Posted on 07/24/2011 2:37:05 PM PDT by SDShack
Just out from CNN's Lisa Desjardins
BREAKING - NEW Dem. debt plan: Reid to offer at "least $2.5 Trillion" in deficit redux w/ no revenue increases, Dem. source tells CNN. NEW REID PLAN: "At least $2.5 T in deficit redux" w/ no revenue increases. BUT, unclear what baseline he's using and what he'd cut. REID PLAN: Dem aide tells our @tedbarrettcnn they think it meets GOP call for dollar-for-dollar spending cuts with debt increase.
(Excerpt) Read more at zerohedge.com ...
for those of you that can’t figure out how to do basic research..try this ...
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&xhr=t&q=zero+hedge&cp=6&pf=p&sclient=psy&source=hp&aq=0&aqi=g5h1&aql=&oq=zero+h&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=44eb8ccc40613db6&biw=1024&bih=534
Right now, 100% of Federal revenues are used to pay Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and income security (unemployment, welfare, food stamps, housing assistance). EVERY DOLLAR the Federal Government receives from ALL sources just barely covers these programs alone.
The VA, DOD, EPA, OSHA, HUD, DHS, FBI, CIA, all the rest is paid for with borrowed dollars.
We simply cannot balance the budget WITHOUT addressing Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. It's impossible. They need to be cut and capped - that's the only way out of a Ponzi scheme.
And You Sir! Must be a Liberal Plant here on Free Republic for that asinine statement! I am an accomplished International Businessman with years of experience in Europe and Asia and specifically China and your statement is beyond naive! GOD BLESS AMERICA!! with Voters like You!
And You Sir! Must be a Liberal Plant here on Free Republic for that asinine statement! I am an accomplished International Businessman with years of experience in Europe and Asia and specifically China and your statement is beyond naive! GOD BLESS AMERICA!! with Voters like You!
You left out debt servicing costs, which will soar to close to $1 trillion a year in ten years if/when interest rates return to their historical average. Everything will have to be cut in order to change the current trajectory of debt. Some very painful decisions are ahead. The longer we wait, the more painful the decisions.
I have been here since 2000...that is a ridiculous statement in and of itself.
Those are three of the smallest agencies of government. Not much savings. And exactly how would you operate the State Department with 1% of its current budget?
You’re a troll? You’ve done a great job of hiding it for all these years :-)
So I have been as well! You just support humogous Government Bereaucraies with Unlimited Budgets obviously
which makes You an Obama Communist or worst!
AMEN!!! to the Infinity!!! The Guy is a TROLL beyond Disgusting!
Good grief! I was joking.
RockinRight is no troll.
Sure - we pay for that debt servicing with more debt, right now. Our taxes only cover Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and income security. Everything else - including debt service - is covered with more debt.
You’re a moron.
You could describe it that way, but the fact is that we borrow 42 cents of every federal dollar spent. So you can allocate it anyway you want in describing what is and is not paid. There really is nothing mandatory about mandatory spending. I would say that servicing the debt would come at the top of the list given its impact on the economy and the nation. It is just a matter of setting priorities.
oh, I agree, and I believe the Constitution requires that the national debt obligations be paid before anything else as well...
However, I find it instructive - especially when dealing with liberals/moderates (not here, just for firepower later) - to put it in terms of the sacred cows/entitlements. We can literally only cover the big entitlements that so many crave; we must borrow for everything else.
Given the rate at which entitlements are growing, it won’t be very long at all (probably 2014) before tax receipts alone cannot cover the entitlements, meaning we MUST address - and cut - them no matter what.
Medicare already spends more than it receives in dedicated taxes and premium payments. As baby boomer retirees begin to flood the system, the impact will be felt by every other federal program:
Currently, Medicare claims about 11 percent of federal nonentitlement tax dollars.
By 2020, Medicare deficits will claim one in every five federal tax dollars that are not already dedicated to Medicare and Social Security.
This means that in just 7 years the federal government will have to stop doing one in every five things it does today if taxes are to remain at their current level and projected Medicare benefits are paid on behalf of the disabled and the elderly.
By 2030, the deficits in Medicare will claim one in every three general revenue dollars; by 2050, they will claim one in every two.
Now that information is TRULY scary! EEK - we’re out of time, we have to address Medicare/Medicaid and Social Security NOW.
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