cabaretewilliam previously said:

Debt Commission Leaders Paint Gloomy Picture
Sunday, 11 Jul 2010 06:07 PM Article Font Size


The heads of President Barack Obama's national debt commission painted a gloomy picture Sunday as the United States struggles to get its spending under control.

Republican Alan Simpson and Democrat Erskine Bowles told a meeting of the National Governors Association that everything needs to be considered — including curtailing popular tax breaks, such as the home mortgage deduction, and instituting a financial trigger mechanism for gaining Medicare coverage.

The nation's total federal debt next year is expected to exceed $14 trillion — about $47,000 for every U.S. resident.

"This debt is like a cancer," Bowles said in a sober presentation nonetheless lightened by humorous asides between him and Simpson. "It is truly going to destroy the country from within."

Simpson said the entirety of the nation's current discretionary spending is consumed by the Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security programs.

"The rest of the federal government, including fighting two wars, homeland security, education, art, culture, you name it, veterans, the whole rest of the discretionary budget, is being financed by China and other countries," said Simpson. China alone currently holds $920 billion in U.S. IOUs.

Bowles said if the U.S. makes no changes it will be spending $2 trillion by 2020 just for interest on the national debt.
"Just think about that: All that money, going somewhere else, to create jobs and opportunity somewhere else," he said.

Simpson, the former Republican senator from Wyoming, and Bowles, the former White House chief of staff under Democratic President Bill Clinton, head an 18-member commission. It's charged with coming up with a plan by Dec. 1 to reduce the government's annual deficits to 3 percent of the national economy by 2015.

Bowles led successful 1997 talks with Republicans on a balanced budget bill that produced government surpluses the last three years Clinton was in office and the first year of Republican George W. Bush's presidency. Simpson, as the Senate's GOP whip in 1990, helped round up votes for a budget bill in which President George H.W. Bush broke his "read my lips" pledge not to raise taxes.

Despite their backgrounds, both Simpson and Bowles said they were not 100 percent confident of success this time around.

Simpson labeled the commission members "good people of deep, deep difference, knowing the possibility of the odds of success are rather harrowing to say the least."

Bowles also said Congress had to be ready to accept the commission's findings.

"What we do is not so hard to figure out; it's the political consequences of doing it that makes it really tough," he said.

Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe was one of those leaders who sat in rapt attention during the presentation, one of the first in public by the commission leaders.

"I don't know that I ever heard a gloomier picture painted that created more hope for me," said Beebe, commending its frankness.

abc200 previously said:


Sounds as if they should start printing money fast........
S.

anthonyC previously said:



Typical answer from those who don't have a clue about basic economics.

Cut budgets.

Repeal obamacare.

Cut welfare and other entitlements by 80%

Prosecute any and all fraud to the fullest extent. Minimum 20 years hard labor for acts of fraud against the Government.

Privatize Social Security.

Ban closed union shops.

End all government subsidies.

Abolish the useless Dept's of Energy and Education

cabaretewilliam previously said:

Debt Commission Leaders Paint Gloomy Picture
Sunday, 11 Jul 2010 06:07 PM Article Font Size


The heads of President Barack Obama's national debt commission painted a gloomy picture Sunday as the United States struggles to get its spending under control.

Republican Alan Simpson and Democrat Erskine Bowles told a meeting of the National Governors Association that everything needs to be considered — including curtailing popular tax breaks, such as the home mortgage deduction, and instituting a financial trigger mechanism for gaining Medicare coverage.

The nation's total federal debt next year is expected to exceed $14 trillion — about $47,000 for every U.S. resident.

"This debt is like a cancer," Bowles said in a sober presentation nonetheless lightened by humorous asides between him and Simpson. "It is truly going to destroy the country from within."

Simpson said the entirety of the nation's current discretionary spending is consumed by the Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security programs.

"The rest of the federal government, including fighting two wars, homeland security, education, art, culture, you name it, veterans, the whole rest of the discretionary budget, is being financed by China and other countries," said Simpson. China alone currently holds $920 billion in U.S. IOUs.

Bowles said if the U.S. makes no changes it will be spending $2 trillion by 2020 just for interest on the national debt.
"Just think about that: All that money, going somewhere else, to create jobs and opportunity somewhere else," he said.

Simpson, the former Republican senator from Wyoming, and Bowles, the former White House chief of staff under Democratic President Bill Clinton, head an 18-member commission. It's charged with coming up with a plan by Dec. 1 to reduce the government's annual deficits to 3 percent of the national economy by 2015.

Bowles led successful 1997 talks with Republicans on a balanced budget bill that produced government surpluses the last three years Clinton was in office and the first year of Republican George W. Bush's presidency. Simpson, as the Senate's GOP whip in 1990, helped round up votes for a budget bill in which President George H.W. Bush broke his "read my lips" pledge not to raise taxes.

Despite their backgrounds, both Simpson and Bowles said they were not 100 percent confident of success this time around.

Simpson labeled the commission members "good people of deep, deep difference, knowing the possibility of the odds of success are rather harrowing to say the least."

Bowles also said Congress had to be ready to accept the commission's findings.

"What we do is not so hard to figure out; it's the political consequences of doing it that makes it really tough," he said.

Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe was one of those leaders who sat in rapt attention during the presentation, one of the first in public by the commission leaders.

"I don't know that I ever heard a gloomier picture painted that created more hope for me," said Beebe, commending its frankness.

anthonyC previously said:



Typical answer from those who don't have a clue about basic economics.

Cut budgets.

Repeal obamacare.

Cut welfare and other entitlements by 80%

Prosecute any and all fraud to the fullest extent. Minimum 20 years hard labor for acts of fraud against the Government.

Privatize Social Security.

Ban closed union shops.

End all government subsidies.

Abolish the useless Dept's of Energy and Education

abc200 previously said:


When you print more money if you do it slowly like Carter inflation goes up and debt in real terms reduces. People's wages in real term go down and exports get easier as external value of dollar goes down.
S.

anthonyC previously said:



CARTER?

JIMMY F*CKING CARTER?


Ok.....It is official. You are just pulling our collective legs.

anthonyC previously said:



Typical answer from those who don't have a clue about basic economics.

Cut budgets.

Repeal obamacare.

Cut welfare and other entitlements by 80%

Prosecute any and all fraud to the fullest extent. Minimum 20 years hard labor for acts of fraud against the Government.

Privatize Social Security.

Ban closed union shops.

End all government subsidies.

Abolish the useless Dept's of Energy and Education

cabaretewilliam previously said:



And bring down Gov. pay scales to the level of private sector - I know that is in your cut budgets line....and lay off 25% of gov. employees - the rest can just work harder like the rest of the people - and cut all the useless programs that abaound - like studying fruit flies in Cypress fo $60,000