information.; 4/13/11, 7:28 PM
LilyBart said...: Several of you have made this mistake. Deductions in the tax code _are_ government spending. They are a wealth transfer.

No, no, no. If I get a deduction (like mortgage interest), my tax bill is reduced and I pay less. This is often used to incent certain actions or behavior. But no one's wealth is transferred to me through this deduction.

The problem with current government thinking is that they act like all income belongs to them, and its 'spending' when they let you keep some of your income.; 4/13/11, 7:39 PM
Anonymous said...: "We really do not need all those bureaucrats in the age of modern technology."

They aren't bureaucrats, they're Democrat voters, they aren't going anywhere.; 4/13/11, 7:39 PM
cubanbob said...: garage mahal said...
That's right dummy, you call it an IOU, a unicorn, whatever it is so you feel good inside and pretend it isn't debt.

Show me, moron, where SS adds to our debt. A link please. Otherwise, with all due respect, you seriously need to shut the fuck up about this topic.

4/13/11 4:57 PM

If it doesn't add to the debt it isn't an obligation to be paid back so it doesn't exist and therefore we can abolish it tomorrow since their is no obligation.; 4/13/11, 7:43 PM
Henry said...: @Barbara. Thank you. But it's hopeless. When Jeremy shows up it's like listening to hypochondriacs talk about their stomach upset.; 4/13/11, 8:20 PM
Henry said...: But no one's wealth is transferred to me through this deduction.

Not literally. But in percentages of the whole my deduction is covered by someone else's hit.

Neither the charitable farmers with three kids and a mortgage OR the single attorney who rents in the city pay for the actual cost of government. Whether you call it spending or taxing is really beside the point. What it is is screwed up.; 4/13/11, 8:27 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: Economic Illiteracy, thy champion is Obama.; 4/13/11, 8:40 PM
LilyBart said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 4/13/11, 8:42 PM
Cindy Martin said...: 48% of the population make no sacrafice. They pay no federal income tax. Even socialist Europe is lower. Also the people that makes millions a year can afford a higher tax rate.
And companies like GE can and should pay taxes. Instead they received 37 million of taxpayer,s money from Obama to shore up their retirement health fund.; 4/13/11, 8:51 PM
master cylinder said...: Hi Jeremy, Garage....keep fighting the good fight.
The force is strong with you two.
Just checking the pulse here at Althouse.
Feeling better and better about 2012.
Gobama.; 4/13/11, 8:57 PM
LilyBart said...: Not literally. But in percentages of the whole my deduction is covered by someone else's hit.

Fine. Loose the deductions. But lower the overall tax rate. Government is too big and taxes too high.

Increasing taxes on the productive will not solve the spending problem.; 4/13/11, 9:11 PM
Gabriel Hanna said...: I think you guys are being too hard on garage mahal and Jeremy. They are right about Social Security and you are wrong. Let me explain why.

If the SSA had no trust fund, and it took in a billion less this year than it needs to pay out, the Treasury would have to make good on that billion, by raising taxes or borrowing the money.

However, the trust fund DOES exists. So when the SSA is a billion short, it cashes in its Treasury bond, and then the Treasury makes good on the billion, by raising taxes or broowring the money.

Which is totally different from the scenario you Republican types claim exist. In YOUR scenario, the Treasury has to pay for SS benefits, but thanks to the trust fund, the Treasury only has to pay for the bond that pays for the benefits, and the SSA only has to transfer that bond to the Treasury to get that billion.

To sum up:

No trust fund + billion dollar shortfall in SSA = Treasury has to find a billion dollars

Trust fund + billion dollar shortfall in SSA = Treasury has to find a billion dollars.

Totally different. In the second scenario one engraved piece of paper was transferred from one filing cabinet to another, and in the other it wasn't. I know it's easy to get confused, but if you work on it you'll get it.; 4/13/11, 9:14 PM
hombre said...: Mike R wrote: "not all wealth transfers involve spending." Am I supposed to care about dictionary definitions. There is no real difference at all.

Well, words mean stuff, Mike. If you make up your own definitions, your comments, as here, appear illogical.

And again: My money is being taken through taxes, and used to pay for your lower taxes.

And none of this has to do with actual spending -- as opposed to your "no real difference" spending, right?; 4/13/11, 9:36 PM
Paul said...: To cut the budget tax all politicians AND ex-politicians 80 percent RETROACTIVLY for the last 2 years Obama has been in office.

And bill Obama for all his vacations.; 4/13/11, 9:52 PM
Dex Quire said...: Can he give a speech without invoking the straw man in all his manifestations?

...some say that we must reduce the Federal government to rubble--

...some insist that government should be obliterated--

...some would have us see 5 year olds selling flowers on a corner at midnight--

But I say that America is greater than that. America is on its way to fulfilling her promise and we will go with her on this quest blah glahblah

Some would say this president is incapable of listening to common people-

Some would insist that this president does not have a concept of how hard it is to make money-

Some would demand that this president learn to talk in plain speech that is honest and true and reflects some of the glory of the English tongue going back 800 years-

But I would say that he is an ideologue who hasn't had a new ideas since graduate school and without ability to put himself in the shoes of others et al; 4/13/11, 10:06 PM
hombre said...: master cylinder wrote: Hi Jeremy, Garage....keep fighting the good fight.... Feeling better and better about 2012.
Gobama.

Right on master. Obama is awesome!; 4/13/11, 10:40 PM
Robin said...: Jeremy, your responses are not serious. Attempting to take a swipe at Jay, who actually understands the reality regarding the faux social security trust fund, just underscores that.

That you are trying to reinforce Garage Mahal's misrepresentation of the state of social security is the icing on the cake of unseriousness.; 4/13/11, 10:45 PM
Robin said...: Gabriel Hanna - that was awesome.; 4/13/11, 10:47 PM
Rick67 said...: Good Lord. Deliver us from this man.; 4/13/11, 11:06 PM
Steve Koch said...: It is funny. The old people are warning the young people that a financial disaster that will ruin the country is rapidly approaching because of out of control federal government spending. They are telling the young people that social security is a ponzi scheme, that is the benefits paid to the current social security beneficiaries are paid from the social security taxes paid by current workers. This ponzi scheme cannot survive because the ratio of retirees to workers is steadily growing.

That date of 2037 for SS solvency was moved up from 2041 just two years ago and is going to get moved up again and again.

These old people are primarily Republicans.

The young people who refuse to pay heed to the warnings of their wiser, more experienced, more knowledgeable elders are mainly Democrats.

If we want to preserve our economy, preserve our freedom, avoid saddling our young people with insurmountable debt, and keep America from self destructing, we need to significantly shrink the size and cost of the federal government.; 4/14/11, 2:28 AM
Steve Koch said...: William Butler Yeats
THE SECOND COMING

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: a waste of desert sand;
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Wind shadows of the indignant desert birds.

The darkness drops again but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?; 4/14/11, 2:35 AM
Toad Trend said...: The disconnected ramblings of Jeremy, Shiloh and Garage Mahal are proof positive of the damage done by leftists to this country. Talk about brainwashed! The old Russian adage was pointed out by a commenter in an earlier thread/post (Edutcher?) of 'don't piss on my leg and tell me its raining' or something to that effect is perfect - these three morons demonstrably 'feel the rain'. It underscores the danger of agreeing to cede your freedom to all-seeing and knowing overlords. The little you get in return for security includes the turds they drop.

Give me liberty or give me death.; 4/14/11, 6:28 AM
Roger J. said...: The comments pretty well speak for themselves--Jug ears delivered his first major speech in his relection campaign--nothing specific--bad republicans, hope and change. I will protect you.

Regretably a majority of people bought that bullshit in the last election and quite probably they may buy it again in 2012.; 4/14/11, 7:29 AM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Gabriel:
I had to read twice to comprehend. But it was awesome! Good job!; 4/14/11, 9:27 AM
X said...: MikeR, does your landlord get to write off mortgage interest as the legitimate business expense it is?

do you benefit from that?; 4/14/11, 11:06 AM