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Posted on 12/22/2007 7:22:36 AM PST by Libloather
Spending our way to financial ruin
Dec 22, 2007 6:00 AM (4 hrs ago)
The San Francisco Examiner Newspaper
SAN FRANCISCO - It is no coincidence that U.S. Comptroller General David Walker’s latest warning that the United States is literally spending its way into bankruptcy came the same week Congress passed a 3,416-page omnibus spending bill that no senator or representative will read. Walker’s warning is made all the more urgent because Congress — aided and abetted in many respects by the president — continues to pass massive spending bills with no idea of what’s contained in them.
The federal government is already on the hook for $53 trillion in Social Security, Medicare and other entitlement benefits that it can’t pay for unless it raises taxes to levels that will put America into a financial Stone Age.
In releasing the federal government’s 2007 financial report at the National Press Club earlier this week, Walker noted that each American household owes $455,000 for these entitlements — almost five times the net worth of the median American family. Just imagine having to pay a $455,000 mortgage but not being able to live in the house. Such a crushing debt load puts the nation “on an imprudent and unsustainable long-range fiscal path” that will only worsen as 77 million baby boomers retire. “If the federal government was a private corporation and the same report came out this morning,” Walker said, “our stock would be dropping and there would be talk about whether the company’s management and directors needed a major shake-up.”
Our national stock is dropping. The value of the U.S. dollar has depreciated against almost every other major foreign currency. Anybody who believes that the federal government can continue to spend billions of dollars it doesn’t have is living in a fool’s paradise. Congress is already using the Social Security surplus to pay government operating expenses and “repaying” it with a bunch of IOUs. Of the aforementioned benefit deficit of $53 trillion, $34 trillion is owed for Medicare alone. Seven short years ago, the country’s entire entitlement shortfall stood at $20 trillion.
Walker recommends that all future presidents include a 10-year projection for every item in their annual budget, detailing the full fiscal effect of all current and proposed programs. Using a set of key national indicators as a guide, Congress and the White House must also scrutinize all federal spending, eliminating agencies and programs not producing expected results. Finally, a bipartisan panel similar to the Base Realignment and Closure Commission should be convened to deal with the entitlement crisis. And voters should only support candidates who unequivocally agree to stop squandering our children’s future.
Ain't gonna happen. If it feels good, they'll do it.
On this subject, Bush is part of the problem, not part of the solution.
totally ludicrous article
everyone knows we can all eat china supplied arificially flavored cake
Yep. SS & Medicare are two of the biggest abominations ever created by our country. It should have been a private system right from the start (but then again, that wouldn't have kept the people dependent on the state)
Fortunately there is an alternative. Move to another country. Yes moving to the country within South Dakota to Montana, you too can avoid these nasty vexing tax problems. Here’s where I’m going
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,317548,00.html
I haven’t watched the MSM Evening News in years..but last night I happened to see Katie for a few minutes.
They did a piece on the famous”earmarks”..with Pres. Bush and ended the piece showing an Air Force warehouse full of unneeded purchases and said the Air Force was the worst spender. It seemed to blame earmarks on the Air Force and not Congress.
The people aren’t up in arms because our MSM “watchdog” media won’t do their job and make news out of this out-right curruption of “earmarks”..nor will they tell the public the truth about our Federal, State and local govt spending and insolvency.
Just look at CA..the press was blaming the Republicans for blocking the CA budget in Aug. They were more than right..CA is broke..busted.
Sorry, I'm not voting for Ron Paul.
We will only vote for “front runners” who can “win”. We fear the judgment of men, should we vote for someone who won’t win.
See my tagline ...
This is a matter of political will. However, the electorate will punish anyone who attempts to correct the situation.
Individual and state problem. Cal spends $10 bill a year on services for illegals and has a $14 bill deficit.
Just another alarmist piece aimed at the uninformed hand wringers. The dollar has been far lower then it is today. Back in the 1970's under the guidance of Jimmah Cahtah the dollar was in such bad shape that the French would not even accept them in payment for services used by American tourists, who were stranded there for a period of time while things were worked out. Back then about 25-30% of the entire worlds reserves were in dollars versus about 65% now. The dollar is and shall be the currency of last resort for as far into the future as one cares to look. If and when the sh*t truly hits the fan on this tired old planet, you will see a surge in the dollars value unprecedented in history as traders dump other more vulnerable currencies for the safety of the USA backed currency.
And just who might those candidates be?? Let’s face it, as far as spending goes there is little if any difference between the parties or the candidates. From where I sit we are on our own.Our leaders (Of all persuasions) are interested in their own interests - Or, after being elected, very soon adopt that philosophy.
Nah, probably not.
Just wait till we get a full-blown socialized medical system. That will be chump-change.
And that is before we get the bill for the gifts under Hillary's "holiday tree."
While that is true, the government could however flatline or slightly decrease spending—especially on ‘social programs.’ With time and inflatin, the real spending by the gov’t will go down significantly, and the private sector spending will go up picking up that slack.
bmflr
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According to Intrade, the winner of the December 12th GOP debate was... Duncan Hunter.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1938773/posts
I agree. I just don’t see it happening in government voluntarily. I don’t see either political party as having the moral fortitude to make it happen either. Nonetheless, you are correct.
Xer Ping
Ping list for the discussion of the politics and social (and sometimes nostalgic) aspects that directly effects Generation Reagan / Generation-X (Those born from 1965-1981) including all the spending previous generations are doing that Gen-X and Y will end up paying for.
Freep mail me to be added or dropped. See my home page for details and previous articles.
Yeah, the President who finally got Soc Security reform on the table as a viable political issue instead of the "issue of death" and introduced the 1st elements for privatization into an entitlement program really is "part of the problem"
President Bush attempted to address this in the 1st part of his second term and was stonewalled by Democrats and a good number of Republicans.
You pay a high price to be an individual. So few of our Presidents have been individuals.
Thank you FDR Ping - way to sink the country! I can’t believe we still revere him and his socialist tendency buddies.
I will give anyone in this room the candidate of their choice for President. I don’t care who it is, that person when elected President will not be able to clean this mess up. This system of government is broken. It needs to be scrapped.
To really study what each American owes, you should then study what each American owns. If you make a list of items that the American government owns and divide it by the number of citizens (what you did with debt)each American would get $1,750,000. I’ll take the difference! I might end up part owner of an aircraft carrier.
Two Words: Bill Me!
Legislation comes from the legislative branch, not the executive.
“The dollar has been far lower then it is today. Back in the 1970’s under the guidance of Jimmah Cahtah”
Is this where we want to be? The same economic conditions that existed then?
“Back then about 25-30% of the entire worlds reserves were in dollars versus about 65% now.”
The reason there has been such a large increase, is the fact that we are carrying such a large trade deficit. The scary thing is the dollar has declined this much in a time of economic growth in our country.
I see an American generational “ideological war” looming in our future. Much has been said, both pro and con, about Ron Paul in his bid for the White House. Forgetting Paul for the moment, I see something more.
I see a great many young adults supporting Paul’s candidacy due to rightful indignation and fear of the financial burden politicians of earlier generations have planned for them. Among the older Paul supporters I heard them saying their generation must stop spending the inheritance of future generations. The younger supporters are driven by self-preservation, the older supporters by morals.
If I’m wrong, so be it. If I am correct, there will be another “civil war” in America we can only hope will be kept civil. The sides will not be determined by geopolitics, party affiliation, or even ideology as much as by age of the participants. Ron Paul's candidacy is the first battleground.
President Richard M. Nixon, 1971, “We are all Keynesians now.”
That is why i said whatI said.
Leaders in their own mind. They lost elections in the tribe and have no standing, other than wacko activists who get news coverage by reporters who don't fact check press releases. ("Russell Means" should have been a clue it was bogus.)
Ummmm....each household will be receiving $455,000 of these entitlements.
How much do you think the dollar has declined? Over what time frame?
Go ahead and ruin my delusions with the ice cold water of reality.
I promised to pay my wife $500 million in 2020. My family is doomed, we'll never be able to come up with that much money!
Too slow!
Dang!
Is this where we want to be? The same economic conditions that existed then?
You seem to believe this is where we are headed, I do not
“Back then about 25-30% of the entire worlds reserves were in dollars versus about 65% now.”
The reason there has been such a large increase, is the fact that we are carrying such a large trade deficit. The scary thing is the dollar has declined this much in a time of economic growth in our country.
We are by far the worlds largest consumer. If they choose they may ask us to pay them in Euros, or Kroner, or Marks, or Yen. So why don't they? The answer is quite obvious, they want our business and do not want to price themselves out of OUR market. Until such time as America ceases to be the engine that pulls the worlds economic train, the dollar will continue to be the currency of choice for the plurality if not the majority of countries.
Over the years the dollar, like other currencies rises and falls and currently it is at a level close to it's historical average if not a tad above. It has even been strengthening relative to the Euro over the past few weeks. The whole thing is nothing more them media scare tactics designed to make people think the end is near and it is, of course, Bushes fault.
Have a Merry Christmas and a nice glass of wine. Don't worry about the dollar, it'll be just fine and so will we. After all we represent about 25% of the entire worlds GDP and as such we will remain at the fore for a long, long time to come.
That's true as long we maintain a position as the primary superpower in the world. The dollar basically is accepted anywhere because the bearer can always cash it in. If that ever changes, we become the Weimar Republic.
I don’t “owe” nobody nuttin!
hehehe...that's a conservative's job, isn't it? ;-)
Nothing is forever but given our current military capabilities and our ongoing R&D programs to advance them, I cannot envision a future when we will not be the preeminent military power.
Libertarian ping! To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here.
>>>This system of government is broken. It needs to be scrapped.<<<
The next step comes when Augustus, having been granted the absolute powers, restores the republic and rules with peaceful beneficence. Good times for a while. Eventually, when the term becomes meaningless, we all get to be citizens.
Hold on tight. The RATS aren't done spending your money yet...
Since we’re all about “sustainability” nowadays:
Socialism ...is unsustainable.
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