Reagan budget director warns:America has ‘reached the point of no return,’

[dross]

dross likes to neg people who don't agree with him. Little man syndrome.

You got me there. I'm a tiny little nerdy man, and women don't like me.

Also, my manhood is undersized, and real men like you kick sand in my face at the beach.

You should try it sometime.

 

[Pocketman]

Dross - may I put forth a solution that I think is likely to be followed (but not my choice, for sure)?

Rather than undertake the painful political parts of cutting entitlements... the gubbamint can inflate its way out of it. Effectively paying off the debt with dollars that are worth LESS... It's effectively a tax across the board on all of us - but is not identified as such.

I suspect that this is the approach being followed by both us and the Euros... and would be quick and effective IF (IMPORTANT) we weren't all trying to do it at the same time. But there's only so much Chinese currency to go around....


Add this into you equation with smatterings of the other solutions and you find what's going to happen. Not what I would prefer, mind you - but this is what the political mind will likely spit out.

Since the Chinese purposely undervalue their own currency to screw with our economy, may as well pay them pack with inflated dollars.

 

[rambone]

All this debate about hypothetical cuts... lets get real here. I don't feel that we're ever going to climb out of debt in a conventional sense. Its pretty obvious what is going to happen, and it is already happening. They're just going to devalue the currency by printing money by the Trillions. Hyperinflation will set in hard, and suffering on a massive scale will ensue. We will fall out of favor with our lenders. May even see the splitting of our country. New flags, new governments, new enemies. Get ready to rumble.

 

[sadclownwp]

A large population drop could solve everything.

 

[ArmedProgrammer]

Since the Chinese purposely undervalue their own currency to screw with our economy, may as well pay them pack with inflated dollars.

"International Relations" is the business of one country screwing another....

Economic warfare is a fact of life. Ask the former Soviet Union.

Inflation is a DANGEROUS way to do it. But I believe that's currently where we are at.

 

[Pocketman]

This morning's news: "Illinois Lawmakers Pass 67% Income Tax Increase"

Probably only the beginning. Don't know what California will do since their rate is already ~9% based upon income level. Those states that hold out could benefit from the migrations.

Edit: Illinois raised the rate from 3% to 5%. Indiana's rate is 3.4%

 

[ATOMonkey]

I love it when they report percentages of percentages.

It went from 6% to 9% right? Is that 3% difference or a 67% difference.

Not that I think increasing state income tax is a good thing. Just my observation about how things are reported.

Illinois is stupid.

 

[SemperFiUSMC]

Can anyone point to a single civilization that didn't drive itself to ruin by its insatiable spending? I've tried and can't come up with one, save maybe the Myans, and that's only because we don't know why their civilization failed.

All spending is really trading something we have for something we don't. Spending, in whatever form, is a symptom of desire. I wonder if we as humans have the capacity to control our desires. If we don't, does that mean we're doomed by innate behavior?

 

[dross]

Can anyone point to a single civilization that didn't drive itself to ruin by its insatiable spending? I've tried and can't come up with one, save maybe the Myans, and that's only because we don't know why their civilization failed.

All spending is really trading something we have for something we don't. Spending, in whatever form, is a symptom of desire. I wonder if we as humans have the capacity to control our desires. If we don't, does that mean we're doomed by innate behavior?

I think even the Mayans overspent. They ran out of local tribes to sacrifice.

I think you may be right about one part of this. I think there's a certain amount of entropy at work in any society or form of government. Our form of government has lasted quite a long time.

Think about this, though. Even with the overspending ocurring here and even more so in Europe - them being tweny or more years ahead of us on the march to socialism and national debt, and they without the defense burden we have carried - even with all that, we've also greatly increased the average life span, made amazing gains in healthcare, and increased the standard of living for everyone in those countries.

Perhaps we haven't figured it all out, but looking back over the last century, I'd say we've made huge strides as a society and a species in many areas.

Now, who knows what it looks like as the bill becomes due. Perhaps like The Road, or The Stand, or some other post-apocolyptic vision. Hard to say.

I'm optimistic that we'll find some way out of the crash we appear to be heading towards, but who knows.

 

[CarmelHP]

Add this into you equation with smatterings of the other solutions and you find what's going to happen. Not what I would prefer, mind you - but this is what the political mind will likely spit out.

This is probably the least painful, not painless, solution out there.

 

[.45 Dave]

All I know is that defense spending at my house is not being cut back. Also spending on commodities is being increased. The President said we had to make sacrifices and I agree. I'm sacrificing vacation time and luxuries so I can buy ammo and food. Maybe not quite what he meant but it works for me.