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July 16, 2011
Debt Ceiling Stand-Off: What Does Compromise Look Like When We Already Borrow 43 Cents of Every Federal Dollar Spent?
Monique Chartier
This staggering item stands out from Mark Steyn's (characteristically excellent) column of today.
When the 44th president took office, he made a decision that it was time for the already unsustainable levels of government spending finally to break the bounds of reality and frolic and gambol in the magical fairy kingdom of Spendaholica: This year, the federal government borrows 43 cents of every dollar it spends, a ratio that is unprecedented.
What an absurdly irresponsible and dangerous position this and the prior Congress and President have placed us in.
President Obama, around the same time he made it clear that he would cut social security checks for seniors and the infirm before he would cut funding for high speed rail (and other boondoggles) or welfare benefits for the healthy, called for compromise.
Setting aside that legislative "compromises" got us to this point, how can there be talk of compromise when 43% of your annual operating funds are borrowed? Doesn't any kind of "compromise" still leave us in the area of unsustainable spending?
2:00 PM
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I'm borrowing every cent I can to purchase as many oyster seed that I can. That is what farmers do. If I want a reliable inventory in two to three years I have to borrow and spend now and work the long days now to assure a profitable tomorrow.
Posted by: Phil at July 16, 2011 4:22 PMReally Phil??? What bank is letting you borrow year after year while compounding your debt and never paying it off.
Posted by: Max Diesel at July 16, 2011 8:50 PMMax writes:
"What bank is letting you borrow year after year while compounding your debt and never paying it off."
That is part of what got us here. Typically, banks have a "pay to zero" provision in their lines of credit. That means you have to pay of the balance, periodically. I have seen them go for years while steadily increasing your line of credit (frequently used to pay interest costs). I think that is at an end. But in "high risk, high gain" areas like Silicone Valley, it may not be.
Posted by: Warrington Faust at July 16, 2011 11:24 PMMake sure your kids learn Mandarin or Brazilian Portugese. America is in permanent decline.
Posted by: Tommy Cranston at July 17, 2011 6:32 AMWe will hit 100% debt to GDP this year and the needle is pointed ever upwards. If Nobama is re-elected and the 1.5 trillion dollar deficits continue we will be at 140% debt-GDP by 2016. Exactly matching Greece.
Get it?-we're done.
Obama is the worst president in our history, not because he is stupid, which he is not, but because he is the first president with a world view 180 degress off from the values on which the country was founded and thrived--personal responsibility, small government, individual liberty. He is a left wing dictator who believes government should control everything. He believes that not becasue he empathizses with the poor (look at how much fancy golf he takes, the lavish trips, the beautiful clothes for his wife....) but because he loves power.
Posted by: Don Mesiner at July 17, 2011 10:30 AM"He believes that not because he empathizes with the poor (look at how much fancy golf he takes, the lavish trips, the beautiful clothes for his wife....) but because he loves power. "
Correct Don...oh and I almost forgot..... Hussein Obama's brother lives in a hovel in Kenya. Imagine the field day the MSM would have if Bush's siblings were in poverty. Obama's vision?...look at his brother.
Posted by: ANTHONY at July 17, 2011 5:06 PMPosted by ANTHONY
"oh and I almost forgot..... Hussein Obama's brother lives in a hovel in Kenya. Imagine the field day the MSM would have if Bush's siblings were in poverty. Obama's vision?...look at his brother."
Correct, and you forget Aunt Zeituni, the illegal immigrant living in public housing in Boston. Just imagine if that was Bush.
Posted by: Warrington Faust at July 17, 2011 10:37 PMFirst, before I get attacked for this question as being some sort of left-wing liberal nut, I am a conservative and vote that way. However, I also like trying to see the full picture. Obama isn't the first/only president to do the things cited here. Isn't it true that Ronald Reagan tripled the national debt during his presidency? Wasn't there still huge debt during the GHWBush years? Wasn't it Clinton who then balanced the budget and eliminated deficits?
Posted by: Patrick at July 18, 2011 10:46 AMI don't mind slamming people for their mistakes, but I try to avoid the MSNBC/Fox News type of blanket statements.