Beware of the Ides of April also. Today is traditionally Income Tax Day. Moan, groan.
This year taxpayers (and the winos) get a break. Taxes do not have to be filed until April 18 by 5 pm locally.
Today is also my brother’s birthday. He is rapidly becoming a geezer. Happy Birthday Raymie.
Is spring really here or is Mother Nature giving us a false sense of security?
Yes, he should not used the VRS at all. Gimmicks are wrong. He’s acting as part of the problem.
Health care costs are a symptom. We’ve yet to determine the reason for that increase because each side only wants to address their pet peeves.
Ryan’s Medicare plan does NOT dismantle it. Medicare will still get paid and it does not take effect for years.
So, if soaking the rich is NOT the way to fix things, why is soaking the rich the only solution being put forth by the left?
The problem is both sides have pandered to the citizenry, saying that THEIR taxes will be cut. The mantra should not be “cut taxes” because 50% do not pay taxes. The mantra should be sensible, equal taxes.
Historically, no matter what the tax rates have been, the gov’t has pulled in about 18% of the GDP. If we exceed that spending, then we go broke. We have to figure out how to reduce spending to much lower levels. Otherwise, this problem will never go away.
Here’s an interesting take:
http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2011/04/my_perspective.html
“I don’t think of the long-term budget fight as being between Democrats and Republicans or between rich and poor. I look at it as a fight between people with funded retirements and unfunded retirements.”
Yes. Lets blame Obama for increasing the deficit by 3 fold. Lets blame Obama and the Pelosi congress for a 1+ Trillion dollar deficit, that started with the 2009 fiscal year.
And lets blame Bush for increasing the debt. I do. I also blame Congress. However, even with ONE war….TWO theaters…..Bush’s deficit was LESS THAN 500 BILLION per year. Its not just the war. Bush’s deficits, while I feel they were too high, were manageable under the international finance markets. Now…not so much.
And the difference between private business and public sector in regards to pensions and benefits is that the government can’t close its doors or declare bankruptcy. It can only go broke. And God forbid that a state gov’t lays off all of those public workers. If those workers want those pensions paid, then the states need to be solvent.
Our source of income is NOT equal our out flow. So, if we can’t pay our bills, if we are up to our eyeballs in debt, without the ability to borrow more, without the ability to pay down the debt, and yet, WE’RE NOT BROKE, what is your definition of “broke”?
What’s your definition of “sensible” cuts? All I’m hearing from both sides is multi-trillion dollar “cuts” over 10-12 years that seem to be cuts in INCREASES in spending. And when was the last time our Congress followed through with any multi-year project that did not include spending MORE money. We need an actual reduction in spending THIS year. I’d like to see an reduction in ONE dollar. That “cut” that was approved by Congress was joke. In the time it took to cut 38 billion, we increased the deficit by 54 billion.
And that 38 billion, by some accounts, turns out to be in the MILLIONS of dollars.
So, what’s a sensible cut? Since no one seems to agree on what to cut, how much to cut, or even if we have to cut spending?
So…we’ll just kick that can down the road and let our children take care of it.
These aren’t particularly difficult issues to understand.
1.) Medicare shouldn’t exist as structured. There are no caps on Medicare benefits. Therefore, there is no accurate method to forecast liability. All you can do is historical comparisons and extrapolate. I’m not saying Paul Ryan has all the answers (I could do an entire blog post on the holes I see in his plan) but this is one entitlement that needs to be structured into something that less resembles a bottomless pit so we can get some accurate projections of the real worst case scenario, because the best we have at the moment is just an educated guess.
2.) In 2010 federal revenues were roughly 2.163 trillion dollars, while expenditures were 3.46 trillion. This means that we were about 1.4 trillion light. If you were running a business your accountant would tell you that you were cash flow insolvent, or “broke” as we say around these parts.
3.) In high tax or anticipated high tax rate environments, the “rich” have a tendency to allocate more assets to tax shelters rather than risk. They put more energy into shielding assets rather than investing it into the economy. The most important thing to a rich person is using his/her wealth to make more money, so they want to deploy their cash into opportunities that offer the highest possible return while taking the least amount of risk. If they think that there’s a risk that someone with a badge may wander along and confiscate 50% of their profits, well this changes the risk profile dramatically and they’d rather shove dollars into some fund run out of Grand Cayman.
I had to write a six-figure check to Uncle Sam this year, and let me assure you that I would have spent and/or invested that money in the local community. That’s not to say that I won’t spend and invest now hat my wallet is considerably lighter, it’s just that I have less to do so with.
I am curious, Cargo. What would you have done about the Great Recession?
@Cato
I hear a swiss bank account works well. NOT.
Cargo, you have to pay public employees. You either have to pay them private employee salaries comensurate with their level of education or you have to offset that pay with benefits.
You are laboring under the illusion that there is a little slave class of people out there who are going to be willing to work for far less than private industry. That isn’t going to happen.
When these comparisons of salary are made up, what gets left out is that teachers make up one of the biggest clumps of public employees because there are kids. Teachers all need at least a college degree. That degree is going to draw a higher salary than non-degreed people.
Pull the teachers out of the mix and you will have statistics that are more comparable. Most private industry is not staffed by college grads.
@Moon-howler
Actually, an offshore trust is the vehicle you want. I’ll bet your guru has one and can enlighten you.
@Cato
I hope not. I had to answer a question about that when I had my taxes done. grrrrr. Not to worry. No foreign accounts.
“Time” magazine, April 18, 2011, reports that in order to match the savings in Paul Ryan’s disastorous plan they would have to raise taxes by 50% or cut expenditures by 35%. So let’s see–raising taxes by 50% = 50% X 35% = 17.5%. 35% + 17.5% = 62.5%. That is equal to the tax rate in 1932. By 1936 the rate was 79% and that ain’t the end of it. By 1945 the highest rate was 91% and remained that way for another 19 years. Even during part of St. Ronald’s reign, the tax rate was 50%. We can stand to increase income taxes, remove all the loopholes, we can do away with corporate welfare, we can close loopholes–it just takes cajones or ovaries to do it. It could also be some combination of increasing taxes and some lowering of spending–We need to stop being the world’s police force–that was what things like the UN, NATO, SEATO were supposed to do. We could reduce defense spending by a billion a month getting out of Afghanistan and Iraq. We could reduce foreign aid by billions. And we must find ways now to rid ourselves on our dependence on foreign oil–many forms of biodiesel and more cars running on non-corn/food based ethanol. Brazil runs something like 6% of their automobiles on ethanol. Yes, they seem to be destroying rain forest to grow sugar cane, but we have put limited dollars into a concerted effort to produce other cellulose based ethanol and biodiesel produced from animal and human waste.
I know no one will read this and I really don’t care but I write it because…
The solution to Social Security could be relatively simple–remove the $108,600 cap and gradually raise the age for full SS to perhaps 70 and consider doing away with the “early” SS unless the person can prove a genuine hardship.
@George, I read it.
Also the social security fund could save a few by shoring up the ss check kids get if a parent is dead or disabled. How much abuse goes on there:
@Cato the Elder
I really find it difficult to believe you wrote a “six figure check to Uncle Sam” unless you are counting the numbers after the decimal point. Six figures = $100,000 or more. To have paid this much, you would have had to make atg least $258,700 with no deductions. It’s OK to blow your horn, but don’t blow smoke!
@George S. Harris
I wish I was blowing smoke. This was on top of my corporate liability which was *another* six figure check, all for a business that made less than a million in profit. Corporate tax rates kill guys like me who don’t have foreign subsidiaries to play shell games with.
@Cato the Elder
What do you get for your six figure tax expense? Too bad we’re at war. Too bad we have to spend money on all those injured military folks. Too bad we have to maintain our infrastructure, you know highways, bridges, etc. There are so many “too bads”, for which tax money is needed.
Guys like you don’t get killed, no matter what. Surely you don’t expect us to feel sorry for you, do you? Having read your comments here re the stockmarket, I’m certain you’ll find a way to survive very well.
BTW – Does Uncle Sam spend any money in your community?
@punchak
I’m with you P. I wonder if Cato ever has had a hardship–you know like bieng in a combat zone for a year, etc, etc, etc.
@Cato the Elder
Cato, as one of those disabled vets that spent years away from home, that Punchak and George are going on about, I hope you get to keep as much of that hard earned money as possible, so that YOU can invest it in the local economy.
As for that, if that was all we were spending it on, then we wouldn’t be in this mess? Where were you guys when the “stimulus” BS were passed and Obmacare was proven to be a spendthrift bill, and the other crap that is totaling 1.3 trillion in deficit spending? What are we spending it on? There is nothing going on that takes this money? Bush at his worst had only a 487 billion dollar deficit. All this spending has done nothing but cause inflation. And yes, I count food and fuel in that equation.
Mark Steyn: The country’s broke, and you can vote yourself unsustainable quantities of government lollipops all you like, but all you’re doing is ensuring that when, eventually, you’re obliged to reacquaint yourself with reality, the shock will be far more devastating and convulsive.
I see the underlying political support of one political party versus the other being at the heart of all this controversy over what seems fairly common sense. If we spend more money than we take in, and who the hell cares who the POTUS is, then we have a problem. If at home you run your credit cards to the max, and can’t even pay the minimum due, then you have a problem. You can argue who bought the most stuff later as you’re looking for a bridge overpass to live under! The love/hate for Obama is clouding the issue, period. Nero fiddles while Rome burns.
It’s the “take in” part that needs to be addressed, as well as the “spend more.” ALL options need to be on the table if we want to reduce the deficit. Bill Clinton did it in 8 years, so don’t tell me it can’t be done!
Well the neighborhood that seems to get dumped on continually has been hit again. How nice a day after a vote to keep our neighborhood together, they vote to screw us. Seems as though the vote was 5-3 last night approving a new 100+ foot cell to Lomond Dr at Flat Branch. I missed the vote. I want to know who is in this “new gang of five”. There are already two cell towers in our neighborhood that aren’t very noticable because of where they are. However, this new prize is going to be very noticable. I’ve not heard of one person in over a decade say they have cell phone reception problems. I sure hope this tower doesn’t get in the way if and when they decide to blaze a trail to extend Godwin Dr. through that area.
I do not begrudge Cato for being successful – isn’t that supposed to be the American way? And, we do not know what sacrifices he and his family has endured. I do believe he is a little selfish in that he is using our system to make his money today, but he is going to go to Hong Kong later, and not contribute back to the US system for the next generation.
Cato – can I ask what your effective federal tax rate was?
cargo – you can talk all you want about the Bush deficits, but you have to admit, that he did not leave the Whitehouse in better shape than he got it – Obama was dealt a very bad deck of cards – recession, financial crisis, housing crisis, out of control unemployment, TWO wars, etc – and some of those problems is what has lead to the out of control spending in the form of automatic stabilizers – unemployment insurance increases, medicaid increases, etc.
I wonder if PWC is going to reject this money from the Commonwealth – http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9MMT0KO0.htm – but I guess it is different than receiving the one time stimulus funds – at least then, you could say your position has been eliminated because we did not get additional funding, on the other hand, one will have to go back and say, you will get a salary reduction because the funding was not continued.
@Lafayette, might want to talk to Patty, to suggest that she is mighty pissed wouldn’t do it justice.
@Pat.Herve
When did Cato say he was going to Hong Kong?
I do not agree that “he is a little selfish in that he is using our system to make his money today . . . . and not contribute back to the US system for the next generation.”
If Cato has been obeying all laws and regulations (I have no reason to think that he hasn’t) and has been selling his services to clients who contracted with him of their own free will, he has been providing value for value. He has already contributed to the US system for the next generation by taking no value from anyone by force (as the government does) and providing value to those who purchase his services.
Prince William County takes my money, my value, by force and threats if I don’t comply and give it to Mark Wolfe and his wife for their dance school, and to build roads for developers. I get no value from either in exchange for my money. Cato gets his money by voluntary exchange.
@Lafayette
I have cell phone reception problems and have for years. It is better now but only because I use Verizon. Even now I get dropped occassionally if certain vehicles go past my house.
The cell tower is the least of my worries. I would still like to know how people voted, however. What I am on the look out for is any attempt to open up a new cut through on existing streets.
Lomond Drive from Flat Branch to 234 needs some major sprucing up. It just looks old and tired and worn. I don’t even think crepe myrtles will help that stretch of road. And it isn’t a new thing. That stretch has been worn and tired for years. The new Coles part of Lomond looks more like it has had a face lift. And for the life of me….I am not sure I know the difference.
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<:
Snakes are lose in Westgate! Frogs, toads, slugs, and snails soon to follow.
@Pat.Herve
I agree. Bush did not leave things better than he got them. 1) He spent too much trying to be a “compassionate conservative.” That right there is why I didn’t want him as the candidate. 2) He got no support for much of his admin, with Congress actively undercutting him on things that THEY authorized and yet, didn’t have the guts to de-fund.
Bush spent too much. But even at his worst, he still only spent 1/3 of what Obama’s budget spends.
Lafayette! Lafayette! Answer your phone!! Chicken alert! Chicken alert! Chickens in Westgate.
It looks like there is an APB on KFC over there.
@Cargo,
Why was so much money spent post Bush? Let’s not throw around figures without talking about WHY? How about some of that being compounded interest on 2 wars? Funny how the Prez gets the blame for that one?
How about that Great Recession where a nation had to be financially saved? Did any of that fall on the Prez’s plate? Huge rescue operation there.
I suggest we figure out how to solve the problem rather than pointing fingers. Wars aren’t cheap. Why should the American people not have to foot some of the bill? The only people who suffered during our 2 middle east wars were military families. The civilian population never had to alter their way of life at all.
Maybe if we had to pay for some of these wars we wouldn’t be in such a hurry to start the flag waving. If our children and siblings had to come home in body bags or with life altering injuries, we might not be so supportive.
Even those in Congress didn’t have to dirty their hands with it. Only a handful of elected officials really adopted that war. I know that Congressman Bill Young and his wife Beverly both made regular trips to visit the wounded troops. Both of them live here in Prince William County also. Who else made weekly pilgrimages in to see our fallen heroes?
Crickets…….
NTK – Cato mentioned on another thread that he was going to move to HK, and has already bought a home overlooking Junk Bay.
I do not think I implied that he was doing anything illegal – I am sure that he has payed taxes on his off shore accounts – but I do think it is selfish to accumulate your wealth while living here in the US, and then moving on to other pastures, and taking that wealth with you. If HK is so great, move there now, why wait. In the mean time, people like Cato will complain about how they are paying too much in taxes, and they should be paying less, all the while, they are making much more than the average person, and do not intend on staying here anyway – so Cato is not worried about Medicare or its funding, infrastructure, or the deficit, as he will not be here to have to deal with that.
I do wish Cato luck in his endeavor, it is just not for me.
@Pat.Herve
But its Cato’s wealth that he earned honestly through his own labor and effort. Why should you, I or anyone else have any say, or even care, what he does with it or where he takes it as long as he doesn’t violate any laws?
I’m an enthusiastic investor also, like Cato, but he has apparently done better with it than I have. Being jealous of and criticizing him will not make me one iota of a better investor. Continuing to work, study and gain experience will.
This sort of thinking is the downfall of our nation. Somebody else did better than I did. It’s not fair. He shouldn’t be able to take his hard-earned wealth and do as he pleases with it. He should be taxed; the wealth should be left here; it should be shared by all whether they accomplished anything or not.
@Moon-howler
Compound interest on two wars?
The 1+trillion deficits started when Pelosi refused to submit a budget and had it signed by the incoming Obama. The costs of the ONE war still did not cause deficits larger than 500 billion at its highest.
Pelosi, and then Obama, passed a bill filled with liberal pet projects and then, in addition to the budget passed those idiotic slush funds, the “stimulus” bills, that did nothing of the sort.
So, yes…let’s examine why. WHY are we spending all these trillions and where is the money going? Where did the money go that was sent to the non-existent districts? where did that stimulus money go that was supposed to go to “shovel ready” projects? Obama’s talking about ANOTHER bill to “fix” the infrastructure, apparently forgetting that the stimulus bill was supposed to do that. You cannot spend you way out of debt nor recession. FDR proved that.
“Dow Jones rallies to highest level since 2008”
(Washington Post 2-20-1011)
@Pat.Herve
My effective rate turned out to be about 25%. I probably could have been more aggressive and dropped it but I play it rather conservative when it comes to taxes (never been audited, knock on wood).
The point I was trying to make was that small and mid-size businesses that play by the rules get the shaft, while corporations such as GE can afford to launder profits among foreign subsidiaries and end up getting a refund. That’s not a free market. That’s crony capitalism where favored corporations get together with the government and make up rules in order to game the system.
Also, just because I’ll be an American expat in HK doesn’t mean I won’t pay US taxes. It doesn’t work that way unless you want to give up your citizenship, which I will never do. I’m moving there because I want to be in the center of what I believe will be a 21st century commercial explosion and I want my children growing up in highly competitive schools, speaking Mandarin with ease.
@Moon-howler
Well, this is the first I’ve heard of your reception issues. I stand corrected!
Now, on to more serious business. Where are these chickens? I’ll be keeping my eyes and ears open for them. The county may have a new Domestic Fowl Overlay District, but it does NOT include WestGate/Sudley. Hopefully, I will smell these birds on someone’s grill and won’t have to drag Neighborhood Services out to the area to deal with these illegal birds.
@lafayette, if I didn’t tell you, then you are not at fault. You said you had not talked to one person….
The chickens were sighted on King George in the driveway of their house.
That’s pretty close home. I can’t understand why anyone would think those smelly birds are ok in a residential neighborhood. Gross!!
From time to time, I see a mention here of Neighborhood Services in PWC. After studying the material available on the PWC government website, it looks to me like this NS of yours may be quite different from the way we are doing things in Loudoun and especially in Sterling Park. We pass pertinent county ordinances rather piecemeal and then depend on responses to citizen complaints from the normal zoning authorities in Leesburg. Those responses have often been unsatisfactory and have become a large bone of contention between citizens and the county government. It is often like the citizens and the zoning authorities are not on the same page. Step one has been to file a complaint with the zoning authorities. Step two has been to scream at your elected county supervisor if the zoning authorities do not respond satisfactorily. Sometimes we just skip step one.
It looks to me like your NS is the sort of thing which might help us to overcome our problem. For those of you who have dealt first hand with NS, could I get you to address a couple of questions for me?
(1) Has the existence of NS, as opposed to a usual zoning enforcement mechanism, made a significant improvement in the speed in which citizens get a response to complaints?
(2) Have the personal in your NS organization, which appears to be different in its stated and specific dedication, developed an aura of empathy and sympathy for those who file complaints and thereby gotten away from the sometimes attitude that the complainers are often just whiners and, quite frankly, a pain in the ass?
(3) Has NS developed a reputation for response and effective action to a point where it has lessened significantly the need for citizens to contact their BCOS supervisor in an effort to put pressure on NS?
(4) When a citizen files a complaint, do NS personel consult and confer with that citizen BEFORE taking action or do they simply proceed on their own with reference only to the written complaint?
(5) When a response and action are undertaken, does the NS report back to the citizen or citizens who filed the complaint and explain adequately the results and reasons for actions taken?
(6) Do the NS personnel have the full power to issue zoning violation citations and pursue enforcement of such when the object of a complaint does not voluntarily comply or does the NS have to leave this in the hands of another zoning enforcement entity? In other words, is NS a full replacement for your previous zoning enforcement mechanism?
(7) Is it standard procedure for NS personnel, when confronting someone who is the object of a complaint, to be accompanied by a police officer or other protective personnel?
Any insights from you all would be helpful.
$6/gallon gas by summer
http://www.cnbc.com/id/42683030
@Wolverine
I hope this gives you some insight on NS operates here in PW. If you have more questions and care to speak via email. Please, let Moon know and she can put you in contact with me. Here’s living proof that I’ve had plenty of interaction with NS over the years. Note the yellow house is at the end of my street and was used by virtually every news channel under the sun. Our local channels, Fox News, MSN, CNN, PBS, and even TeleMundo reported from this house for about a year.
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/561184047yuacNi
1) This best answers your question. This information is from graph that was presented at last week’s BoS meeting. You will see the time has improved greatly. However, this improvement was due to active citizens sicking of seeing their neighborhoods neglected by homeowners and/or bank owners.
Open to Founded 2005-14 days/2011-3 days
Founded to Closed 2005-86 days/2011-24 days
Open to Closed 2005-100days/2011-26 days
2) I’ve always found the PCE inspectors to be understanding of our neighborhood issues. By the same token there have been times when I’ve seen inspectors be sympathetic with the violators,and I believe they have a couple of people that are indeed pains.
3) I’ve not had contact my supervisor for a NS issue in a few years. Luckily our supervisor held a meeting in his office with neighbors, the NS Director, and Supervisor Stirrup was there to in 2007. This was the turning point for NS. They learned a lot from we the citizens and we learned from them. It was an “airing of the grievances” of sorts. The foreclosed properties were the biggest problem, with absent owners of banks. The county created a “foreclosures house” form. This way the county could be assured the property was secure, etc.
4) It depends on the type of complaint if they contact the citizen or not first. Tall grass, cars parked on the grass, and trash heaps typically don’t get a call first. However, if you turn in an overcrowded house or illegal “auto repair shop” in the backyard they will more than likely give you a call first. The Complaint form has plenty of room for you write out details. They used to investigate overcrowding in the middle of the day. Well, of course these cases will be unfounded if NS is investigating when folks are at work. The more information you provide to NS the better end results.
5) They do indeed keep the citizen in the loop as to the status of the case. Also, one very nice feature to our NS is the case look up. Once a case has been assigned a case #, which the citizen is given, the case can be tracked on line with updates on the case. This is very helpful.
6) They do have power to issue citations after a certain period of time of not taking care of the problem. Our inspectors do appear in court when the cases go to court. They do get judgments against people, as well as file liens on their real estate tax bill. I’m title examiner in PW and I’ve seen plenty of both of these since 2008. Prior to 2008 this crap rarely went to court or any type of lien obtained against the property.
7) Our inspectors go out on their own. However, in some cases the police have escorted the PCE Inspectors. This I’ve seen in cases of people having full blown living rooms living in the woods. If kids are living there I would guess Social Services might get involved too
Where is my response to Wolverine?
thanks Cato, glad to hear you will be going ex-pat, not ex-citizen, as I had assumed.
http://www.theonion.com/articles/bp-ready-to-resume-oil-spilling,20089/
“BP Sues Halliburton claiming misconduct in Deepwater Horizon disaster.”
(NYT – 4-21-2011)
My reaction is the same as it was years ago when Iraq and Iran declared
war on each other.
Wolverine, I’ve dealt with NS and zoning (in the past – before the creation of NS). I was always satisfied with zoning. The county population was smaller then and it was easy to talk to the department head.
I’ve had mixed results with NS. Early on, I had a complaint about a neighbor who was running his business off the roadside in that he came home from his job and spread all his equipment in front of his house on the road and left it there until he needed to use it again which could be weeks or months. I complained and was initially told that he had a permit to operate a business from his house. It was only after I insisted that NS put in writing that he could run his business from the curb that I got any response and had the problem solved. My next step would have been to contact my supervisor.
A couple years ago I contacted NS by email about messes in two yards. Two different inspectors were sent out. One satisfactorily solved the problem – got the mess cleaned up and reported back on the progress. The other inspector was worthless and the mess is still there including an illegal shed in the front yard setback. So it depends on the inspector.
What citizens often fail to realize is that NS personnel and zoning personnel have heard these complaints many, many times before and they have a better idea than most citizens which cases will hold up in court if that is where they ultimately go. Usually letters are sent out or phone calsl made to encourage compliance before anything goes to court. Also, these departments don’t have unlimited funds and aren’t going to take every little thing to court.
I’d say NS gets mixed reviews. It’s improved over the years, but neighborhoods had to get really crappy before those improvements were made in my opinion. You’ll find differences between different jurisdictions on how aggressively zoning ordinances are enforced. Some jurisdictions take a proactive stance and look at the entire jurisdiction for property maintence issues during a “spring clean-up”. Others wait until problems are reported to them.
@Censored bybvbl
I sure wish my post to Wolverine answering his questions would show up. I think you and I are the most familiar with our NS on this blog. I agree with your assessment above.
I think this NS is worthy of thread or at least kick off the new open thread with Wolverine’s questions.
@lafayette
trapped in spam.
@cargosquid
You have asked more questions and not answered. You keep saying Obama and Pelosi are spending money. You question interest on war debt like it doesn’t exist.
What slush funds? There are those who would argue that the stimulus package did a great deal. And regardless, how much was the stimulus package for? Surely not 14 trillion bucks.
You are aware that we are still paying for WWII debt?
Stop trying to pile it on 1 or 2 people. That is totally unrealistic and inaccurate and makes it as absurd as if I tried to blame George Bush for the entire war.
The compounded interest that you are talking about is not what is driving this problem. Even the overall interest on previous debt and deficit is not what has the world worried. The stimulus money went to political allies. It went to governments. It was touted as being used to rebuild infrastructure, but was primarily sent to democratic districts to provide money for pork. There ARE those that would argue that the stimulus package did a great deal. Those that say it did good, tend to be Democrats or Obama allies. Please show me how that spending actually did what is was touted to do. We were told that all this spending would save employment and make this recession shorter.
How’s that working out for us? So far, its looking like a repeat of FDR’s attempts to manage the economy. Then again, it should. Obama’s using all the same, old, tired arguments.
This IS about the current spending, starting in 2009. As I said, previous debt was manageable and the deficit was reducing.
I am piling the current deficits on the current admin and on Pelosi. One year’s deficit was equal to three of Bush’s . The 2009 budget under Bush was not passed nor approved by him. Pelosi did not submit the budget and waited until her man was in office. I put that year’s deficit on Obama.
Bush added about 2.5 trillion in public debt through 2008. Obama passed that in TWO YEARS. And he plans to continue that insanity for decades. Bush was actually reducing deficits until the Democrats took over. Now its moving in the other direction.
However, those better trained in analyzing budgets put the blame for 2009’s increase on both Bush and Obama, so lets’ see what their summary is:
http://blog.heritage.org/2009/03/24/bush-deficit-vs-obama-deficit-in-pictures/
What’s driving Obama’s unprecedented massive deficits? Spending. Riedl details:
* President Bush expanded the federal budget by a historic $700 billion through 2008. President Obama would add another $1 trillion.
* President Bush began a string of expensive financial bailouts. President Obama is accelerating that course.
* President Bush created a Medicare drug entitlement that will cost an estimated $800 billion in its first decade. President Obama has proposed a $634 billion down payment on a new government health care fund.
* President Bush increased federal education spending 58 percent faster than inflation. President Obama would double it.
* President Bush became the first President to spend 3 percent of GDP on federal antipoverty programs. President Obama has already increased this spending by 20 percent.
* President Bush tilted the income tax burden more toward upper-income taxpayers. President Obama would continue that trend.
* President Bush presided over a $2.5 trillion increase in the public debt through 2008. Setting aside 2009 (for which Presidents Bush and Obama share responsibility for an additional $2.6 trillion in public debt), President Obama’s budget would add $4.9 trillion in public debt from the beginning of 2010 through 2016.
UPDATE: Many Obama defenders in the comments are claiming that the numbers above do not include spending on Iraq and Afghanistan during the Bush years. They most certainly do. While Bush did fund the wars through emergency supplementals (not the regular budget process), that spending did not simply vanish. It is included in the numbers above. Also, some Obama defenders are claiming the graphic above represents biased Heritage Foundation numbers. While we stand behind the numbers we put out 100%, the numbers, and the graphic itself, above are from the Washington Post. We originally left out the link to WaPo. It has now been added.
CLARIFICATION: Of course, this Washington Post graphic does not perfectly delineate budget surpluses and deficits by administration. President Bush took office in January 2001, and therefore played a lead role in crafting the FY 2002-2008 budgets. Presidents Bush and Obama share responsibility for the FY 2009 budget deficit that overlaps their administrations, before President Obama assumes full budgetary responsibility beginning in FY 2010. Overall, President Obama’s budget would add twice as much debt as President Bush over the same number of years.
Here’s the updated info based on the budgets. This source moves the 2009 spending to Bush, though he did not approve it.
This is why the Tea Party showed up. We saw the writing on the wall. That last bullet point below is the kicker.
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/02/05/past-deficits-vs-obamas-deficits-in-pictures/
But not only does President Obama’s budget fail to reduce deficits “overnight”, his budget actually moves them in the opposite direction. President Obama’s budget would:
* Permanently expand the federal government by nearly 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) over 2007 pre-recession levels;
* Borrow 42 cents for each dollar spent in 2010;
* Leave permanent deficits that top $1 trillion in as late as 2020
@Cargo
I suppose there were alternatives. We could have turned tail and run after 9-11. We could have ignored the upgrades in what amount to civil defense. We could have continued to let seniors choose between rent and prescription drugs, we could have let the country fallen into Depression after the crash. We could have ignored the climbing unemployment rates and we could have simply let the bulk of the auto industry crash and burn, including all those other businesses that rely on the auto industry. Hell, foreign countries could have filled in the gaps.
@Big Dog
You do realize that the Onion is a satire and parody site, right?
Hmm…why are all your “alternatives” just failure? Why is the only solution government spending?
You are the one talking about the war debt, which Bush did manage. So, that one is not right. Upgrades to civil defense? What? Department of Homeland security and the TSA? Not an upgrade. “Continued to let seniors choose….” So, there was crisis in prescription costs? Instead of blowing more money that we didn’t have, why not find out why those costs were so high and provide market incentives to bring them down?
Let the country fall into a depression….are you actually believing the politicians that have everything to gain by telling you this that it was going to happen? And tell me again how massive spending is supposed to help private industry from falling inot said depression…history shows that massive spending hurts. As for the auto industry crashing and burning……. I see that the BULK of the auto industry is just fine. It is those companies that got the bailouts that are STILL hemorrhaging money. One can’t fix cancer with a blood transfusion. Ford would have been happy to pick up GM assets.
It is not the responsibility of the government to pick and choose politically connected companies to save. Would Obama bail out Wal-Mart if it was failing? Hmmmm, no unions….. nope.
NOTHING that Obama said would happen by spending this money has happened. It has fixed nothing. The only thing that got saved were union jobs. THEY got preferential treatment even over other creditors during the GM bankruptcy. Its all payback for the unions spending almost a billion dollars getting him elected.
Why should my tax money go to subsidize GM autos? The Volt sucks. Its too expensive even WITH the subsidies. If they can’t build cars without gov’t subsidies, then where does the bailout end? Are they truly “TOO BIG TO FAIL”? If they never get on their feet and make a profit, do we bail out GM over and over again, like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?
So, yes, they should have crashed.
Cargo,
The ONION features satire?!
You mean like Comedy Central, Mad Magazine, and Fox News?
Wow, thanks for pointing that out.
http://art-bin.com/art/omodest.html
Rep. Jonathan Swift (R-Texas)?