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Total Welfare Spending Now at $1 Trillion (Gov't. only has three choices left: Tax, Print or Borrow)
National Review ^ | 10/18/2012 | NRO Staff

Posted on 10/18/2012 6:45:13 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

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1 posted on 10/18/2012 6:45:22 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

Social programs and interest on the debt account for EVERY dollar of tax revenue taken in by the government. Everything else is borrowed.


2 posted on 10/18/2012 6:48:01 AM PDT by cincinnati65
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To: SeekAndFind

...what about “Cut”?


3 posted on 10/18/2012 6:51:12 AM PDT by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
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To: cincinnati65

RE: Everything else is borrowed.

Mostly from China, Japan and the Middle East.

The problem is -— Even THAT is not enough to cover the spending. So, who else to borrow the money from? ANSWER — OUR OWN FEDERAL RESERVE, who has been PRINTING MONEY for this purpose.

This madness will end badly.


4 posted on 10/18/2012 6:52:12 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

No, there is only one - print. There is not enough wealth for taxing to make a dent in the deficit. Borrowing won’t work. No one in their right mind would lend that kind of money to a gov’t this profligate. The Fed will lend that kind of money but that counts the same as printing.


5 posted on 10/18/2012 6:53:35 AM PDT by Paine in the Neck (Socialism consumes everything)
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To: SeekAndFind

In a tight spot, I am not going on vacation, not replacing my car, not doing necessary home repairs/maintenance, not going out to eat or to the movies, not getting a new coat or boots, etc....

If I know how to ‘retrench’ why can’t the Government figure it out?


6 posted on 10/18/2012 6:54:51 AM PDT by SMARTY ("The man who has no inner-life is a slave to his surroundings. "Henri Frederic Amiel)
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To: SeekAndFind

You could tax 100% of the income of everyone making over 200,000 a year and we’d still be running a deficit for the year. And of course, the following year there wouldn’t be any income to tax.


7 posted on 10/18/2012 6:55:58 AM PDT by circlecity
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To: SMARTY

RE: , I am not going on vacation, not replacing my car, not doing necessary home repairs/maintenance, not going out to eat or to the movies, not getting a new coat or boots, etc....

The thing that is worrying is this — IF MOST AMERICANS ARE DOING WHAT YOU’RE DOING, how’s this going to affect the economy?


8 posted on 10/18/2012 6:58:00 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: OneWingedShark

RE: ...what about “Cut”?

HA, trying doing that and see what happens to our cities. Europe has been trying that and look at the riots in Greece and the rest of the PIIGS...

Cut? Heck, we can’t even cut half a billion dollars for Public Television without people whining about Killing Big Bird.


9 posted on 10/18/2012 7:00:07 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind
Borrow? Willing creditors to Uncle Sam are growing few and far between.

Tax? Harvesting the total net assets of the Forbes 400 richest Americans would barely cover the Federal deficit for one year. (This is harvesting every cent they have in total assets, not some namby-pamby "tax all income over $250,000 at 100%). The next year, that source is gone. The new "400 richest" don't have nearly as much money.

Leaving only ... Print.

And that leads to...


10 posted on 10/18/2012 7:01:12 AM PDT by DuncanWaring (The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
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To: SeekAndFind
Maybe the government should pay all sorts of welfare recipients with "welfare money" (which has a big red " W " on it and has a worth of only a proportion of "real" money. That % of real value could varied downward depending on the fiscal circumstances.
11 posted on 10/18/2012 7:03:31 AM PDT by hal ogen (First Amendment or Reeducation Camp?)
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To: SeekAndFind

If I’m doing the math right (and I’m pretty sure I am), $1 trillion per year averages out to $3000 PER CAPITA per year.

Average three thousand dollars in direct payments from Uncle Sugar for every man, woman, and child in the US.

Where the hell is it all going??!?

You’re right about one thing for sure — this MUST end badly if it is not brought under control NOW.


12 posted on 10/18/2012 7:05:22 AM PDT by Nervous Tick ("You can ignore reality, but you can't ignore the consequences of ignoring reality.")
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To: DuncanWaring

>> Willing creditors to Uncle Sam are growing few and far between.

Ben Bernanke is a highly willing lender of last resort. ;-)


13 posted on 10/18/2012 7:07:21 AM PDT by Nervous Tick ("You can ignore reality, but you can't ignore the consequences of ignoring reality.")
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To: Nervous Tick

Ben Bernanke is a highly willing lender of last resort

There’s no other game in town.


14 posted on 10/18/2012 7:16:07 AM PDT by griswold3 (Big Government does not tolerate rivals.)
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To: Nervous Tick
THE PRINTER IN CHIEF

15 posted on 10/18/2012 7:17:20 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: Nervous Tick
If I’m doing the math right (and I’m pretty sure I am), $1 trillion per year averages out to $3000 PER CAPITA per year.
Average three thousand dollars in direct payments from Uncle Sugar for every man, woman, and child in the US.
Where the hell is it all going??!?

Well, let's assume that 90% of that $3,000 is absorbed in "administration costs and fees", that leaves [an average of] $300/yr for every person... that's a more believable number. (IOW, we're only being given one portion of the equation: the money-input... we're not told the money-output because then that would let us calculate the "friction coefficient" that is government.)

You’re right about one thing for sure — this MUST end badly if it is not brought under control NOW.

Like I said: cut.

16 posted on 10/18/2012 7:17:33 AM PDT by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
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To: Nervous Tick
"Where the hell is it all going??!?"

It's going into Obama's "Fundamental Transformation" project.

The steady rise in welfare spending, which covers more than 80 programs primarily designed to help low-income Americans, got a big boost from the 2009 stimulus and has grown, albeit somewhat more slowly, in 2010 and 2011. One reason is that more people are qualifying in the weak economy, but the federal government also has broadened eligibility so that more people qualify for programs.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/oct/18/welfare-spending-jumps-32-percent-four-years/

17 posted on 10/18/2012 7:17:50 AM PDT by BlatherNaut
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To: Nervous Tick

Yep.

Lending money “hot off the press”. ;-)


18 posted on 10/18/2012 7:20:56 AM PDT by DuncanWaring (The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Regardless of the time and place the government must get the money it spends somewhere. The way the government gets money is by taxing people, printing money or borrowing it from the market IF the market will lend to them.


19 posted on 10/18/2012 7:21:23 AM PDT by JLS
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To: OneWingedShark

>> Like I said: cut.

Yes, that’s the only way out.

Will we as a nation make those cuts voluntarily?

OR will we have them forced on us when we go bankrupt?

We’ll see. But deep spending cuts **WILL** happen, one way or the other.


20 posted on 10/18/2012 7:25:13 AM PDT by Nervous Tick ("You can ignore reality, but you can't ignore the consequences of ignoring reality.")
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