Posted on 06/24/2018 12:05:42 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
The 2018 "official" U.S. debt figure of $34 trillion is 120% of GDP and projected to double as a percent of GDP within the next 20 years. It's big.
If we add "off-the-books" net obligations like Social Security and Medicare, our all-in debt, or so-called "fiscal gap", rises to $110 trillion, or 390% of GDP. It's scary.
Raising taxes and reducing benefits won't restore solvency. Something is going to break, and it won't be pretty.
We're broke and no one seems to care. We're all aware that this country owes a lot of money, but no one cares because we're leading pretty good lives here. We have yet to feel the consequences of being broke, but that won't last long. Some things are already breaking, and an ultimate breakdown is on the way. 2018 is the first year when tax receipts won't pay for Social Security and Medicare benefits. We are spending down the corpus, and will have spent all of the Social Security Trust by 2034, while Medicare monies will only last until 2026. This might sound like we have time, but we don't, especially since nothing is being done to head off these catastrophes. It's full speed ahead into the reckoning. Furthermore, some large pension funds are broke, and are likely to renege on their promised benefits. In the following, we share some details on this bankruptcy, and offer some actions that might help, although they are unlikely.
As shown in the following graph, the reported national debt of $34 trillion is currently 120% of GDP, a level only seen before in the wake of World War II.
(Excerpt) Read more at seekingalpha.com ...
Current deficit is pushing $1 trillion. And you have to remember that the purpose of tariffs is not to produce revenue so much as to decrease imports. So if your tariff is successful then the revenue it raises should go down over time.
Who sad that? Not me. Tariffs can be justified as a superior revue collection mechanism, far superior to the income tax..
You don't think that making everything imported 25% higher isn't going to discourage imports? Well then what the heck, why not a 250% tariff on everything? Go big or go home.
So it’s friggin illusion that they take money out of everyone’s paychecks?
Gimme a break.
Ok, you’ve been told this 1,000 times. Lets make this 1,001. The Federal Govt. from 1789 to 1913 was completely funded by tariffs. The is no reason the USA cannot go back to that now. All it takes is political will.
SS taxes at 14% are no illusion. The withholding is real. And the money goes directly to the US Treasury and then on to recipients. It’s not a pension and there is no trust fund. The check you get is determined by Congress.
I know how democrats screwed the American worker over with their lies... everyone knows what they did.
But until they stop stealing from us and taking money out of our paychecks to pay for their irresponsible choices, we’re gonna remind them of what they promised.
If a company had treated their workers the same way, they'd be in jail... Really if GE had taken money out of their workers pay checks - then spent the money on things to keep the directors in their spots, they would be in prison. As our 'democrat' thieves should be...
(*sigh*) Seems like more than that.
The Federal Govt. from 1789 to 1913 was completely funded by tariffs. The is no reason the USA cannot go back to that now. All it takes is political will.
And a 100% tariff on every dollar of imported goods.
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