Quote:
Originally Posted by
bionicarm http:///forum/thread/383327/glad-to-see-you-aren-t-wasting-any-time-g-o-p/20#post_3354512
Quote:
Originally Posted by Darthtang AW http:///forum/thread/383327/glad-to-see-you-aren-t-wasting-any-time-g-o-p/20#post_3354455
Did something need done with Heathcare...Sure I guess. Depends on who you are and what your situation is.
Here is the problem with your mentallity Bionic, and a lot of the rest of the country.
Lets call Heathcare a personal vehicle. The cost is the average MPG that vehicle gets you. Right now you are driving a vehicle that gets you 25MPG..not great, but not Horrible. You really would like one that gets you 60 MPG. So to acquire this, You take out a loan from a loan shark, and force your kids to eat Ramen to pay the interest on the loan because you can not pay any of the priniciple. But you don't take a loan out on the car, the loan is on your house. Do you see the assbackwards approach our country takes.
You hear about deficits...and how much money we owe. But the money we owe is not the end of the tale...that is just the beginning. The money we owe affects our diplomacy with foreign countries. We owe the most to China....how much leverage do you think we have with China about human rights, product safety, and trade issues in general since we owe them a buttload of money. Zero! Basically we can't strong arm or even negotiate from even ground. Right now it is advantageous to China To deal with us. But what happens when it is no longer advantageous?
For me, the deficit reduction is the single biggest problem for our country. Forget healthcare, abortion, gay rights, or any other issue you can think of. Our deficit can effectively shut down our country at the whim of another country. Kinda scary...do I think it will happen, not immediately, but unless we correct the situation, yes it will.
I don't mind the spending on things that go away, war as an example...as this is not a sustained spending project. What I do mind spending on is social programs, private jet trips for our leaders (The Leader of China flew on an Air China commercial plane, he doesn't have his own plane for world trips), raises for congress, and election campaigns (how much could we reduce the deficit if that money was used elsewhere). Touching on war, yes it is costly, but afterwards the cost goes away and the after effect usually benefits for the long term...not always, but usually. am I saying social programs need to go away? No....but a hard look at spending needs to happen.
The past 30 years spending has increased with each president....as our "leaders" promise more and more...we spend ourselves into oblivion. The Average american pays more attention to Reality TV stars...than what our elected leaders are doing and how they are spending our tax dollars.
If the Yen becomes world currency...which it looks like may happen...we will have bigger problems.
So harp all you want about Heathcare...and how you want this and want that Bionic.....Those problems do not affect this country in such away that it could be the end of our Country...The deficit and our spending does. Our economy would be much stronger without the deficit....sure, owe some money...but an amount that can be paid off in times of need.....Like your credit card...owing some money helps your credit score, owing to much money ruins your credit score and eventually makes you bankrupt.
The deficit under Obama is the highest it has ever been...even adjusted for inflation and dollar value. Clinton during his first four years had a deficit equal to The last Bush. Reagan had a deficit (adjusted again) equal to the last Bush for a couple years, during world war 2 we had a slightly higher deficit than Bush had (adjusted)....but no one has ever increased the deficit dollar amount in their first two years....even during the recession (even adjusted)....so that can not be used as an excuse. A 200 dollar deficit seems sustainable....400 is pushing it, 1.4 trillion is frigging ridiculous. Would you triple your debt right now? You personally bionic...so why are you fine with our government doing it?
The only things saving us right now is The deficit isn't a significantly higher percentage of GDP...which Obama has done a good job on of increasing our exports.
Where is all this mass spending you're talking about? The stimulus package given to GM and Chrysler? Paid back. Yea, some paid back with other 'stimulus money', but both companies are making a profit now, and those 'bills' will be paid off as well. GM is about to overtake Toyota again with the announcement of the Volt. You think 9.8% unemployment is bad? Let those two companies fail, and you'd have been looking at 11%-12%. Bank stimulus? Again, unemployment numbers skyrocket, and you'd have fallen into a Depression instead of a Recession, since the FDIC couldn't cover the losses to all the bank accounts that would have been liquidated.
The majority of programs that Obama has been spending on were programs he inherited. What he probably should have done is get rid of them. He tried getting rid of the tax cuts, and look how well that went.
War not a sustained spending project?
We're in what, year 10 of that little 'non sustaining project', with no real end in sight? We've spent over a trillion on that little diddy. There's a huge chunk of your deficit right there. We could close shop on Iraq and Afghanistan tomorrow, and you could cut 20% off the deficit right now.
You can't really believe that GM would have been shut down if they were forced to BK. They and Crapsler both would have came out of it leaner and meaner. What the government did was hand to companies to the unions as political payback.