United States Heading towards a Depression?

You can tell the Democrats are already chomping at the bit to ask the newly elected Republicans in the House, "OK, now what are you going to do about the deficit? Cut Social Security? Cut Medicare? Are you going to raise the debt ceiling?". The spending done by Obama/Democrats in the last two years will virtually require the debt ceiling be raised for the Federal government, barring austerity measures the equivalent of what we are seeing in the UK.

Entitlements and military spending need to be addressed as they take up the lion's share of the budget, there is no doubt. What I would REALLY like to see is a politician who says he will take care of the disparity in compensation packages quoted above. We just went through an economic downturn that shed millions of private sector jobs while the government shed not a single job, and actually dramatically increased it's hiring. If working for the government insulates your job from economic downturns, it should come with a pay grade at, or below, market rate. These inflated wages for this not for profit organization are insulting to the people who pay them(the taxpayers). I have not heard a single politician from either side of the isle say they will stand up to the government workers unions to create salaries that are commensurate with the rest of the country. If you want to cut government waste, that seems like a great starting point.

 

How many lies in the above statements?

No one tells lies like Breeze tells lies!

 

Social Security needs to be audited and no COLA increases for the next 5 years. The big issue is that the Social Security money isn't invested and rather pays for deficit spending. The money needs to be invested in infrastructure so the tolls and users fees provide income and economic development.

Defense spending can be cut with getting our allies to pay their fair share. The US needs to cut 4 aircraft carriers by selling one to South Korea and three to Japan and possibly a carrier for Italy on the Med.

The Tea Party isn't that strong to bring any austerity measures. The US Public will never accept living within our means. The best that we can hope for is that the crash is delayed.

By 2012, California's three major pension funds will have combined liabilities of more than 5.5 times the state's annual tax revenue, according to a Milken Institute report
http://www.milkeninstitute.org/pdf/cacenter_pensionshortfalls.pdf

NY, NJ, Illinois, Michigan, PA to name a few are facing a Pension Tsunami where services will need to be cut to pay the balloning pension costs and state worker pay increases.

US Debt Has Increased $5 Trillion Since Democratic House Speaker Pelosi vowed: "No New Deficit Spending" in 2007

Obama Deficit spending of $1.4 trillion in FY 2009 and $1.6 trillion in FY 2010

The Senate and President are Democrat.Tea Party candidates, Sharron Angle, Christine O'donnell were defeated, Democratic Gov. Joe Manchin Wins Senate Race in West Virginia, Liberal Barabara Boxer (D) wins over Republican Carly Fiorina in California's U.S. Senate race.

The best the Republicans can hope for is to roll back the deficit spending to 2008 levels.

That's what Bernie Madoff and the insider traders say too.

The Real Estate Industry claimed in 2007 that housing prices never go down.

 

Our carrier fleet is one of the things that makes our military truly unique on the planet. The ability to project conventional force in a serious way. Even if it were in our interests to sell one of them, I seriously doubt any of the countries you mentioned would be willing to make the budgetary commitments necessary to keep a carrier battle group staffed, fueled, repaired, and floating, no less run active combat training/combat operations.

It may not be the 800lb gorilla in the room, but the first thought I had in regard to controlling military spending is the way it budgets and pays for it's pet projects, many of which fail completely.

 

I don't think we've really broken the surface of the benefits of outsourcing military operations to the private sector.

 

Breeze is just throwing Democratic talking points at us. I wonder how he would feel paying 90% capital gains on his market earnings?

He hasn't come to terms that the out of control spending, expanding government and housing bubble are the causes of the depression. The dangerous area right now is the spill over effect of the PIIGS crisis in Europe. Germany is already saying that further bailouts may lead to bankruptcy. Spain could be the match that broke the camels back causing the crisis to spread to US Sate debt and bonds.

California has already borrowed $10 billion just to pay for unemployment benefits.

Cutting the carriers to 8 would save 1/3 plus provide us the revenue of selling the carriers. The US should also rethink the alliance with Japan, South Korea, Philippines and Taiwan to define the relationship to become more like NATO with joint command and control. In this way we really don't loose the carriers. In any case, the US has around 17 of the smaller Harrier/Helicopter carriers.

The British Empire was good at that with Gurkas and colonial units.

 

The world really has not begun to come to grips with the fact that Pax Americana is dead.

If these people want to stay alive and stay free, they are going to have to put a lot more effort into it than they have for the last few decades. America is quitting the role as world policeman and the there's no one else interested in the job.

 

The above have failed to address the fact it was the Republican legislation reducing receivables in 2001 without similar reduction in expenditures that led to the 07-09 recession and the resulting deficit spending.

The prediction by the OMB that the Republican tax measures would result in a future depression has been successfully staved off by the present Administration. The future prospects for the nation are far more encouraging now than had the Republicans had their way in 08 to exasperate with their principals and policies the already deleterious state they had managed to incur for the nation.

Not only has the present Administration curtailed a Depression it has also put into law far reaching legislation that is meant to endure for generations to come, IE: Health Care legislation as an example.

The present Administration will have ample opportunity in the near future to continue consolidating the gains made so far and working with Congress to ensure a more viable economy going forewords than the one they received.

 

The US has been defending Europe and Japan for the last 60 years. It's costing us too much politically. For every base or assistance, the US pays with economic concessions. The situation with North Korea is crazy. We are spending billions in defense with 28,500 troops on the DMZ and at the same time China supplies the North Koreans with nuclear technology and war material.

I'm thinking that we need a guy like Donald Trump in there. Someone that knows business and how to run a company.

Socialism is failing in Europe and they have high tax rates.

What makes you think that the failed policies of Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal will work in the US?

 

There is no mention of socialism in the OMB report predicting the recessionary outcome of reduced revenue without a subsequent reduction in spending. It was the assessment paid for by the American people who expect their elected officials to perform in such a way as to not lead the nation into economic ruin. Instead Republican concerns for political posturing is what they got.

So good to read the Republicans that now understand the plight they have placed the nation into pointing to one of the obvious solution as exasperated military spending - oh, and every dept. in the US gov't as the utility of the American people and not the quartermaster of the newly elected majority might enter as a similarly strategic "new" thought as well.

Sell an Aircraft Carrier - what a ridiculous idea.....uniforms included?

 

Don't be any more retarded than you absolutely have to be. Nations having been buying and selling warships with each other for hundreds of years.

As examples, in 1987 the Royal Navy's Hermes aircraft carrier became the Indian Navy's Viraat and in 2002 the French aircraft carrier Foch became the Brazillian carrier São Paulo.

 

Actually if the Republicans predicted much higher deficits than Bush left office with. In fact, Bush himself was even more pessimistic of the deficit than the White House Budget office.

For example:

The deficit for the budget year that ended Sept. 30, 2006 was 22.3 percent lower than the $318.7 billion imbalance for 2005.

Bush called the outcome for Fiscal 2006 a "dramatic reduction" that redeemed his 2004 campaign pledge to halve the deficit earlier than his original 2009 target date.

"These numbers show that we have now achieved our goal of cutting the federal deficit in half and we've done it three years ahead of schedule." GWB

The pledge to cut the deficit in half was based on the administration's forecast that the 2004 deficit would hit $521 billion, a figure that proved to be too pessimistic by more than $100 billion. However, the administration has continued to use the forecast number as its benchmark for deficit reduction.

Bush said he would continue to urge Congress to make permanent his first-term tax cuts, all of which are due to expire by the end of 2010.

(source AP Economics Writer MARTIN CRUTSINGER)

Milk, Gas, OJ, Gold, and just about every other consumable is also up.
Are you still trying to use the SM as a metric for gauging that state of the economy?

Thanks for answering my question and confirming your mental status.

That "tax break" as you call it, was what was responsible for deficit reduction during the Bush admin post 9/11.

 

Jimmy Carter strikes again. The Fed’s mandate was expanded in 1977, to promote “maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates”.

So basically the Fed's license to print money was signed into law by Jimmy Carter. Really no difference in what Barry Obama is doing now and Carter did back in the 70s. With the "Carter timeline" we are in a comparable period to 1978. Gold's high in 1980 was $1k so in 2010 dollars that would be $2,200 per oz.

The paradox of printing money is that things actually get better for a while. In 1920 the economy in Weimar was improving and prices were even decreasing. Inflation is a dangerous tiger that strikes out of nowhere. There isn't anytime to react.

These broadsides are less threatening to the Fed’s independence than they appear. Senate Democrats could block, and Mr Obama could veto, any change to the Fed’s mandate. And besides, the Fed’s expanded mandate of 1977, to promote “maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates” has never made much economic sense, since the only thing the Fed can really affect is inflation. In practice it behaves much like central banks, for whom controlling inflation is the only mandate. A simpler mandate would actually fit with Mr Bernanke’s own desire for a numerical inflation target, probably 2%.

Tom Price, a Republican congressman from Georgia and sponsor of a bill that would remove full employment as one of the Fed’s goals. “The problem is it’s been on the administration’s side and not on the congressional side. We’ve got a Federal Reserve that is in essence monetising the debt and encouraging more deficit spending.”

http://www.economist.com/node/17580597

Breeze doesn't understand that the US bases one carrier in Japan. This carrier is based to defend both Japan and Korea at US expense. It's not just the carrier but the the costs of the carrier group as well as the jet fuel. Just to feed the crew of a carrier costs $10 million+ a month.

Funny thing that I heard the other day that for the 1st time in the Afghanistan War the US is deploying 16 M1A tanks. I wonder how much the US has already spent for carrier based air support in the war, when the same support could have been provided by tanks?

 

Using the military for political posturing seems to be running its course for the Republicans - maybe next they will begin thinking of balancing the national debt.

The Administration and Federal Reserve have stabilized the economy from freefall, negative growth and will continue the prudent policies they are capable of in sustaining the growth that was begun in June of 09 and has continued unimpeded to this day.

There are many reasons for inflation and almost all of them are based on opportunism by unregulated enterprise.

 

I may cancel HBO, there's no reason to search for Comedy on Demand when I can get my daily dose here.

 

Inflation is too much money chasing too few goods and services.

You can't print your way to prosperity and weath.

 

I missed this piece of idiocy before bogart pointed it out. It's the same lie which Jimmy Carter kept trying to fool the American people with in the late 70's.

Quoting from Wikipedia:

"Economists generally agree that high rates of inflation and hyperinflation are caused by an excessive growth of the money supply."​

Not Ebenezer Scrooge nor Scrooge McDuck nor lizard men from Planet X -- simply government increasing the money supply.

Here's Milton Friedman explaining Inflation to slow people like Phil Donahue:
[video=youtube;cJrejCsXRMs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJrejCsXRMs[/video]

 

Wow, colorful. Here is the news for those who know better than to trust in those who have destroyed the value of the dollar by printing it up by the billions.

$53,957 in Circulation for Every Ounce of Gold​

According to James Turk, the number is even more staggering when you use M3 because it captures all of the dollars in circulation, the total stock. It is the total amount of paper currency and total deposit currency within the banking system. And if you use M3, the actual number is $53,957 in circulation for every one ounce of gold. Turk commented, “That is even assuming the US actually possesses all of the gold it claims to own.”

LINK

 

Best lines:

"Only one way you can stop inflation. Having the government create less money and spend less money."

"the single most important way to cut inflation is to stop government spending"

"we don't have a desperate need to grow; we have a desperate DESIRE to grow"

Great man... God, Donahue was a retard then too!

 

The inflation rate at present is 1.17%.

Those who are responsible for the deepest recession since the Great Depression and the largest yearly national debt in the nations history were voted out of office 08 and replaced by the present Administration that while working with the Federal Reserve have curtailed the economic calamity they had the misfortune to inherit.

Printing money during a recession (adding liquidity) is only one of the many tools used in the past two years that have produced monthly growth in the GNP since June of 09.

There is a time and place for everything and it is proven by the previous Administration policies and Principals they were not the solution for economic growth the nation was forced to experience culminating in a massive recession.

Spencer, Milton Friedman is / was the poster boy for Republican (vodo) economics that long ago was discredited and again by the Bush Administration just recently, the least you can do is find an individual of suitable credibility than peddling a proven failure.

The Fed's money policy and the other solutions employed so far are all policy matters well studied by Bernankie and based on sound economic formulation the Republicans will soon find to their disliking to continue a campaign against what already is an increasing momentum of positive returns.

Monitoring the economic upturn indeed may be the one element the Administration may have in producing positive results for the 2012 elections the Republicans have no responsibility for of any kind.