leejo

Other issues in this thread aside, I think folks should consider 3 points:

1. The national debt isn't the issue. The national debt as a % of GDP is the issue
2. Without getting into the nitty gritty of the lag between cause and effect, to a certain extend blaming or praising any president for the % of national debt vs. GDP is sorta like blaming the fireman for the fire. Reagan wasn't elected to trash a economy that was running on all cylinders, he was elected because the economy was a disaster. Anyone who understand how balance sheets, the PnL, and cash flows relate shouldn't be surprised to see the debt ratchet up as government invested in revving up the economy while not simultaneously burdening it with new taxes.
3. Consider what the national debt really means. It's not as if some day the government will announce that the debt is due. In many ways it's like a credit card you use for business expenses instead of one you use to pay for a big tv. When you think of it this way, it's not so much the size of the debt that matters, it's your cash flow.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_public_debt

ScratchMonkey

Also note that the deficit is not the debt. Some confuse the two, and those who love to spend love to take advantage of that confusion.

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xTYBALTx

Magna is correct.

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MagnaCentipede

You're not posting in the thread you think you're posting in, Tybby.

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Fenian420

Yea I was wondering what he meant by that too..

Best and quickest way in reality IMO to get economy to start back up would be legalizing cannabis, Im not trying to cause any discussion or nothing.. But foreigners would flock to the US for that as if it were Amsterdam, taxes would go down slightly (after awhile of course) because of all the stoners, potheads and even casual smokers in America and the only bad thing I can really think about that is inflating food prices

Rincewind

FACE ---> PALM

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leejo

Why face smack? That's not such a nutty idea dude. There's been some pretty interesting scholarly discussion on exactly this point. It's called "The Funyons Effect". The way it works is you look for the person who will benefit. And you will, uh, you know, you'll, uh, you know what I'm trying to say--

Rincewind

He said the best way to get the economy to start back up is to legalize a drug that makes you want to lay around all day and make things*. No one is gonna want to work, much less care about the economy.

In reality though, that's not why I face palmed....





*Bongs

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Fenian420

Haha hella funny point, what do bongs gotta do with it?

Chewy

And that's just the beginning... I love when people try to blame the Republicans, solely mind you, for the debt of this country. They take nothing else into account (in Bush's case 9/11 and a revolutionized change in national security and Reagans multiple wars) for maybe why this rises.

Magna brings up some good points with the inflation, which is higher levels right now than when Clinton was in office. Add in the fact that Congress is just as much to blame for the budget (if not more so) than the President and then the graph is basically boiling down to another "Bush sucks" ad, when in fact it's hiding some real truths.

Unfortunately, the Republicans will forever be known to lower taxes (what people want) and in turn magically increase the national debt all by their lonesome. And the Democrats will be forever known to be liberal a-holes who refuse to let people speak their minds (religion and press) and carry guns.

Politics are annoying because when it comes down to it, I would hope they want some of the basic things that are good for the people, but unfortunately that doesn't always seem to be the case. Bush had his moments, but by no means was he faultless while in office. I'm not a homer for the Republicans but with the Democrats acting like children over this race, it's a bigger turn off than the war or the national debt. The national debt will always be there to some degree.

On to bigger and better things... GAS PRICES. If Obama wins and fixes that, I'll consider standing in his corner. I don't believe anyone will fix those right now... unless Congress decides our draining wallets outweighs steroids in baseball.

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Guardianx11x

NOBODY TOUCHED ON THIS BIT OF GENIUS?!?!

Interesting idea...perhaps I'm missing something...

In a flat tax we would have to:
-Tax the rich less...
-Tax the poor more...

This lessens the gap how?

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sordavie

Or you could tax the rich the same and tax the poor a lot more.

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leejo

Who cares about "the gap"? Why is this important to some of you?

If everyone in this country is fed, clothed, and housed, and suddenly Bill Gates makes $2B, OMG ze gap boss, ze gap!? It seems to me that the gap is just class warfare and jealousy. If we need to work to keep the poor from starving (as opposed to dying of morbid obesity) that's one thing, but if the biggest gripe is that we're fine but they're super rich and I want some of that money too...

I just don't understand why "the gap" is a bad thing all by itself.

Rincewind

I'd actually like to see a flat federal income tax. I think it would be great!


0.0%

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Drizzid

I am no economics expert and I have nothing concrete to back any of this up so these are just my opinions on why the economy is the way it is:

1) The USA's economy is now a service based economy. Look at any business these days and all you see is a business that provides a service. Now that the proverbial bubble has burst and people can't afford all these services, people are tightening their budget and spending less. So now these service based businesses are laying people off and those people have less money to spend and the chain reaction continues on and on. So my answer is that the USA needs to return to what made it the worlds number one super power in the world. We must return to be an industrialized nation. We need to manufacture our own goods again.

2) The war, ever heard the phrase "War is good for the economy"? That was the case in WWII. When the war effort needed more tanks, ammo or anything else what made that happen? Industrial businesses, they hired women and anyone else they could find to manufacture those tanks, ammo ect ect. People made more money so they spent more money so everyone made more money including the poor, middle class and the rich. In todays world if we need more tanks where do we get them from? France? Israel? I am not sure but it's not from here I can tell you that!! What about circuit boards and for all the electronics that goes into todays military tools? Where does all that come from? China? Korea? I don't know but it's not from here. So not only is the war putting a financial burden on the USA, it is making other countries richer and richer.

I can go on and on and I maybe completely wrong as I have no basis for my OPINION. You want a strong economy? Then return to the days of where we made our own goods instead of paying every other country besides our own. Blast away fellas

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