Deep Thought
If we are serious about balanced budgets all we have to do is never ever ever ever elect another Republican President.
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If we are serious about balanced budgets all we have to do is never ever ever ever elect another Republican President.
Connect with us on the following social media platforms.
If you were serious about balanced budget’s you make it a constitutional amendment like our state has, and quit playing around.
Honestly, if there was a constitutional amendment banning deficit spending, this whole country would be in the toilet. Delaware can’t run a deficit, so we have to get our Uncle Sam to co-sign for it.
States can afford the pretense of a balanced budget amendment because they can always run to the Feds for help. Who are the Feds going to run to?
Responsibility and thinking ahead for a change?
Maybe not spending all the revenue when there are good years, saving some and earning interest off it.
Maybe investing in the world instead of the world investing in us.
I dunno. I could sit here and think of a trillion ways balancing a budget would be good for this country.
..and you can sit here and say that Roosevelt tried that, and it lengthened the Depression, only reversing when deficit spending returned…
..and I’ll say that the world is way different now than 70 years ago. Economies are interlinked, and investors are out there. Noone should invest in a business that is upside down to the point of near collapse. You want a low debt to profit ratio and a good track history with a future outlook.
A country is no different than a large business. The employees are it’s citizens, and their taxes are their production. If you invest in your business it will grow. If you are responsible with your spending it will grow, and have investors knocking at your door.
This business has a ton of employees, are constantly laying off some of them, and has declining revenues. It is amassing debt in unprecedented levels. It is spending money on useless endeavors of expansion (Iraq and Homeland Security) when it should be investing in R&D (education, infrastructure).
Sure, we have a new CEO, and a few new heads on the board, but it is still the same bunch of people who are running this company into the ground that are still in charge.
If I was an investor, I would sell and go elsewhere until they show signs of turning this thing around.
The employees are lazy, unruly, and unproductive. They demand more wages for less work. They buy things they can’t afford, and rarely think ahead financially. They want the company to give them healthcare for free, even when the company is struggling to get this engine running again.
They hate what is going on, but keep electing the same people who broke it, telling them to fix it.
Their lowest wage is never high enough, their education is provided for free up to a certain level, and they want that raised even higher. They want free healthcare, even though they get that, and a pension when they reach a certain age.
Businesswise, this country is a mess.
It will help to shut down the unprofitable Iraq division. It is not part of our core business.
..and those that do invest in their retirement do so in a system of gambling that is corrupt, greedy, short sighted, and profit driven to the point of creating, singlehandedly, a worldwide financial collapse.
Noone is worried about amassing wealth, they are consumed with absorbing stuff, gadgets, trinkets that break and need replaced… so we can continue to be absorbed in fantasy land and ignoring our own reality. Nevermind paying down the mortgage and saving so my child can go to college, I need a new flatscreen because mine just fell off the wall. I need a new house because my neighbor just bought a new house that is bigger and shinier. I need a bigger and flashier vehicle to drive because my friend just bought one that was better. I need to buy ready to eat meals and never learn to cook because my time is precious and my shows are coming on.
I need stuff to allow me to escape reality and not face my problems, I need a tivo to enable me to watch a show and record another so I don’t miss it. I need food delivered because I am too lazy to buy ready to eat meals.
Sure, this country has a wonderful track record, but the future outlook is grim. i would be heading for ze hills with my investment money right now.
Brian’s rosy view of the American people feel me with great hope for the future.
I think people do what they have incentives to do. If we want to change behavior we need to make incentives to get people to behave the way we want.
If I was an investor, I would sell and go elsewhere until they show signs of turning this thing around.
It’s really not that simple, Brian. Sell what? Near worthless stocks? And what should we buy? Investors have become deer in the headlights. When we look at our portfolio all we do is shake our heads and hold our breath.
A balanced budget amendment is a terrible idea. Yes, I think we should strive for a balanced budget, but we need flexibility for when times are rough. Though, maybe, one advantage to all this focus on the budget is that perhaps we will finally start addressing how much we are paying for the military. It is a huge amount of our budget, but is not discussed. As anon said, we can’t afford Iraq anymore (if we ever could). I also read that Obama is introducing new budget rules which will no longer hide all the military spending off the books and the official size of our debt will triple.
A balanced budget amendment is something proposed by people who know nothing about finance.
Borrowing money by a company in order to create a return over and above the cost of borrowing is a good idea.
Borrowing money by the Federal Government to increase the GDP over and above the cost of borrowing the money is also a good idea.
Not allowing the government to do this is a bad idea.
Brian’s rosy view of the American people feel me with great hope for the future.
President Shields would never be elected. If I was, I would die in office. Whether it was a mob riot or a military coup, I’d be done for.
A balanced budget amendment is a terrible idea. Yes, I think we should strive for a balanced budget, but we need flexibility for when times are rough.
I’m all for a ‘declared war by Congress’ and ‘rough economic times’ clause.
Brian–You are on a roll…and I love it….
Sometimes (just like now) it’s better to run a deficit. Why would any government want to limit, and eventually hurt itself with a balanced budget amendment?
Or what anonone said.