Showing posts with label deficit spending. Show all posts
Showing posts with label deficit spending. Show all posts
Monday, March 15, 2021
Simple, Intelligent Things We Need to do on Taxes
Republicans are frequently concerned about deficits and deficit spending. At least they are when there is a Democratic Party President like now. Herwith, 3 easy and intelligent things we could do to help solve this problem.
--Raise the corporate tax rate so they pay the same as small businesses.
--Raise the tax rate on the rich so they pay the same as the middle-class.
--Remove loopholes and increase enforcement.
--Dan Price @DanPriceSeattle
Sunday, July 5, 2020
Note to Trump Supporters
All true. Facts.
But wait. There's more. Much more.
Mexico just closed their border with us, the US, in a case of deep, deep irony and the EU is opening its borders to many nations but THE US ISN'T ONE OF THEM. Also, we, the US, have the largest number of coronavirus cases--and deaths--in the entire world, China and India included. Etc.
Thanks, Republicans.
It's bad enough you were and are suckers. You didn't have to bring us, the nation, along with you all.
Tuesday, May 22, 2018
Those Republican Party Tax Cuts?
Goldman Sachs:
The fiscal outlook for the US 'is not good'
A little from the article:
"The fiscal outlook for the United States 'is not good,' according to Goldman Sachs, and could pose a threat to the country's economic security during the next recession.
According to forecasts from the bank's chief economist, the federal deficit will increase from $825 billion (or 4.1 percent of gross domestic product) to $1.25 trillion (5.5 percent of GDP) by 2021. And by 2028, the bank expects the number to balloon to $2.05 trillion (7 percent of GDP)."
This on top of what was already reported about the effects of these, again, Republican Party tax cuts:
Government set to borrow nearly $1 trillion
this year, an 84 percent increase over last year
Not done there, there's also this:
All so they could pour more of the nation's wealth on the people who already have a great deal of it all.
Thanks, Republicans! Y'all are terrific!
Saturday, May 19, 2018
Quote of the Day -- On Defense--and Deficit--Spending
"For 40 years we were led to think of the Russians as godless, materialistic and an evil empire. When the Cold War ended, we suddenly discovered that Russia was a poor Third World country. They had not been equipped to take over the world. In fact, they were just trying to improve a miserable standard of oppressive living, and couldn't. They had to spend too much on arms build-up. We didn't win the Cold War; we bankrupted the Russians. In effect, it was a big bank exhausting the reserves of a smaller one."
And now, we're doing it to ourselves. That is, we are bankrupting ourselves, honestly, spending obscene amounts on "defense", far outspending any and every other nation on the planet.
And for no good reason.
Saturday, March 17, 2018
Another Huge "Gift" From President Trump and the Republican Party
Have you seen this yet?
U.S. national debt exceeds $21 trillion
for first time
When Mr. Trump took office on Jan. 20, 2017, the national debt was $19.9 trillion, according to U.S. Treasury data. Since then, the GOP-led Congress has passed a $1.5 trillion tax cut bill and a two-year spending deal which, together, are expected to drive the deficit and debt further upward. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates annual deficits could top $2.1 trillion per year in the next decade, which would send the national debt soaring even higher.
Is fiscal conservatism dead?
Republicans railed against the national debt level under the Obama administration, when it jumped from $10.6 trillion to $19.9 trillion, nearly doubling, but few have been as outspoken about the situation with Republicans controlling Capitol Hill and the White House.
Insane. Insanity. Fiscal insanity and irresponsibility.
They're spending their way to huge debt, after railing about over-spending and debt and deficits for the previous 8 years.
And for what?
So they could hand over yet more of the nation's wealth to the already-wealthy and corporations with their big "trickle down economics" tax bill they just passed.
Nation and middle- and lower- and working-classes be damned.
Now they're coming after Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
We have GOT to vote these people out.
Link:
Tuesday, February 27, 2018
The Republicans Are Shattering the Nation, Honestly
Besides the fantastic leaders the Republicans have foisted on us---think Nixon, Trump and Greitens, as just 3 quick examples--it seems we just keep getting yet more gifts from these people. This news story broke today.
The US's national debt spiked $1 trillion
in less than 6 months
So they railed against big budgets and too much spending for 8 years while a Democrat was in the White House but when they get their own man in there, what do they do? Do they slash spending and whittle down the deficit they hate so much?
Heck no!
They've done quite the opposite, as we keep seeing! First it was with their budget giveaway for the already-wealthy and corporations.
Not done there, they also did their best to increase other spending and unnecessary, at that.
Then look what they've done to "Obamacare" and health care in the nation, folks.
The stupidity of Trumpcare: Government will spend $33 billion more to cover 8.9 million fewer Americans, as premiums soar
They wanted to make sure they undid President Obama's legacy on health care, for sure. So we'll all be paying more for health insurance, fewer will have coverage and so, access to health care and then the nation will spend more to get it all.
Fantastic, no?
Finally, here are just two of the results of their tax plan.
They famously, even infamously did it in and to Kansas, as we all watched, right next door, from 2012 to today with Governor Brownback's and the Republican Party's tax cuts for the already-wealthy and corporations.
Did anyone learn?
Oh, heck no. So here we go again. Some more. But on a larger, national scale now.
God help them if they go after Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and other budgets.
For the love of God and all that's good, someone, someone tell me why anyone but the wealthy votes Republican.
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
Exactly How Bad Is This Republican President's and Congress' Plan for Spending?
After the Republican Party's Congress and President released their tax and spending plans, exactly how bad is it all?
Don't ask Democrats or the Left Wing or "libruls" for their opinion, oh no.
Let's go straight to the heart of the Right Wing:
Heritage Foundation: Republicans are
“bankrupting the country”
Yes sir. And it comes from this article:
This is the author:
For those who don't know---who, exactly, is the Heritage Foundation, you ask? Well, here you are:
The Heritage Foundation - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Heritage_Foundation
The Heritage Foundation (abbreviated to Heritage) is an American conservative public policy think tank based in Washington, D.C. The foundation took a leading role in the conservative movement during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, whose policies were taken from Heritage's policy study Mandate for Leadership.
Here, then, is what Mr. Binion has to say about this latest spending boondoggle by this Republican Congress:
The Bipartisan Budget Act is 652 pages long. The bill increases spending by $386 billion over two years and nearly $1.5 trillion over 10 years. It also suspends the debt ceiling until after the next election.
This is a massive and sweeping increase in federal spending. The increase in domestic spending is three times larger than even the increase requested by President Obama in his last budget.
Sure, those pesky Democrats insist this Republican tax plan shovels yet more money to the already-wealthy and corporations---their contributors---as well as taking money from programs that help the middle- and lower-classes (and it's factually true, by the way), but let's not rely on their input or opinion. Let's stick with Right Wingers and Republicans on this.
Even they think this is not just a bad plan but downright dangerous.
Bankrupting, even.
But hey, Republicans are doing it so it must be okay?
Right?
Not done spending there, however. Mr. Trump also wants to have a parade, we can't forget that.
Trump's military parade could cost as much as $30 million
Link:
Thursday, February 23, 2017
America, Who You Are, In Three Statistics
America, I don't think you know who you are.
Oh, sure, you kind of know but I don't think you're really looking at yourself and seeing who and what you are.
So with that in mind, America, Americans, I give you three--just three--statistics, just three facts that really show who you are, what you support and what you're about. Forsooth:
Number one. Health care.
US Spends More on Health Care Than Other High-Income Nations But Has Lower Life Expectancy, Worse Health
Our health care and health care system is, far and away, the most expensive health care system in the world, bar none.
For all we pay, we have lousy health and even extremely poor health outcomes.
Of the top 17 industrialized nations, we have the worst mortality rates. Translation: We die sooner than the 16 nations before us on that list.
Of the top 17 industrialized nations, we have the worst mortality rates. Translation: We die sooner than the 16 nations before us on that list.
Second, number two of our statistics, on top of all that spending and costs, we are ranked number 31, in 31st place in life expectancy, internationally. Check it out.
Of the 30 nations ahead of us on this list of life expectancy, all have universal health care. Imagine that. Oh, yeah, and most are---GASP--SOCIALIST nations. Heaven forbid, right?
Third and finally, there is this statistic and fact, America. Again, this is who you are.
These, my fellow Americans, are your--our--priorities.
Third and finally, there is this statistic and fact, America. Again, this is who you are.
Sure, we bemoan our students and schools failing and sure, we lament our health care is outrageously high--so high we can't afford it and that it's also the number one cause of bankruptcy in the nation. And yes, we don't have enough money, we think and say, for our roads and bridges and highways and sewers and airports and infrastructure or anything else, really, but BY GOD, WE HAVE BILLIONS AND TRILLIONS FOR "DEFENSE"! Nobody has more money for bombs and jets and warships or blows things up better than us.
So there you go, America. In three quick little "nutshells", so to speak, this is who and what you are.
So there you go, America. In three quick little "nutshells", so to speak, this is who and what you are.
Apparently, you think this is all not just a good idea but that it's also somehow sustainable.
Links:
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Kansas Republicans in Topeka Have Their Priorities Set
Indeed, those Kansas Republicans over in Topeka, from the Governor all through the state capitol, surely have their priorities set. In stone.
Years ago now, they cut taxes for the already-wealthy and corporations, raised them on the middle- and lower- and so, working-classes and set about just the chain of events they wanted. They were sure it would produce grand, paying results for the state. So the economists said they'd be wrong! So what?
Turns out, as we've found, as the same economists predicted, the economists were, in fact, correct and those same Right Wing legislators were dead wrong. Colossally, fiscally wrong:
Kansas faces nearly $120 million shortfall
for fiscal year
Even after those adjustments, the state is projected to have a cash balance of $5.6 million at the end of June and to face a shortfall of $175.6 million for 2017, the economists said.
Asked whether the state is in the red, Budget Director Shawn Sullivan replied: “Depends on what you look at. We’re basically at zero right now, so yes.”
Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, said the Legislature would start the 2016 session “basically where we were at the beginning of the 2015 session,” facing the question of how to right the state’s finances.
Lawmakers ended a record-long session in June by increasing sales taxes to cover a budget deficit caused in large part by income tax cuts...
...The latest shortfall comes after sales tax revenue fell short of projections. The state’s economists lowered the estimate for sales tax revenue by $91 million for the year while lowering the estimate for overall revenue by $159 million.
Brownback will make a combination of budget cuts and funding sweeps to balance the budget.
He will take $50 million from the Kansas Department of Transportation. Sullivan said this would not affect previously announced highway projects.
He also will take $9 million from the Children’s Initiative Fund, which goes to support early childhood programs such as Early Head Start.
Sullivan said this would not affect the programs’ funding for this year. But the advocacy group Kansas Action for Children said that this would affect long-term funding for children’s programs, which have been cut in recent years...
He will take $50 million from the Kansas Department of Transportation. Sullivan said this would not affect previously announced highway projects.
He also will take $9 million from the Children’s Initiative Fund, which goes to support early childhood programs such as Early Head Start.
Sullivan said this would not affect the programs’ funding for this year. But the advocacy group Kansas Action for Children said that this would affect long-term funding for children’s programs, which have been cut in recent years...
...Brownback will also sweep $5 million from the Kansas Bioscience Authority, a quasi-governmental agency meant to spur investment in the biotech sector. The Eagle reported in July that the KBA was already on the brink of collapse and halting new investment in the face of reduced state funding.
As for Kansas schools, you might ask?
The governor made no cuts to education, but Scott Rothschild, spokesman for the Kansas Association of School Boards, said that the budget news was still a cause for concern for schools.
“The future doesn’t look good. We’re going to have to keep our eye on this,” he said. “Obviously, we have tax cuts that were implemented that have put us in a perpetual budget crisis.”
Then there's this budget cut:
An advocacy group says a budget adjustment that took $9 million from Kansas’ Children’s Initiatives Fund will mean a cut in money promised to 20 children’s programs.
The Kansas City Star reports a review by Kansas Action for Children says the budget adjustment will cost early childhood grant programs about 6.5 percent in funding for fiscal year 2016 and about 3 percent in fiscal year 2017.
Stealing from children. And the poor. Nice, huh? Real Christians, those, eh?
But did they take care of themselves? Did the Republican legislators over there in Topeka make sure they, themselves were taken care of? Why don't be silly! OF COURSE they did!
“The future doesn’t look good. We’re going to have to keep our eye on this,” he said. “Obviously, we have tax cuts that were implemented that have put us in a perpetual budget crisis.”
Then there's this budget cut:
An advocacy group says a budget adjustment that took $9 million from Kansas’ Children’s Initiatives Fund will mean a cut in money promised to 20 children’s programs.
The Kansas City Star reports a review by Kansas Action for Children says the budget adjustment will cost early childhood grant programs about 6.5 percent in funding for fiscal year 2016 and about 3 percent in fiscal year 2017.
Stealing from children. And the poor. Nice, huh? Real Christians, those, eh?
But did they take care of themselves? Did the Republican legislators over there in Topeka make sure they, themselves were taken care of? Why don't be silly! OF COURSE they did!
Kansas legislators get 8.5 percent raise
in allowance
Check out this wonderful stuff:
Kansas lawmakers quietly and automatically got an 8.5 percent raise in their allowance last month.
The raise is because of an escalator clause in state law that has increased lawmakers’ daily “subsistence payments” by more than 28 percent through the past seven years of fiscal woes, employee pay freezes and cuts in other government departments.
The payments, also known as per diem, are the set amount lawmakers get to pay their living expenses each day they work in Topeka.
As of Oct. 1, it’s $140 a day, up from $129.
The per diem payments are actually about 45 percent more than legislators earn in salary, and the money is theirs to keep and spend however they want.
For the legislators, those automatic raises in per diem essentially represent an increase in their compensation, without them having to make the politically difficult floor vote to raise their salaries.
The raise is because of an escalator clause in state law that has increased lawmakers’ daily “subsistence payments” by more than 28 percent through the past seven years of fiscal woes, employee pay freezes and cuts in other government departments.
The payments, also known as per diem, are the set amount lawmakers get to pay their living expenses each day they work in Topeka.
As of Oct. 1, it’s $140 a day, up from $129.
The per diem payments are actually about 45 percent more than legislators earn in salary, and the money is theirs to keep and spend however they want.
For the legislators, those automatic raises in per diem essentially represent an increase in their compensation, without them having to make the politically difficult floor vote to raise their salaries.
So first, they got a pay raise.
Second, it's automatic. They don't have to have a messy---and possibly reported on---vote about it.
Third and finally, whatever they don't spend, they get to keep. Not like in the business sector, which these people say they like to emulate. If they don't spend it, they get to stash it.
Can you imagine getting $140 per day from your boss for "expenses", on top of your pay? Wouldn't that be a sweet deal? You think you wouldn't "brown bag" it to work or eat on the cheap so you could keep that for yourself?
Don'tcha just love government representatives like these?
Don'tcha just love "small government", Right Wing, Republican legislators who always harp how they're "for the people" and low spending?
Don'tcha just love Kansans who vote for these people?
Doesn't it make you want to move and live there?
Doesn't it make you want to move and live there?
Additional links:
Monday, September 14, 2015
What Actually Happened in Iraq
What the government, lead largely by the Republicans and Right Wing, actually did in Iraq.
The best hour and fifteen minutes you can spend, learning about your government and our spending.
Our defense spending is what is bankrupting America. That and giving corporate welfare in the billions of dollars.
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Friday, November 28, 2014
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Here's your deficit spending for you
To any and all out there thinking this President is spending us to hell, so to speak:
Saturday, August 23, 2014
The Federal Reserve's KC Annual Symposium is WHERE?
Why is the Federal Reserve's "Kansas City annual symposium" in Jackson Hole, Wyoming if we're paying for it all?
Why the hell isn't this in Kansas City, Missouri, where it belongs? They could have stayed at our finest hotels and gone to our finest restaurants and STILL saved a LOAD of money.
Granted, it's a figurative drop in the bucket, moneywise, to the overall national budget but hey, you start saving money SOMEWHERE. This seems like a terrific place to start. And cut.
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Friday, August 1, 2014
Quote of the day -- on war
I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a "thing-oriented" society to a "person-oriented" society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.
A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies...
True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. With righteous indignation, it will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say: "This is not just." It will look at our alliance with the landed gentry of Latin America and say: "This is not just."
The Western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them is not just.
A true revolution of values will lay hands on the world order and say of war: "This way of settling differences is not just." This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into veins of people normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice and love.
A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.
A genuine revolution of values means in the final analysis that our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies.
This call for a world-wide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one's tribe, race, class and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all men.
We still have a choice today; nonviolent coexistence or violent co-annihilation.
--The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Friday, July 18, 2014
America and Americans: The World's Warmonger(s)
Facts (from the Business Insider):
America spends more on its military than THE NEXT 15 COUNTRIES COMBINED
The total known land area occupied by U.S. bases and facilities is 15,654 square miles -- bigger than D.C., Massachusetts, and New Jersey combined.
By 2033 the U.S. will be paying $59 billion a year to its veterans injured in the wars
In 2007, the amount of money labeled 'wasted' or 'lost' in Iraq -- $11 billion -- could pay 220,000 teachers salaries
Defense spending is higher today than at any time since the height of World War II
America's defense spending doubled in the same period that its economy shrunk from 32 to 23 percent of global output*
The yearly cost of stationing one soldier in Iraq could feed 60 American families.
Each day in Afghanistan costs the government more than it did to build the entire Pentagon
In 2008, the Pentagon spent more money every five seconds in Iraq than the average American earned in a year
The pentagon budget consumes 80% of individual income tax revenue
Two decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Defense Department still has more than 40 generals, admirals or civilian equivalents based in Europe
The Pentagon spends more on war than all 50 states combined spend on health, education, welfare, and safety
The amount the government has spent compensating radiation victims of nuclear testing ($1.5 billion) could fully educate 13,000 American kids
The U.S. has 5% of the world's population -- but almost 50% of the world's total military expenditure
__________________________________________________
The point?
It needs changing. We need to cut defense spending, at least by half. We'd still outspend the rest of the world--and heavily, even wildly. Contact your member of Congress, both the House and your 2 members in the Senate and tell them we need to cut defense spending. And as soon as possible.
Sunday, January 26, 2014
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