The Debt

[legolas3333]

Apple Computers Inc. now has more cash than the U.S. Government. 

Thank you, Democratic party for coming to the center, even though the Republicans won't meet you there. 

And thank you, G.O.P. for trying to kill our economy even more. 

[SomeRandomDude]

Actually...pretty sure both of them have been unable to compromise, though the Republicans are being tactless and the Democrats are making political capital out of it.

Moderate opinion: Our country is run by idiots on the right AND left.

Though that post doesn't deserve a thumbs down people...come on.

[legolas3333]

I'm just saying, the Democrats have been willing to give up some entitlement programs in exchange for fixing tax loopholes and slightly raising taxes across the board, but the republican house keeps voting through bills that are shot down in the senate so, you're right. No real compromise.

[macheteman]

i think anyone with less than a few trillion dollars in debt has more cash than the US government. honestly, i wish we would realize that just like a business, household, or any other institution, a nation needs more money coming in than being spent.

the hemorrhaging could be slowed if we would start exporting goods, and stop buying stuff from china, and start making it here. also, legally and illegally there is a pipeline of money flowing into mexico and central america.

people come to this country because they can make more money, and then they send it back to their families. nothing wrong with that, but it does hurt our economy, and the illegal money doesn't get taxed, so that hurts our government.

i think that if we had any brains we would drop the income tax (too many loopholes and it doesn't tax illegal business (drugs, prostitution, freelance landscapers who get paid in cash, such as myself)) and we should instead implement a 10% sales tax across the board.

i do not think that this could reverse our current situation, but had some of these issues been dealt with much earlier, maybe it would have helped.

i also think a good way for any federal government to not get so messed up with debt and junk is to only allow it to take a percentage of what each province has already levied. that way, people wouldn't get taxed twice and and there is a clearly defined limit to what the federal government can spend. and then maybe it will stick to the tasks its there for like the police force, judicial system, roadways, military, the basics, just the basics.

i'm just glad i'm not in politics.

[mille1212]

The Reid bill and the Boehner bill are pretty similar.  The only real difference is that the Boehner's bill had a balance budget amendment.  I'm not sure how you can say no to that and survive politically.  They are asking for 900 billion more in debt and fighting about 1-5 billion dollars in cuts.  Drastic changes need to be made, but does anyone have the will to make them.  It appears that they do not.

[macheteman]

when a business runs out of money, it closes shop. when a government runs out of money, it clings on for dear life because nobody wants to lose their political power, and a lot of people don't want to lose their jobs. but at some point, the government won't have the ability to govern any longer, and we have to hope we won't have an invading army breathing down our neck. look back through history, and it hasn't boded well for declining nations. they usually got sacked or conquered or sometimes outright decimated.

[mille1212]

Until our representatives start voting for what is best for our country and not their own careers, then we will remain in very bad way. 

I agree that we are in decline as a nation, both economically and morally, but government expansion is not the answer to our problems.  Anything outside the scope of what government was intended to do, is best done by private industry.  I think history bears this out.

when a business runs out of money, it closes shop. when a government runs out of money, it clings on for dear life because nobody wants to lose their political power, and a lot of people don't want to lose their jobs. but at some point, the government won't have the ability to govern any longer, and we have to hope we won't have an invading army breathing down our neck. look back through history, and it hasn't boded well for declining nations. they usually got sacked or conquered or sometimes outright decimated.

[mille1212]

This is a good start, but I don't think 10% would be enough.  20% is more in line with what the so called experts say would be needed.  I like this sytem, as everyone is vested in paying for the system.  It would still be less than I'm paying now in federal withholding, that's for sure...    

If I make more and spend more than I pay more total dollars, but not more of a %.  There's no free lunch in a system like this, which is what tends to ruin all government programs.  Over 50% of Americans don't pay any federal withholding taxes.  If that's not broken, then I don't know what is.

i think that if we had any brains we would drop the income tax (too many loopholes and it doesn't tax illegal business (drugs, prostitution, freelance landscapers who get paid in cash, such as myself)) and we should instead implement a 10% sales tax across the board.

[Gil-Estel]

We have a 19% tax on everything we buy. But than again, in American eyes we're almost a communist country. . We pay a lot of taxes, but life is good here. I really wonder where this is going. Rise and fall of an Empire? We'll see.

[Mabrothrax]

You crazy Americans and your bonkers money.

In the words of the immortal Kenny Everett (at a Tory party conference in the 80s)...
"Let's bomb Russia!"

[SomeRandomDude]

I'm not sure how quoting a Brit says anything about Americans...

[Gate Troll]

Apple Computers Inc. now has more cash than the U.S. Government.

Thank you, Democratic party for coming to the center, even though the Republicans won't meet you there.

And thank you, G.O.P. for trying to kill our economy even more.

Spending more than you make is unintelligent. Trying to spend more and delay the inevitable is idiotic. The center is no more than an equal distance between two points. If point one is "Spending beyond our means" and point two is "Spending like the world will end tomorrow," then the concept of meeting in the middle is no more than political rhetoric. The last Democratic majority congress, the 111th Congress increased the deficit by billions. It is the responsibility of the 112th Congress to hack away as much of that spending as possible. The economy is a ship sinking in debt. There can be no compromises.

[macheteman]

you know that more than 50% of our expenditures goes to programs like medicare and social security. areas where the government has no business being involved in. on top of the fact that each working citizen would have to pay 13,000 a year in taxes to support the retired citizens. that doesn't include the money in taxes to support programs like the military and department of defense. needless to say, its no wonder we are in debt, our government promises TONS of money which they just frankly don't have.

and its gotta stop somewhere. any family knows you can't go on borrowing forever. someday the banks will stop lending to you. and for our government, someday other nations will stop lending to us. its really inevitable, unless we start making TONS of money.

of course we could just threaten to nuke the world unless everyone cancels our debts and then start over from square 1.

j/k

[Doom]

Politics+Government+Partisan+More Politics=Game. Government, get a life please.

My two cents.

[Yrael]

Apple Computers Inc. now has more cash than the U.S. Government.

Thank you, Democratic party for coming to the center, even though the Republicans won't meet you there.

And thank you, G.O.P. for trying to kill our economy even more.

The "center" in this debate will not fix the debt problems our country faces. The "cuts" in both the Boehner plan and the Reid plan are not actual cuts to our spending, but rather decrease in the growth of spending. If congress were to implement a spending freeze, the CBO would score it as 9 Trillion in cuts over 10 years.

Also, our economy is more likely to be ruined by massive debt than spending cuts. Look where Greece is now, that is where we are headed. In addition, the current administration will never approve a bill that contains enough cuts to prevent a bond downgrade (somewhere in the region of 4-5 trillion dollars), and when our bond rating is downgraded, it will immediately become more expensive to borrow than it was before, due to higher interest rates.

Finally, we will not default on our loans if we pass August 2. Parts of the government will shut down, but we still take in enough money each month to pay for interest on our loans, social security, medicare, the DoD, and a few other important functions.