I'm sure every Obama supporter knows a trillion is a thousand times a billion, or a million times a million, or a thousand times a thousand times a thousand times a thousand.
Posted on 10/07/2012 6:55:07 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Almost 25 minutes into last Wednesday night’s presidential debate, it was already clear Mitt Romney was doing better than expected, and that Barack Obama was a bit flat. But it wasn’t yet obvious at the end of the debate’s first segment that the debate would produce a decisive winner.
Then moderator Jim Lehrer moved from taxes to a discussion of “what to do about the federal deficit, the federal debt.” Mitt Romney spoke first. His two-minute answer was the inflection point in the debate. After that, he was on a roll—a conservative roll. And President Obama would be reduced to an ineffectual defensive crouch—a liberal crouch.
Romney’s statement deserves to be reproduced in full:
***
Romney: Good. I’m glad you raised that, and it’s a—it’s a critical issue. I think it’s not just an economic issue, I think it’s a moral issue. I think it’s, frankly, not moral for my generation to keep spending massively more than we take in, knowing those burdens are going to be passed on to the next generation, and they’re going to be paying the interest and the principal all their lives.
And the amount of debt we’re adding, at a trillion a year, is simply not moral.
So how do we deal with it? Well, mathematically, there are three ways that you can cut a deficit. One, of course, is to raise taxes. Number two is to cut spending. And number three is to grow the economy, because if more people work in a growing economy, they’re paying taxes, and you can get the job done that way.
(Excerpt) Read more at weeklystandard.com ...
WINNING ANSWER (CONTINUED)
Romney: The presidents would—president would prefer raising taxes. I understand. The problem with raising taxes is that it slows down the rate of growth. And you could never quite get the job done. I want to lower spending and encourage economic growth at the same time.
What things would I cut from spending? Well, first of all, I will eliminate all programs by this test, if they don’t pass it: Is the program so critical it’s worth borrowing money from China to pay for it? And if not, I’ll get rid of it. Obama-care’s on my list.
I apologize, Mr. President. I use that term with all respect, by the way.
Obama: I like it.
Romney: Good. Okay, good. So I’ll get rid of that.
I’m sorry, Jim, I’m going to stop the subsidy to PBS. I’m going to stop other things. I like PBS, I love Big Bird. Actually like you, too. But I’m not going to—I’m not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for. That’s number one.
Number two, I’ll take programs that are currently good programs but I think could be run more efficiently at the state level and send them to the state.
Number three, I’ll make government more efficient and to cut back the number of employees, combine some agencies and departments. My cutbacks will be done through attrition, by the way.
This is the approach we have to take to get America to a balanced budget. The president said he’d cut the deficit in half. Unfortunately, he doubled it. Trillion-dollar deficits for the last four years. The president’s put it in place as much public debt—almost as much debt held by the public as all prior presidents combined.
***
Keep preaching CONSERVATIVE values. It will win every time.
Yes, but preaching it and believing it are two different things.
Remember “Read my lips” ?
I’m sorry, wasn’t Kristol burying Romney for the 47% comment not long ago?
That is refreshing to hear a politician say they won't spend more money. It seems like such a silly thing to spend money on, yet here we are still spending the money after all these decades.
Anyone who finds that answer reassuring doesn’t understand how much a $trillion really is. Getting efficient won’t close it. Growth won’t close it. Zeroing out the discretionary budget won’t close it.
Obama is a fully owned enemy president.
And 20-30% of the American people is a fully comitted fifth column.
I'm sure every Obama supporter knows a trillion is a thousand times a billion, or a million times a million, or a thousand times a thousand times a thousand times a thousand.
US NATIONAL DEBT: currently just over 16 TRILLION dollars!! That’s 16 thousand times a billion!!!!
Current debt per citizen: ~$51,000!!
Current debt per taxpayer: ~$141,000!!!!
US NATIONAL DEBT CLOCK:
(continually updates)
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
He wasn't mean, just laid it out and why and he has the resume and credibility to back it up.
His delivery got away from him a bit and he could have said it better, but otherwise, I could not be more impressed or surprised.
You're right. If this was just to score debate points and he doesn't walk it as President, he'll be politically ripped apart by everyone from all sides, but I think he means it.
Twice in our histortee have paid off MASSIVE amounts (1/3) in eight years. While below the level of debt- to- GDP. Weave ow, it was still astrono iCal interms of the day. It is possible,and inafairly short time.
Obama surely lost the debate, but the Liberal media lost something even more important. Their credibility.
They’ve been painting Romney with a broad brush, and that white wash melted away and more than 60 million Americans who actually show up to vote (because non-voters don’t watch debates), were introduced to the ‘real’ Romney, not the caricature that the liberal media has been talking about for the past few months.
During the 1980 election the debates made the difference too. Reagan didn’t come close do the performance of Romney, but he did show the American electorate that the caricature assassination perpetrated by the liberal media of that day, was false. That made him electable and desirable compared to Carter who was clearly a failure as President.
Romney proved the media (who Americans trust less than politicians) wrong. His path to the Presidency is set and they’ll do their best to knock Mitt down, but his fortitude appears to be solid. My prediction is the mainstream’s will call it too close to call, with a likely Obama victory. They did the same on the morning of the 1980 election and the result was a 10% advantage to Reagan.
Twice in our histortee have paid off MASSIVE amounts (1/3) in eight years. While below the level of debt- to- GDP. Weave ow, it was still astrono iCal interms of the day. It is possible,and inafairly short time.
Larry, what are you drinking? Or is that your spellcheck acting up?
The Meet the Press crowd was reveling in character assassination of Mitt this morning and Mike Murphy stepped in and shut them down.
Dem strategist Hillary Rosen was asked what Obama’s plan for a second term was and she went on about how Mitt would deny students, women, Gays, illegal immigrants their rights, etc.
Murphy jumped in and said that was proof the Obama campaign has nothing in their bag but negative attacks. But that after the debate, those attacks were now going to ring hollow since Rommey got those 90 minutes of unfiltered access with the public.
The BEST attack and phrase I heard was the “trickle-down government” attack, where The Messiah was pointed out to be creating Government dependency, and trying to SUSTAIN Government dependency, which is what all SOCIALIST/PROGRESSIVES do....with OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY.
Yes, but the cuts that are actually necessary are acceptable to no one - so Romney has to nibble. It won’t be enough, but maybe he can buy us a couple of years to finish preparing.
He's singing Mitt's praises simply because he wants to be on the side that's winning. STFU Kristol.
We can’t even close the deficit. The deficit is Mars. The debt is Alpha Centuri.
The things Mitt is proposing would have been efective if GHWB had done them. We are so past this stuff it’s pathetic.
For crying out loud! Algore promiced to make govmt more efficient.
Working from IPad and have constant problems. That is, “Although it was still astronomical in terms of the day, it is possible [to reduce it] in a fairly short time.” There, better? Now pass the vodka.
"I sincerely believe... that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity under the name of funding is but swindling futurity on a large scale." --Thomas Jefferson to John Taylor, 1816. ME 15:23
"[With the decline of society] begins, indeed, the bellum omnium in omnia [war of all against all], which some philosophers observing to be so general in this world, have mistaken it for the natural, instead of the abusive state of man. And the fore horse of this frightful team is public debt. Taxation follows that, and in its train wretchedness and oppression." --Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Kercheval, 1816. ME 15:40
The second and succeeding parts of Romney's discussion must allow younger generations to see that the consequence of debt is loss of freedom, making their choice one of freedom vs. slavery to government.
America's Founders and Framers of the Constitution which, if enforced by its "only KEEPERS" (Story) prevents Obama and his fellow "progressives" from enslaving America through excessive and non-productive spending.
The Author of our Declaration of Independence from another petty tyrant's excesses, Thomas Jefferson, in his First Inaugural Address, summarized what Romney needs to find a way to summarize. His clearly-stated summary is reproduced below, as it appears in "Our Ageless Constitution."
Not “we can’t,” but we haven’t yet. It is possible, similar debts-to-GDP have been eliminated in the past, and without devaluation.
It is a start. The only way to feed the Creature from Jekyll Island, the FEDERAL RESERVE, a PRIVATE business venture, is to grow the economy. As long as the big government pig is fattened the Creature gets fed. The Creature gets interest payments. TAXES must be raised to feed the FED. Meanwhile, the FED prints more money to prop up the economy. This printing creates the cruel tax of inflation.
The Creature does not care if the principal is paid so long as the interest income keeps coming in. It is an income stream for nothing. Remember that the FED can PRINT money from nothing and it is backed by NOTHING. Consider this, for a house with a loan the lender will make more money over the life of the loan than all the other trades combined. Granted, they are paid MOD dollars but that is fine with them because the PV dollars are more than adequate compensation with fractional banking.
Von Mises points out that unless growth goes on at ever rising levels the debt service can’t be maintained. Even ad infinitum has to end though. Eventually fractional banking, the pillar of the FED, has to end. Neither inflation or taxes can feed The Creature forever.
Hardly anyone understands why the Creature, the FED, and fractional banking are so terrible.
Taxing Income is NOT taxing wealth.
Income = Net Work
Wealth = Net Worth
Sure, we could go to Mars too if we wanted to.
“Yes, but preaching it and believing it are two different things.
Remember “Read my lips” ?”
Would you rather read Obama’s lips for the next 4 years?
How Big is a Trillion?
In the U.S., one trillion is written as the number "1" followed by 12 zeros (1,000,000,000,000). One year of clock time = (60sec/min) x (60 min/hr) x (24 hr/da) x (365.25 da) = 3.16 x 107 sec
One trillion seconds of ordinary clock time = ( 1012 sec)/( 3.16 x 107 sec/yr) = 31,546 years!
Anyone who finds that answer reassuring doesn’t understand how much a $trillion really is. Getting efficient won’t close it. Growth won’t close it. Zeroing out the discretionary budget won’t close it.You're right, doing nothing is a much better way. < /sarcasm >
It was a gentle business like smackdown I have seen at the Corporate level when someone is off task and taking the team down with it.
NO ONE, likes a team leader or co-worker mucking up the project....
In today's stressful business environment I wonder if that back and forth registered with those undecideds that are stressed at the job....
That in essence is what Romney is proposing. Nothing.
Ah, but that’s the difference: we HAVE paid off massive Nat debt before, twice, but haven’t gone to Mars once!
Ah but that’s the smallest part of our problem Our unfunded liabilities are 5X the debt.
...by the grace of God perhaps there is an answer and it is the energy sector. Unleashing that generates so many jobs, and so many taxpayers, and billions and billions of dollars, not to mention oil/gas lease revenues, and not to mention all the money on the sidelines that will come back into play. Energy exports.
This economy will roar with inexpensive energy. Without it we would truly be looking at default. But we can do this.
Multifaceted solutions come into play, but I'm feeling very fortunate we have a problem solver like Mitt at this time in the country's history. It's becoming starkly clear; Obie is not the One. He is the last thing we need. The very last.
Exactly. The US has routinely done the impossible, when the leftists get out of the way.
They’re fairly determined they have managed taking her down now, though - and they *will* continue trying, with foreign help.
Two problems with your premise.
1. Kristol is not reassured by this because of the actual policy, he’s reassured because he was on the “Romney’s blowing it badly” bandwagon and he wanted to hear a conservative case other than “The other guy sucks.”
2. If Romney’s only plan was to cut some programs, he wouldn’t have picked Ryan.
Let's say two people promised to throw a football through a tire swing for you. And let's say one of those people was Aaron Rodgers and the other was Snooki.
Romney has made a life making large organizations more efficient. H may fail with the federal beast, but it's pretty clear he ain't kidding.
Daddy Bush was far from being a Conservative!
For ex, gubment is the largest land holder in the U.S. That land is valued at pretty much what the gubment paid for it, or worth nothing at all because gubment just took it. What's it's REAL value? Hundreds of billions of dollars on the open market. Well, our early gubment paid its debts down by . . . selling lots of land!
Likewise---and only to make the point---the gold at Ft. Knox and in Fed Reserve vaults is valued at whatever the gubment paid for it, not what it could be sold for on the open market. A fair assessment of American asset wealth in a freer market would radically upset the ratios of debt to GDP. Not saying we don't have to get medieval on the debt and on all unfunded obligations, but I am saying we need to also have a firmer grasp of the REAL assets of the U.S. and begin using them.
Kristol is a weathervane.
Madam Mensa.
Quote: “Reasonable people adapt their perceptions to accommodate new information, or to respond to change in the environment.”
And more reasonable people wait to see how things unfold before declaring “all is lost” and abandoning those who they supported and foisted upon the rest of us as being “the most electable” candidate.
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