Thursday, February 28, 2013

SO LET'S GO THIS ROUTE



Do you get it?
Posted by Joe at 3:47 PM

10 comments:

Ducky's here said...

Do you get it?

----
No.

February 28, 2013 at 6:03 PM
Xavier Onassis said...

Complete misrepresentation on 2 points.

1) The Federal Budget is nothing at all like a household budget. Conservatives are constantly trying to make this comparison and "dumb the problem down" so the Republican base can understand it. The truth of the matter is that in any given economic climate, the Federal Government should be doing EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE of what households are doing. If we are in a recession, unemployment is high and consumer spending is down, that is EXACTLY when government spending should ramp up! If times are good, unemployment is low and consumer spending is up, that's when government spending should be throttled back.

The only similarity between the Federal Budget and a household budget is that neither of them actually control spending. Their just pieces of paper that sort of outline what the author would like to do, if possible.

2) The Federal Debt Ceiling is nothing like an individual's credit card limit because it does not limit spending. It only limits how much of what you spent you are actually going to pay for.

For you Conservatives who don't seem to grasp how government spending actually works, here is a Primer.

How much the Federal Government spends is not dictated by the Federal Budget or constrained by the Federal Debt Ceiling.

How much the Federal Government spends is completely dependent upon the Bills passed in the House and Senate and signed by the President which allocate Federal funds to be spent.

Neither the Federal Budget or the Federal Debt Ceiling play any part in the Legislative process.

Bills can be proposed even if what they are proposing is not in the Federal Budget document.

Bill can be passed and put into law without being bounced up against the Federal Debt Ceiling.

Once a Bill becomes Law, that money WILL be spent and we MUST pay for it.

Allocating funds by passing a Bill and then refusing to raise the Debt Ceiling to account for it is the exact same scenario as going to a restaurant, ordering a huge, expensive meal, consuming it with gusto, and then refusing to pay the bill when the check comes.

You authorized the spending by ordering the food, you incurred the debt by eating the food, now you have to pay the bill.

Suck it up, quit whining and pay the bill.

February 28, 2013 at 7:51 PM
Joe said...

Ducky: Not surprised.

XO: A budget, by definition, is a plan for spending money. A budget is a budget. The people who administer the budget (personal or federal) control it.

The Federal Debt Ceiling does not limit spending because the administrators of the Ceiling don't take the action needed to limit it.

If they did, we wouldn't be in the mess we're in.

The rules don't change just because some idiot taught economics to you poorly.

Your description is exactly what is wrong with the system. It is being run by economic lame brains.

February 28, 2013 at 9:09 PM
Ducky's here said...

Joe, as XO explained, we aren't surprised that the fringe right compares the comptroller of the world reserve currency with an applicant at the local savings and loan.

The naivete of the fringe right and their self satisfaction is stunning. So keep in mind that it is perfectly reasonable not to understand why someone would make such a silly comparison.

You should compound your error with a Bill Whittle clip.

February 28, 2013 at 9:30 PM
Joe said...

Ducky & XO: The system that you describe has worked so well! The world is not in recession and neither is our country.

The federal coffers are full, people's taxes are low and the redistribution of wealth is well on its way to solving whatever small budget/deficit issues we might have.

Thanks guys. I'm sure you will keep it up.

Way to go! Yea! Good Job!

February 28, 2013 at 9:39 PM
Xavier Onassis said...

Jo Joe - "The system that you describe has worked so well! The world is not in recession and neither is our country."

Actually, we are not in a recession. All domestic economic indicators are on the rise. Orders of magnitude better than they were when Obama took office. We are almost out of it. Which is exactly why the Republicans are trying trash the recovery with all of their phony, manufactured economic cliffs. They would rather have am American economy in the crapper destroying families than allow Obama to claim credit for saving the economy from the failed economic policies of the Republicans.

February 28, 2013 at 10:42 PM
Joe said...

XO: "We are almost out of it. Which is exactly why the Republicans are trying trash the recovery with all of their phony, manufactured economic cliffs. They would rather have am American economy in the crapper destroying families than allow Obama to claim credit for saving the economy from the failed economic policies of the Republicans."

What a foolish, biased, intolerant, remark. And it is wrong.

March 1, 2013 at 9:03 AM
Craig said...

The federal coffers are full, people's taxes are low and the redistribution of wealth is well on its way to solving whatever small budget/deficit issues we might have.

It was only 13 years ago that the coffers were full. We were on a path to retire the debt. It was then that the Republicans decided this was a bad thing. Alan Greenspan went before congress to argue we were paying down the debt too fast. To fix that 'problem' they did the only thing they know how to do, cut taxes. The deficit exploded, job growth was anemic and eventually the economy collapsed.

Taxes are at historic lows. We are shedding govt jobs. If govt jobs as a % of labor force had kept pace with that of the Reagan or Bush II eras, UE would be, at least, a percentage point lower. Funding for non-defense discretionary spending is already at historic lows and the deficit is shrinking faster than at any time since WWII.

You want to talk about redistribution of wealth? 121% of wealth realized from the modest recovery, 2009-2011, went to the top 1%. That means the bottom 99% lost ground. The game is rigged, Joe, and Obama and congress have done little to change it. The few things they have done, Dodd-Frank and a tiny tax increase on the 1%, have been fought tooth and nail by the Repubs.

XO explained to you why a govt budget is nothing like the family budget. Contractionary policy leads to contraction. It's that simple. If you don't believe me, look at the U.K. Austerity has led to a triple dip recession and no debt reduction. Before you try to school anyone on economics, try getting educated.

Your adoring fan, Craig

March 1, 2013 at 9:17 AM
Glenn E. Chatfield said...

Joe,
For anyone, like you and me, with even the slightest understanding of basic economics 101, this video is right on target. It is exactly the problem with the U.S.

And the XOs, the Ducky's, and other liberals and Demokrats are clueless or else in denial (and not that river in Egypt) and they continue to tax and spend us into oblivion, providing unfunded entitlements to every liberal sucking the gov't teat.

Yeah, we aren't in a recession at all. Just because everything costs astronomically more than it did prior to Obamanation, just because huge populations are out of work and more getting that way due to Obamacareless, just because it cost an arm and a leg to buy an oz of gold (proving the worthlessness of the U.S. Dollar), etc, I just don't see how anyone can say the economy is going to hell in a handbasket! Just because my great-great-great-great-grandchildren will still be paying Obama & co. debt, I just don't see how people can say there is a problem with our economy.

Idiots.

March 1, 2013 at 2:44 PM
Joe said...

GEC: You should be ashamed. You have just insulted idiots everywhere.

Did you read XO's explanation of how a budget is not really a budget if it is the feds doing the budgeting?

He had the temerity to say: "Bills can be proposed even if what they are proposing is not in the Federal Budget document."

THAT'S TRUE AND THAT'S EXACTLY THE PROBLEM!!!

Until that kind of pseudo-thought is fixed, we are doomed.

March 1, 2013 at 3:02 PM

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