Posted on 07/23/2016 5:59:34 AM PDT by reaganaut1
The American debt problem was almost entirely ignored at the Republican National Convention last week, and we can expect nothing more when the Democrats gather this week.
Both parties support the entitlement spending system and the decrepit tax system that fails to support it. They compete on the fiscal side of politics with impossible promises to spend more and tax less.
Imagine the U.S. Treasury as an airplane beginning to roll down the runway to take off. For a mile or so, the plane gains no altitude, then the wings start to generate lift. The wheels leave the ground and are retracted so the plane can fly smoothly through the air. Then the plane begins a rapid ascent, taking only a few minutes to arrive at an altitude of 30,000 feet.
For the time being, the Treasury is rumbling down the runway, already moving too fast to abort a takeoff. After takeoff, Americans will discover that Treasury debt is heading for the stratosphere, with consequences that are easy to imagine, hard to believe, and apparently impossible to act upon—except to make it worse.
More likely, Americans will remain blissfully unaware of the size of the problem until it’s too late.
The Congressional Budget Office issues a Long-Term Budget Outlook every year. To sum up this year’s report in one sentence, it says, “The federal budget outlook is projected to worsen considerably over the next three decades under current law, with debt growing larger in relation to the economy than ever recorded in U.S. history.”
By 2035, federal debt held by the public as a percentage of gross domestic product will surpass the peak of 106% set in 1946, and it will keep growing from there.
(Excerpt) Read more at barrons.com ...
They say it’s will be 106% of the GDP by 2035. Actually it already exceeds the GDP. When they give their number they are looking only at the public debt and excluding the social security ious for instance. That only makes sense if you assume that the government is not going to repay the social security ious.
I think there’s an element of reality in that doom and gloom. We have an extremely serious fiscal problem on our hands that is worsening by the day. Its like a ticking time bomb.
Yes, America has overcome many problems in her history and by and large we are optimists. However, the culture, social fabric, morality and work ethic have changed in very significant ways in the last couple of decades. And government has become pervasive in every aspect of our lives. We simply are not the same country we once were and that’s going to make it harder for us to overcome our problems.
I’m for Trump. He’s a fearless, results oriented guy and I think he can do positive things for the country. But the deck of cards he has to play is not a good hand.
Beyond cynical
No doubt you listen to Beck a lit
Trump mentioned the $19 Trillion Obama debt. There is no way it will ever be repaid.
The gross national income is $16 Trillion.
We need political, religious and business leaders at all levels who are unafraid to tell America that we have been using up our seed corn for decades, and that it will take decades of what a great man called "blood, toil, tears, and sweat" - in a much reviled word, austerity - to get back to our former greatness.
Instead we get "leaders" who tell their followers that the solutions are easy, fast and cheap, and that someone else (who is absolutely Not Them) will be forced to pay for it all.
I am reasonably confident that no one who tells Americans the truth that they need to hear will ever be elected.
There never was a "lock box" - the programs were always pay as you go pyramids, with each generation of workers paying for their parents' and grandparents' benefits.
Worked a treat when there were ten pulling the wagon for every rider, not so well with two or three.
Personally I do not think euthanasia will be the solution, I'm leaning to this:
Don’t worry, Tom—Hillary! and company will present a comprehensive plan this week to reduce the debt burden their party created.
BTW—It was crap like this that caused me to cancel my Barron’s subscription years ago.
You play the cards you’re dealt. Attitude goes a long way in achieving success and Trump’s attitude is positive in a big way. For some people,” impossible” does not exist in their vocabulary. My parents taught me that “difficult” things were relatively easy and that “impossible” just took a lkittle longer to solve. You are correct in that “society” and even culture has changed. Nevertheless, having a president and extended first family who exhibit “Class” in every way will go a long way in returning some semblance of sanity to the crumbling social mores of the country at large. It will be a pleasure to watch the Trump family set high standards for our youth. I also think Trump is going to get some of that government intrusion you speak of out of our lives. I expect stricter adherence to the Constitution and believe that is what he is saying when he stresses Law and Order. I think Trump is a Constitutionalist and will return at least some of the old America to its people, God willing.
I do believe Trump will have long coattails. Anyone who is alert can already see his influence creeping into the country. The wheeling dealing corruption is fighting for its life and is about to be guillotined. AND they know it!
I am so screwed.
Oh God there is no hope.
‘A 20% across the board import tariff balances the budget tomorrow. Combined with Trumps income tax cuts and you have a recipe for an American economic renaissance.’
I agree with you that Trump’s ideas will work but there is one problem. There are some things that are no longer produced in the U.S., two examples are auto wiring harnesses and t.v.’s. Factories will be needed to produce these things and I am sure many others. The know how is most likely lost and it will take time to regain, in the meantime we will be forced to purchase from Korea these things and we will pay the tariff. I don’t know for how long but that is how it will work.
I’m not subscribing to Barron’s to read the article, although it looks good.
Am amendment to require debt be paid for by tariffs would be a great constitutional balance.
High debt = high tariffs, low debt = low tariffs.
Perfect feedback loop.
How politicians could be kept from conflating those receipts is problematic though.
I am reasonably confident that no one who tells Americans the truth that they need to hear will ever be elected.
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I think that statement depends on the circumstances.
Before the Zimmerman telegram, the united States was dead set against entering into the conflict of World War I...the Great War....the War to End ll Wars. Overnight, on the publication of the Zimmerman telegram, Americans were signing up by the thousands willing to fight and the entire country united behind the effort.
Back to the same isolationist scenario prior to our entry into WW II. We had an Armed Force smaller than that of Belgium. Then came Pearl Harbor and Winston Churchill immediately boarded a ship for the U.S. It took one day for America to declare war on Japan and that was shortly followed by Germany declaring war on us...their greatest mistake.
We have been frittering away our strength and our national treasure ever since Vietnam. It has taken the wakeup call of constant attacks from the Muslims to stir our blood again. America is ANGRY. We are going to do something about it. We are going to do something about everything that has gone wrong since the Communist infiltration...and new world order advocates have been destroying the greatest country the world has ever seen. We are not looking for a corrupt female to lead us out of purgatory, we are looking for a successful, intelligent, LEADER and we’ve found one in Donald Trump. This country’s future depends on November 8th. We come back from the ashes on that date, or we are gone forever. We must have Faith.
The question is often asked, “Do the times make the men, or do the men make the times?” I believe it is some of both.
The fact that someone with this kind of successful track record has any chance in hell of losing in November speaks volumes of what this nation has become.
BTW—It was crap like this that caused me to cancel my Barron’s subscription years ago.
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Ditto!
The government is NOT going to “repay” the Social Security IOUs. Part of the strategy here is to deliberately under-report inflation so that the future Social Security liabilities have less purchasing power than the current IOUs.
2. I don't listen to Beck at all ... and that's Glenn Beck, Jeff Beck, or that silly 1990s California music act who just went by the name "Beck."
I’m on the Trump Train so you’re preaching to the choir. :)
But cards he has been dealt will not be making the game easy for him. Liberalism has weakened the country in myriad ways and Obama has infested the government with incompetent, inept and corrupt political cronies. Granted, it’s not impossible to start turning the country around but there are significant obstacles in the way.
One of which is the amount of US unfunded liabilities which is currently at the breath taking level of $103 TRILLION. As a taxpayer, your share of that burden is an incredible $859,000! This is ruinous in itself, but doesn’t even include your portion of the federal debt which is another $203,000 per taxpayer! Combined, each taxpayer owes more than $1,000,000.00. To say that this is unsustainable is a gross understatement. Trump has to get a handle on this debt.
And of course there is a long litany of other pressing problems that will be on his plate. I don’t envy the man. He is truly facing a “Mission Impossible” scenario.
I strongly agree with you that setting a positive example is a very powerful thing. Trump is a man of accomplishment and his entire family is a class act. One recent article posted on FR has even said they are the New Camelot. We’ll see but I believe that the tone is set at the top and exemplary leadership can go a long way toward changing the mindset of an organization or country.
We already owe him a debt of gratitude for being willing to take on the establishment, the Democrats and their allies in the media. He is looking more and more like the Braveheart of politics.
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