Posted on 01/09/2019 7:35:27 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Twenty years ago, I was fortunate to become U.S. comptroller general. At that time, the federal government was in surplus and yet, having previously served as one of two public trustees for Social Security and Medicare, I knew that the federal government faced rising deficits and debt/GDP levels in the future due to known demographic trends and rising health care costs.
Three fiscally irresponsible actions happened in 2003. First, the federal government passed a second round of tax cuts that were debt financed. Second, the USA invaded Iraq and charged it to the national credit card. Finally, the federal government expanded Medicare to include prescription drugs adding over $8 trillion in new unfunded obligations to that program.
As a result of the above actions, I began a multi-year effort, in partnership with others, to raise the level of attention placed on fiscal issues. Those efforts paid off and deficits declined until the financial crisis occurred in late fiscal 2008 after I had left my position as comptroller general.
It is now clear that neither major political party is fiscally responsible. The Republicans focus primarily on tax cuts, the Democrats focus primarily on spending increases and neither party focuses on the “bottom line” and longer-term. For example, in the past year, legislative changes on both the tax and spending side of the ledger resulted in more than doubling the deficit for fiscal 2019.
Total debt subject to the debt ceiling limit is about $22 trillion today and growing versus $5.7 trillion at the end of fiscal 2000 and declining. Trillion-dollar annual deficits are projected to return in fiscal 2020. Shockingly, the Congressional Budge Office projects the federal government will spend more on interest than national defense within five years and total interest costs will reach almost $1 trillion within 10 years.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
So, what’s the path forward?
Boehner was no budget hawk.
“It’s not the parties, though, or the elected officials who are to blame. It’s the voters.”
It the voters “watch dog” the media refuses to bark a warning how are the voters to know that they are being robbed blind?
1. Put fiscal policy on automatic. During strong economic times, raise taxes and lower spending, i.e. the opposite of what we did in the last 14 months. During below trend economic times use fiscal policy as a stabilizer.
2. Cut entitlement spending by curtailing heroic end-of-life measures for the dying. Cut reimbursement rates for doctors, cut reimbursement rates for pharmaceuticals, slow the pace of increase in Social Security.
3. Wake up from the above fantasies to watch the country sink beneath the waves of a tide of debt.
From this spot at this point in time, how do we get there?
Without a plan, it's just wishful thinking.
Vote for whoever understands the above issues, generally that’s going to be well-educated moderates. Paul Ryan got it, put forward a tax reform plan that was fiscally balanced. Idiot moron extremist dunce aholes like Rand Paul told him, no way dude we want a tax CUT, so we ended up with a policy that blew a hole in the deficit and forced the Fed to hike rates faster, accomplishing little.
Keep Alaska. Sell Red Hawaii to Japan for a dollar (keep the bases).
How do we make it happen?
Vote for whoever is smarter and whoever promises neither tax cuts nor spending increases. We live in a democratic republic. The people make the laws via our representatives. If our representatives are irresponsible morons, that’s on us.
That doesn’t sound like a plan to me. That sounds like more of what we’ve been doing.
We need those Alaska Senate seats, even if one is Murkowski.
But yes, sell Hawaii (but get more than a dollar). I think they’d fit in better with Red China than Japan. As DJ says though we must keep our military bases there.
Debt is bad, taxes are worse.
Keep 1/3 of AK. Fairbanks and SE.
Keep China out of HI.
Can u imagine what Japan could do w AK?
Freeze?
Obviously we have to keep the parts with oil and I can’t imagine what Japan would want with the rest of it.
Japs have no land. No resources.
The lumber alone. ... Minerals .... Mining. Them r resourceful
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