Althouse: At that Horizontal Café...

January 4, 2013

At that Horizontal Café...

... you can talk about whatever you want.

102 comments:

Anonymous said...: Gorgeous...; 1/4/13, 11:06 AM
Synova said...: It's cold, and I'm realizing how much I don't like cold. Our furnace works, but doesn't work, so it's just cold in the house too.

I'm missing Florida and California, though I'm not so sure I'd want to move back to either place.

Any suggestions about pleasant places to live in both January and August? I do like the idea of seasons, just not freezing.; 1/4/13, 11:06 AM
Scott said...: My parents retired to central Georgia. The weather was pretty nice most of the time.; 1/4/13, 11:10 AM
Anonymous said...: Think I'll pick some lemons from the tree today. They're approaching the size of small grapefruits. Got a whole bunch of tangerines the other day. Maybe some Mandarin oranges tomorrow. All of the backyard citrus trees have had a bit of frost and the fruit has sweetened up amazingly. Especially the tangerines. I have wayyyyy more than i can deal with. Anybody want a basket of freebies?; 1/4/13, 11:12 AM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/4/13, 11:16 AM
AllenS said...: One thing that I learned as a kid living up nort, is that you don't ever want to put your tongue on any shiney metal in the winter.; 1/4/13, 11:22 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: I think we should all gang up and pelt Surfed with his blankety blank lemons and tangerines until he cries like a little girl :-) Smarty pants deserves it!

@ Synova. You can't beat the San Luis Obisbpo coastline to San Diego, Paso Robles etc. for year round beautiful weather; 1/4/13, 11:26 AM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: I have long suspected that I am mentally ill, and looking at that photo, and being reminded of the star gate from 2001, isn't helping any.; 1/4/13, 11:32 AM
Synova said...: I had just planted lemons and oranges when we moved out of the Bay Area (San Pablo).

Every time I plant fruit trees we move, though I planted a couple dwarf sweet cherries here(didn't used to be able to get those) and this is the second winter for them and we haven't moved yet.

I think I could move all the way north to the middle of Kansas and I'd still be warmer than here.; 1/4/13, 11:38 AM
MadisonMan said...: When we played I Spy in the car when my kids were young, I would frequently find a word starting with 'H' and use 'horizon'. It's not something people think of.

As far as lemons, well, a lemon tree is very pretty. And the lemon flower is sweet. But the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat.; 1/4/13, 11:42 AM
Seeing Red said...: Via Vodkapundit:

Put down that Shakespeare and pick up Executive Order 13432, because the Obama Administration is forcing public school English teachers to drop the classics in favor of government pamphlets.

Seriously.; 1/4/13, 11:44 AM
Fprawl said...: I wonder who the fictional person was that found nearly a million dollars in the bag Steve Buscemi buried by the fencepost in 'Fargo'?; 1/4/13, 11:45 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: One of my dreams....win the lottery, 'cuz there is no other way to afford it......is to have a conservatory type of room. Perfectly heated, radiant heat floors, glassy walls with a view overlooking the river below, wet bar, beautiful retro rattan furniture with tropical print cushions, music system, hot tub and ESPECIALLY filled with potted lemon and lime trees, ferns and other warm weather loving plants. I can sit in this warm sunny room and sneer at the snow and ice.

To dream the impossible dream.....la la la :-); 1/4/13, 11:46 AM
Seeing Red said...: Is Wisconsin nice in the summer?

Wouldn't the question really be, Synova, where you want residency?; 1/4/13, 11:48 AM
Patrick said...: For those who have time, I highly recommend this story. It is linked at Megan Mcardle's blog, in connection with the McDonald case, but the story should be viewed separately. In the McDonald case, there is apparently some dispute on whether the Defendant is guilty. In the story to which I linked, there is no doubt that the Defendant was innocent, although it took 25 years for the prosecution to admit that. The story is very well written, but also very long. Still, I found it very well worth the time.; 1/4/13, 11:49 AM
jungatheart said...: Beautiful. Does that kind of cloud formation indicate a front or something?; 1/4/13, 11:49 AM
Seeing Red said...: I love Lantana. This past summer I bought a Lantana tree for the 1st time, put it on the back deck and got hummingbirds.

I never had hummingbirds before. I don't recall ever seeing them in IL either.; 1/4/13, 11:50 AM
Anonymous said...: Ganging up on me are you fellow Althouse comment denizens? Ok, I'll toss out the name of one town: Google it but don't move there. Way to many people here already. Oh, and it's in the mid 60's today. Shorts and jsckets are everyday wear this time of year...; 1/4/13, 11:51 AM
MadisonMan said...: Does that kind of cloud formation indicate a front or something?

No. That looks like the back edge of a stratocumulus deck to me. Signifies cold air aloft (the cloudy part) being replaced by warmer air aloft (the clear part). This is a typical cloud structure the day after a strong storm in Madison if the storm hasn't moved far to the east and north yet.; 1/4/13, 11:59 AM
edutcher said...: There's something bleak about a winter landscape after Christmas.

You think about some militiaman in the winter of '62 trudging across something like that in pursuit of the Sioux.; 1/4/13, 11:59 AM
Patrick said...: While I'm linking stories, try this one too.

Quite a profession.; 1/4/13, 12:05 PM
Robert Cook said...: Why we're fucked (and who fucked us); 1/4/13, 12:09 PM
Unknown said...: Ann,

I recently started following your blog.

I just wanted to say that your Cafe posts invariably make me smile.

That is all.; 1/4/13, 12:27 PM
garage mahal said...: Horizontal lab all tuckered out.; 1/4/13, 12:38 PM
Joe Schmoe said...: Thanks Obama. My paycheck was 2% lighter today thanks to your legislation that put employee SS contribution back to 6.2% from 4.2%. Tax on the rich my ass.; 1/4/13, 12:55 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: As above, so below.; 1/4/13, 1:21 PM
Robert Cook said...: "Thanks Obama. My paycheck was 2% lighter today thanks to your legislation that put employee SS contribution back to 6.2% from 4.2%. Tax on the rich my ass."

I've been telling you guys Obama is working for the 1% and not for the rest of us.; 1/4/13, 1:45 PM
garage mahal said...: I've been telling you guys Obama is working for the 1% and not for the rest of us.

That payroll tax funds SS & Medicare.; 1/4/13, 1:52 PM
Synova said...: yes, garage.

And the rest of us have been trying to explain that the "rich" paying "their fair share" is a drop in the bucket, even if "their fair share" was 100%. All that good government cheese and all those entitlements can't be paid for by making the "rich" pay "their fair share."; 1/4/13, 2:05 PM
garage mahal said...: All that good government cheese and all those entitlements can't be paid for by making the "rich" pay "their fair share."

Who is claiming that?; 1/4/13, 2:10 PM
Scott said...: "Who is claiming that?"

Anybody who can do math.; 1/4/13, 2:20 PM
garage mahal said...: Anybody who can do math

Who is claiming that a tax hike on the wealthy can pay for everything? Nobody, that's who. It's a made-up strawman.; 1/4/13, 2:24 PM
MadisonMan said...: Anybody who can do math.

That is to say, no one.; 1/4/13, 2:25 PM
Amartel said...: Is the day half cloudy or half sunny?; 1/4/13, 3:04 PM
Synova said...: The math, garage, is this... can't raise taxes on anyone except the rich... can't cut spending because that's mean.

Of course no one *claims* that taxing the rich will pay for everything, because it's stupid, they just promote taxing the rich as a solution to our problems.

See what I did there?

Address the details and it's obvious that the class warfare has no actual economic purpose... but Obama is doing it anyway.

So... why?

Suggest that the government needs to cut something and you're a radical suggesting *dangerous* policies and must be defeated.

It's amazing, actually.; 1/4/13, 3:38 PM
Known Unknown said...: This is Executive Order 13432

Not sure what Vodka is going on about.; 1/4/13, 3:41 PM
Known Unknown said...: Suggest that the government needs to cut something and you're a radical suggesting *dangerous* policies and must be defeated.

This has become a problem. Suggest cutting NPR and PBS are you are labeled a culture-hating philistine.

Suggest means-testing a school lunch program and you want to starve kids.

Even a reduction in the rate of growth is called a 'cut' by the media.; 1/4/13, 3:45 PM
garage mahal said...: Suggest that the government needs to cut something and you're a radical suggesting *dangerous* policies and must be defeated.

Obama has already signed 2 trillion dollars in cuts. What's funny is I think he would gladly cut entitlements but since he is the Anti-Christ Republicans refuse to work with him on it. For that I can be thankful.; 1/4/13, 3:47 PM
Synova said...: "This has become a problem. Suggest cutting NPR and PBS are you are labeled a culture-hating philistine."

Never happened. Obama is ready to cut all sorts of things, just as garage.

The memory hole... what would we do without it?; 1/4/13, 3:52 PM
Synova said...: Just ask garage...; 1/4/13, 3:52 PM
AllenS said...: garage mahal said...
Obama has already signed 2 trillion dollars in cuts.

I must have missed that. What actually is he going to cut? Can you give me some programs that will be cut?; 1/4/13, 3:56 PM
Known Unknown said...: The Executive Order number used in the video has no relation to the Common Core Curriculum, which is what is discussed. It's just an example of what kids might read in lieu of Shakespeare, if the government were to design a national school curriculum.

And the number stated in the video is 14323, which does not exist.; 1/4/13, 3:56 PM
Seeing Red said...: It's a different number, then, hubby told me about this a few weeks ago, I just don't think he realized they'd have to read governmment-issued technical papers.; 1/4/13, 3:57 PM
Known Unknown said...: Obama has already signed 2 trillion dollars in cuts.

Link this or you're dead to me ; ); 1/4/13, 3:57 PM
Rusty said...: AllenS said...
garage mahal said...
Obama has already signed 2 trillion dollars in cuts.

I must have missed that. What actually is he going to cut? Can you give me some programs that will be cut?

Military. Let the world patrol it's own oceans.; 1/4/13, 4:01 PM
Known Unknown said...: CoreStandards.org

The FAQ says it is not a Federal initiative, but a voluntary state program to develop curriculum standards in Language and Mathematics.

Here are Obama's Executive Orders since being elected in 2008.

You can have a laugh at EOs 13531 and 13564, but I don't see anything in these about Federal educational standards.; 1/4/13, 4:04 PM
AllenS said...: We spent $737.5 billion on our military last year. If we got rid of everyone in the military that isn't even 1 trillion. What's the possibility of that happening?; 1/4/13, 4:06 PM
garage mahal said...: Link this or you're dead to me ; )

Here.; 1/4/13, 4:07 PM
Synova said...: Spending reductions are... less spending that proposed increases?

And the amount is "cuts" over 10 years?

So...; 1/4/13, 4:11 PM
Synova said...: Also, the New Republic article thinks (asserts) that extending unemployment causes economic growth.

It's so adorable. The NR probably thinks that the stimulous worked, too, instead of freezing us at a status quo and never ending debt increases and 8% unemployment.; 1/4/13, 4:15 PM
AllenS said...: The New Republic as a source? What a fucking joke. Try this:

US government

Find 2 trillion there.; 1/4/13, 4:17 PM
garage mahal said...: Republicans ran on attacking Obama for allegedly cutting 700 billion from Medicare in 2010 and 2012.

They seem pretty schizophrenic on entitlement cuts. More likely they just want Obama to do it so they can blame him for it. Which is fine, none of them should be cut right now. Fixating on the debt and deficit in this recession is fucking idiotic to start with.; 1/4/13, 4:19 PM
Synova said...: Also... NR includes "endorsed" cuts in spending increases as part of Obama's "cuts".

So, in other words, hasn't happened.

I should try this with my husband... I should tell him, Dear, I made up a budget for the next year. It's way over what you make at your job, but you might get raises so nevermind that. And according to my budget we're going to have a huge deficit.

My plan for fixing this is to take out a couple of credit cards so that we have a higher debt limit.

And then, to show my good will, I'm willing to make cuts to my proposed budget. And if you complain that those aren't cuts, I assure you that I've cut thousands and thousands off my budget. We just need more *revenue*. And since you refuse to make more money, that's YOUR fault.

Not mine.; 1/4/13, 4:21 PM
AllenS said...: Don't worry about the Republicans, garage. Where is the $2 trillion in Obama's cuts?; 1/4/13, 4:22 PM
Seeing Red said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/4/13, 4:25 PM
Seeing Red said...: If we already have these cuts, then why do we need to raise the spending ceiling?; 1/4/13, 4:27 PM
Known Unknown said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/4/13, 4:28 PM
jungatheart said...: Thanks, MM.; 1/4/13, 4:29 PM
Synova said...: Rand Paul was on with someone else proposing 1% cuts. Actual cuts.

And the amount of time they said it would take to balance the budget was shockingly small.

Republicans don't generally suggest CUTS either. It's all reductions in proposed increases. Everything gets bigger.

Which is why I think it's actually sort of evil when the Democrats start howling about how irresponsible and dangerous and radical the Republicans are. They aren't. Not when 1% does way more than anything presented by ANYONE else.; 1/4/13, 4:29 PM
Known Unknown said...: I found a HuffPo link, but deleted it because I previewed it, then did something else, came back and here and realized it was now irrelevant.; 1/4/13, 4:29 PM
Seeing Red said...: Also... NR includes "endorsed" cuts in spending increases as part of Obama's "cuts".

GM must be going senile, he doesn't remember the days of cuts back in the 80s & 90s and aughts?

We've had this "cut" discussion for 30 years.

Spending less than what you really want to increase the budget by isn't a cut.

A cut is spending less than what you spent previously.

I really want 10% but can get by on a 5% increase isn't a cut.; 1/4/13, 4:30 PM
Known Unknown said...: in this recession

Wait, we're not in Recovery Winter?; 1/4/13, 4:31 PM
Known Unknown said...: I've said before that I would be willing to be the bad guy with the budget axe.

I would be despised, but I would know that I was doing our whiny country a big favor in getting it's long-term fiscal shit together.

I would never be re-elected, and would be hounded out of office for starving children, letting the homeless die in pools of their own urine, laying waste to the Arts, poisoning the elderly with tainted cat food, and setting womyn's rights back 40,000 years.

I would be like Inga The Scold, but on the right side of history.; 1/4/13, 4:36 PM
Rusty said...: Problem solved!

Trillion Dollar Coins: The Ultimate Debt Ceiling End-Around?

So gob smackingly obvious. Whay hadn't anybody thought of it before?; 1/4/13, 4:38 PM
garage mahal said...: But guess what, there's no actual data included to back up the claim in this HuffPo piece.

2011 Budget Control Act 2011. There is 1.5T right there. 1.7T if you count interest savings.; 1/4/13, 4:40 PM
garage mahal said...: Trillion Dollar Coins: The Ultimate Debt Ceiling End-Around?

Yes! With Reagan's face on it.; 1/4/13, 4:50 PM
AllenS said...: garage, maybe you've been out of town, but we are not cutting anything. The deficits have gone up since 2011, not down. So where are the benefits of this so-called Budget Control Act? There hasn't been any.; 1/4/13, 4:50 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: Synova, we get all the seasons, but we don't get the extreme heat of the deep South or the extreme cold of the far North. Our area also supports more amenities than it should for its size and unemployment is low. You should move here!; 1/4/13, 4:51 PM
Anonymous said...: EMD, I only "scold" when you've been naughty.; 1/4/13, 4:55 PM
garage mahal said...: The deficits have gone up since 2011, not down.

That's actually not true. The deficit has shrunk by over 200 billion. Remember, Obama inherited a 1.4T deficit.; 1/4/13, 4:56 PM
Deb said...: @Scott: I'm trying to think of a place in middle Georgia where the weather is pretty nice most of the time. Not Macon, I hope! :-)

I would move to SAvannah in a heart beat but the heat is brutal most of the time. I don't think I'd ever get used to it.; 1/4/13, 4:56 PM
Anonymous said...: The heat in Savannah sounds really good right about now, here in the Great North.; 1/4/13, 5:00 PM
Unknown said...: Synova
The coldest 3 years I spent in my life were when we lived right next to the Columbia River in Oregon. I live in Wyoming now where it gets to 40 below several times a winter and I've never felt as cold here as I felt there.
Utah has seasons and most places are not too hot in summer or too cold in winter, but it can be desolate. Utah, surprisingly, is one of the fastest growing states right now. Almost everyone I know who lives there makes less money than I do though, so it can't be because of the economy.; 1/4/13, 5:00 PM
Seeing Red said...: What specific programs were cut?

All it says is generalities.; 1/4/13, 5:01 PM
AllenS said...: You said: "Obama has already signed 2 trillion dollars in cuts."

What did he cut? What did he sign? When did he sign this? These questions should be easy for you to answer, but I think you were just bullshitting everyone.; 1/4/13, 5:08 PM
Seeing Red said...: How much did we lose on Government Motors again?

Cash for cars?

Solyndra & the other green jobs firms that went belly-up?; 1/4/13, 5:11 PM
Seeing Red said...: The article really says reductions in spending.

These are not cuts.; 1/4/13, 5:12 PM
Seeing Red said...: Blech, Wretchard wrote about Gorejazeera and said Gore is on the advisory board.; 1/4/13, 5:14 PM
garage mahal said...: These questions should be easy for you to answer, but I think you were just bullshitting everyone.

I just gave you the link to 1.5 trillion. 1.7 trillion if you include savings from interest. So call it 1.7T.

If you're too fucking lazy to google it yourself to find out what that consisted of then I don't think you're were ever interested to begin with.; 1/4/13, 5:16 PM
AllenS said...: One of your links:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States reported a budget surplus for the final month of the 2012 fiscal year, but the tiny bump in revenues did not prevent the country's deficit from exceeding $1 trillion for the fourth year in a row.

Where are the $2 trillion in cuts?; 1/4/13, 5:20 PM
garage mahal said...: John Boehner, bragging, on 2011 Budget Control Act 2011.

"It’s all spending cuts. .; 1/4/13, 5:28 PM
AllenS said...: I don't give a fuck what Boehner said back in 2011, I want to know where the $2 trillion in cuts came from. You said Obama cut $2 trillion. Where did the cuts come from? You have all of 2012 to look at. Does Boehner still feel thay way now?; 1/4/13, 5:41 PM
Michael said...: Garage: The spending "cuts" of 1.5 trillion occur over the course of ten years shoiuld they occur at all. The "cuts" as you know, or should know, are the result of lower growth rates not actually cuts as you or I would understand them. 1.5 trillion over ten years is 150 Billion annually against annual debt service of 350 billion. Linking to leftie articles is not enlightening to us or educational for you.; 1/4/13, 5:44 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/4/13, 5:47 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Republicans ran on attacking Obama for allegedly cutting 700 billion from Medicare in 2010 and 2012.

They seem pretty schizophrenic on entitlement cuts. More likely they just want Obama to do it so they can blame him for it. Which is fine, none of them should be cut right now. Fixating on the debt and deficit in this recession is fucking idiotic to start with.

Here...have a few clues, oh clueless one.

1.) Cutting one place so you can spend more somewhere else is not 'cutting'. If, your personal budget is more than you have to spend. More outgo than income. Cutting down on food so that you can buy more beer .....not cutting.

2.) Fixating on debt and deficit is the ONLY way to get your fiscal house in order. You have no guarantee of future income. You can control how much you spend NOW.

On a personal level if you are spending more than you take in and you are counting/betting that your boss will give you a raise and then go out and spend that hoped for increase in income that you don't know you are going to get.....you are a moron. (But I repeat myself)

Instead you cut back on spending and reduce your credit card bills to equal the current income you have. You do this until you have a surplus or more income than outgo.

But....no...liberals and people like Garage who have zero clue about finances, or much of anything else, will go out and spend. Betting on the come. That might be fun in Vegas but this is real life here. Gambling their future and getting into debt that they can't erase. Unfortunately, they want to gamble with OUR money and with OUR and OUR CHILDREN'S futures.

Hang 'em high. I say; 1/4/13, 5:51 PM
garage mahal said...: Michael
It was illuminating in the sense that I don't think one conservative on this board knew about the 1.5 trillion, or that our deficit has shrunk.; 1/4/13, 5:54 PM
AllenS said...: Most of us know that the deficit went down, now tell me where the $2 trillion in cuts came from.; 1/4/13, 5:55 PM
garage mahal said...: And no real answer as to why Republicans in every district in the country were attacking Obama for two years about cutting Medicare? You'd think they would be praising him?; 1/4/13, 5:57 PM
garage mahal said...: "Most of us know that the deficit went down" 5:55pm

"The deficits have gone up since 2011, not down". 4:50pm; 1/4/13, 5:58 PM
Aridog said...: garage mahal said...

That payroll tax funds SS & Medicare.

Actually that "2%" was solely for Social Security Benefits....an additional 1.45% that was not reduced goes to Medicare.

There was never a good excuse to cut the Social Security portion by 2% to the employee...considering all the hollering about a fund that will go broke...so cut the revenue for it (Obama did that, BTW...)...yeah, that's the ticket....then say old folks are taking too much, yada yada.

Joe Schmoe...check again, that added 2% is still taxed again as part of adjusted gross income. :-) So it's really more . Neat innit?; 1/4/13, 5:58 PM
AllenS said...: WASHINGTON (AP) -- The federal budget deficit has topped $1 trillion for a fourth straight year. But a modest improvement in economic growth helped narrow the gap by $207 billion compared with last year.

Check my 5:20 post. Where are the $2 trillion in cuts, if the our deficit has topped $1 trillion for a fourth straight year?; 1/4/13, 6:06 PM
Michael said...: Garage. Progressives look at big numbers like 1.5 trillion and think "problem solved" but conservatives are generally more numerate and understand the timeframes involved, the improbability of the cuts actually happening, and the scale of the debt. The 1.5 trillion over ten yesrs is a booger, nothing.; 1/4/13, 6:09 PM
Penny said...: I understand that when the private sector is in down economic times, that we might see public sector employment growing because of increased needs of people eligible for public assistance, or even the avoidance of putting even more people on unemployment.

What I have never understood is that when the private sector is flourishing, so is the public sector?; 1/4/13, 7:11 PM
Rusty said...: AllenS said...
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The federal budget deficit has topped $1 trillion for a fourth straight year. But a modest improvement in economic growth helped narrow the gap by $207 billion compared with last year.

Check my 5:20 post. Where are the $2 trillion in cuts, if the our deficit has topped $1 trillion for a fourth straight year?

Maybe they're counting on those trillion dollar platinum coins.

It could happen.; 1/4/13, 7:17 PM
Penny said...: They should move in inverse proportion, but it seems somebody forgot to track that over the years. Hence government bloat.

Never too late to pay attention.; 1/4/13, 7:18 PM
Seeing Red said...: I read it. What were the specific cuts in domestic spending?

BTW - from earlier this year:

February 6, 2012 8:06 AM PrintText "Hidden" mortgage fee paying for payroll tax cut
comments

inShare.43More+
EmailFacebookTwitterLinkedInDigg.PrintDeliciousRedditStumbleuponGoogle Bookmarks....BySharyl Attkisson .Play CBS News Video
Just before Christmas, American workers got a rare gift from Washington politicians - the current payroll tax cut would be extended for two more months.

At the time, both President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner lauded the move to avoid a tax increase for millions of working Americans.

But there's something the politicians weren't bragging about - the fact that they're paying for the two-month tax cut with what has turned into a brand new fee on home buyers.

The new fee is a minimum of one-tenth of 1 percent on Fannie Mae- and Freddie Mac-backed loans, and is likely to go much higher.

It will be imposed for the next 10 years on most mortgages and refinancings and it lasts for the life of the loan.

For every $200,000, it amounts to an extra $15 dollars a month....; 1/4/13, 9:42 PM
Synova said...: "And no real answer as to why Republicans in every district in the country were attacking Obama for two years about cutting Medicare?"

The hypocrisy. Which you knew.

Democrats: We aren't cutting nuthin', and you can keep your healthcare if you like it, but Obamacare costs nothing at all.

Republicans: You are cutting Medicare to pay for free stuff and you're lying about it.

Garage: Hey, why did Republicans complain about Democrats cutting Medicare? I don't understand, it's so confusing, because it is.; 1/4/13, 10:48 PM
Aridog said...: AllenS, Rusty, and the rest of us....we all get flummoxed by the way government poses numbers.

"Cuts" are invariably termed in 10 year clumps...e.g., "$2 Trillion in cuts" is really $200 Billion for a single given year....IF actualized [which they never are over 10 years].

At the same time when our keepers speak of "deficits" is is usually an annual figure...as in the deficits cited as $1 Trillion for a given year end. The Fibbers in Chief can sound brilliant when saying they've "cut" $2 Billion versus $1 Trillion deficits...when in reality the purported cut is merely 10% of the deficit. I say purported because I've never seen a cut fully actualized/implemented.

Next...lets talk about the "discount rate" government bean counters use to calculate present and future value of these cuts and expenditure funds. 7.5% was the standard for years (in my time) whether the actual yields in real markets was 1% or 21%. See...this is also important to the cuts/deficit debate...the minute you challenge a specific figure, the government bean counters will suddenly determine a different discount [and remarkably productive!] rate applicable...good luck.

For the record, in all my time in both military and federal service, I NEVER saw the periodic 10-year "Cut" figures actually realized...they get changed in the wrong direction as soon as the initial blush of debate is over, usually by the next year in fact. At the same time, I never saw a real "annual surplus" either...the Clinton "surpluses" were actually trust account IOU's (Treasury notes) Debit balances for Social Security. [Government loaning itself money]

You master the art of lying with a straight face looking directly in to the eyes of your audience...or your career in government is brief. I was fairly good at it until I could stand it no more and could no longer whistle-blow without recognition.; 1/5/13, 10:15 AM
Aridog said...: Correction: [my error & typo]

... when in reality the purported cut is merely 10% of the deficit ...

Should have been:

... when in reality the purported cut is merely 20% of the deficit ...

... with the addition of "per year, and over 10 years still leaves an 80% deficit."; 1/5/13, 10:22 AM
Rusty said...: Clearly, Airdog, all we need to do is mint more trillion dollar platinum coins.; 1/5/13, 2:27 PM
Aridog said...: Rusty ... yeah, we need to fix something. Personally I love the concept of the government loaning itself money. Fantastic concept.

Now I know that if all I have is $20.00 to my name in my left pocket and I "loan" that $20 to myself by moving it to the right pocket, I would then have $40.00.

A.)Left pocket will show an "asset" debit balance based upon the "promissory note" it received from the right pocket.

B.)Right pocket also shows a "cash" debit balance of $20, so added together I have $40.00.

If you understand just that much you understand federal government finance. Add the debit balances together for a total gross worth.

Uh, oh...someone gets pissy and asks about "Net Worth" and the value of outstanding obligations! Easy...in federal finance you work with "commitments & obligations"...the latter of which has a future payment due date ...e.g., not due today, so it is immaterial, right? Of course. Like a unicorn fart, it's not relevant to today's measure, which is you have $40.00.

And that is true! You do have a note worth $20, if not defaulted, and cash of $20...so yep, you got $40.

I could go in to how the feds work with "commitments & obligations" and juggle funds between them, around them, and even erase them at times...but I've been boring enough.

What Debt Ceiling?; 1/6/13, 10:17 AM
Unknown said...: thanks
شات عراقنا
جات عراقنا
شلة عراقنا
عراقنا
شات العراق
دردشة عراقية
شات كيكه
دردشة عبدالله
جات
دردشة
منتدى دردشة عراقنا
منتدى عراقنا

دردشة العراق; 1/6/13, 2:14 PM