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The Spending Explosion [more like a spending orgy]
The Wall Street Journal ^ | 2008-09-10

Posted on 09/10/2008 7:39:52 AM PDT by rabscuttle385

Here's a prediction: The media will report today that the federal budget deficit is big and getting bigger. What most of them won't report, alas, is that the cause of these deficits is an explosion in federal spending. The era of big government is back, bigger than ever. [The Spending Explosion]

The real news in yesterday's Congressional Budget Office semiannual report is that federal expenditures on everything from roads to homeland security to health care will on present trends reach 21.5% of GDP next year. That's a larger share of national output than at anytime since 1992. If the cost of the federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac prove to be large and are taken into account, next year federal outlays could be higher as a share of the economy than at anytime since World War II. In this decade alone, federal spending has increased by almost $1.2 trillion, or 57%.

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 2008; biggovernment; election; electionpresident; elections; fanniemae; freddiemac; genx; govwatch; libertarianping; lp; mccain; obama; spending
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The point to keep in mind is that this big spending blitz is coming even before a new President and Congress arrive next year with far more spending promises in tow. As they contemplate their choice for President, voters might want to consider which of the candidates is likely to be a check on Congressional appetites, rather than a facilitator.

Who's going to bailout the next President?

1 posted on 09/10/2008 7:39:53 AM PDT by rabscuttle385
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To: bamahead; TigerLikesRooster

ping


2 posted on 09/10/2008 7:40:44 AM PDT by rabscuttle385
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To: qam1

Sucks for the next generation ping.


3 posted on 09/10/2008 7:43:10 AM PDT by rabscuttle385
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To: rabscuttle385

Will they also fully blame the present Congress, which is controlled by a Democratic Party majority?


4 posted on 09/10/2008 7:43:29 AM PDT by johnthebaptistmoore (Vote for conservatives AT ALL POLITICAL LEVELS! Encourage all others to do the same on November 4!)
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Comment #5 Removed by Moderator

To: johnthebaptistmoore
Will they also fully blame the present Congress, which is controlled by a Democratic Party majority?

Read the article again.

FTA:

The CBO says that, merely in the two years that Democrats have run Congress, federal expenditures are up $429 billion -- to $3.158 trillion.

Rather than sort through priorities, Congress is spending more on just about everything.

Meanwhile, remember that "pay as you go" spending promise that Speaker Nancy Pelosi made in 2006? We called it a ruse at the time, and the last two years have proved it.

The problem with the Federal debt gluttony is that it transcends both parties and has been going on for decades.

What happens when the trough is finally empty and our hosts (debt buyers and holders) are unwilling to refill it?

6 posted on 09/10/2008 7:46:54 AM PDT by rabscuttle385
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To: rabscuttle385

They go down too. Their economies are linked to ours.


7 posted on 09/10/2008 7:49:06 AM PDT by IrishCatholic (No local communist or socialist party chapter? Join the Democrats, it's the same thing.)
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To: rabscuttle385
I'd imagine these debt figures are based on the Congressional Report rather than the significantly worse(more realistic) accounting by corporate _standards_.

These debt figures are also limited to Federal funded activities verses all levels of USA government: state, county & region, funded and unfunded liabilities. This combined liability/debt would knock the socks clean off most citizens.

8 posted on 09/10/2008 8:04:32 AM PDT by veracious
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To: rabscuttle385
This is the unspoken, unacknowledged pressure that is being brought to bear on oil and gas exploration.

Politicians realize that oil and gas royalties, and further taxes, will fund a great deal of their spending.

Look at Alaska and how they are participating in a $40 Billion pipeline project - that means that the value of the gas far exceeds $40B - and there will be taxes on the workers building it, royalties once the gas is flowing, taxes on this, taxes on that.

This is not a slam against anyone, I am just saying that politicians will figure that if Americans are spending money on something (energy) then some of that money should be going to Washington.

9 posted on 09/10/2008 8:04:35 AM PDT by ikka
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To: rabscuttle385

Not only are they spending too much, they are spending it in the wrong places. And the Democrat controlled congress is not sticking to its' pay as you go promise.

10 posted on 09/10/2008 8:09:12 AM PDT by smokingfrog (He that lives upon hope will die fasting. - Ben Franklin)
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To: rabscuttle385

Too much spending and too little economic growth. The GOP is as much to blame as the Donks.


11 posted on 09/10/2008 8:10:38 AM PDT by Moonman62 (The issue of whether cheap labor makes America great should have been settled by the Civil War.)
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To: IrishCatholic

Right, debt isn’t really debt? When we can longer fund it there will be collapse the likes of which you’ve never seen. Don’t listen to the Harvard boys fables.


12 posted on 09/10/2008 8:11:12 AM PDT by veracious
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To: veracious

But they can just print more money and that will make everything OK, right?

As Walter Williams says, when someone is caught counterfeiting, they should just say they were engaging in monetary policy.


13 posted on 09/10/2008 8:16:10 AM PDT by Pining_4_TX
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To: rabscuttle385

Some of us have been fighting this spending MADNESS for many years.

Unfortunately, not many others felt it was – or would become – a serious problem.

Trust me, it is NOW A SERIOUS PROBLEM, one the feds may not be able to print their way out of.

What saddens me most is that Newt either squandered or let slip HIS chance to get a grip on it. And, no, I’m NOT picking on Newt. WE’RE ALL GUILTY!!

In this 2 minute clip, he seems to be trying to tell us that he took a shot at it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIo8FJJMps8


14 posted on 09/10/2008 8:16:39 AM PDT by Dick Bachert (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIo8FJJMps8)
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To: Pining_4_TX

Some of us have been fighting this spending MADNESS for many years.

Unfortunately, not many others felt it was – or would become – a serious problem.

Trust me, it is NOW A SERIOUS PROBLEM, one the feds may not be able to print their way out of.

What saddens me most is that Newt either squandered or let slip HIS chance to get a grip on it. And, no, I’m NOT picking on Newt. WE’RE ALL GUILTY!!

In this 2 minute clip, he seems to be trying to tell us that he took a shot at it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIo8FJJMps8


15 posted on 09/10/2008 8:17:21 AM PDT by Dick Bachert (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIo8FJJMps8)
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To: IrishCatholic; veracious
When we can longer fund it there will be collapse the likes of which you’ve never seen.

There are only so many ways out, once the collapse has begun: the U.S. Government can use its sovereign power of taxation to directly seize assets (not just income) of households to service debt; businesses could be nationalized and profits used to service debt; or the U.S. Government could simply replace the U.S. dollar with a new currency.

Are we familiar with the phrase "not worth a Continental"? (Hopefully yes.)

Remember that every dollar you hold, whether paper currency in your hand or on deposit at the bank, is a liability of the Federal Reserve System, backed by U.S. Government debt (mostly). If U.S. debt becomes worthless, your U.S. dollar becomes worthless.

16 posted on 09/10/2008 8:19:29 AM PDT by rabscuttle385
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To: rabscuttle385; Abathar; Abcdefg; Abram; Abundy; akatel; albertp; AlexandriaDuke; Alexander Rubin; ..
Next up: votes on $50 billion for Detroit auto firms, an $80 billion energy bill, as much as $50 billion for spending masked as a "second stimulus," plus $100 billion or more for the Fannie and Freddie rescue. Rather than sort through priorities, Congress is spending more on just about everything.

Libertarian ping! To be added or removed freepmail me or post a message here.
17 posted on 09/10/2008 9:06:35 AM PDT by bamahead (Few men desire liberty; most men wish only for a just master. -- Sallust)
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To: rabscuttle385; ItsOurTimeNow; PresbyRev; Fraulein; StoneColdGOP; Clemenza; m18436572; InShanghai; ..
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.

18 posted on 09/10/2008 9:26:03 AM PDT by qam1 (There's been a huge party. All plates and the bottles are empty, all that's left is the bill to pay)
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To: rabscuttle385

***The era of big government is back***

When did it ever go away?


19 posted on 09/10/2008 9:32:00 AM PDT by djsherin
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To: rabscuttle385

*** What happens when the trough is finally empty and our hosts (debt buyers and holders) are unwilling to refill it?***

We raise taxes or print the money. Either way will devastate the economy. We either have our dollars stolen, or we have their value stolen through devaluation.


20 posted on 09/10/2008 9:34:10 AM PDT by djsherin
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