Tired of skyrocketing public debts?

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In summary, the U.S. public debt is a large amount of money that the federal government owes to the public. The most common ways to reduce the debt are by increasing revenue, reducing wasteful spending, and printing more money.

Reduce the public debt?

  • No, I'm not too concerned with it

    Votes: 4 50.0%
  • Yes, but I'm not putting my money where my mouth is

    Votes: 3 37.5%
  • Yes, but I have another lame excuse not to

    Votes: 1 12.5%
  • Yes, I am sending a check soon! Thank you for this information!

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Other (oh come on)

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    8
  • #36
No worries :cool:
 
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  • #37
Pengwuino said:
I'm just pointing out that its hypocritical to complain about the national debt yet refuse to do anything yourself. It's easy to tell someone else to do something about it yet still complain; its harder to actually put your money where your mouth is.

And what is "fair share" for rich people? 80% tax rate? 90? They already pay more then anyone else. But then again, that logic follows the whole "make someone else pay for it" mentality that you have shown to be a die-hard supporter of.

According to the FEB AARP Bulletin, the debt now amouts to $156,000 for every man woman and child in America (God I hope they are wrong. Is it really that high?)

Assuming that the number is accurate, where exactly will this money come from? We do know that higher government debt translates into higher interest rates. This means that the people in the average income bracket will be paying out a much higher portion of their income for debt service.

All things considered the "make someone else pay for it mentality" will be a necessity for the average income family. They simply do not have the money and they never will.

This narrows the options pretty much to cutting all entitlement programs entirely, increased taxes for the wealthy, or a combination of both.

Somewhere there has to be a balance that is fair to everyone and I don't see that cutting health care for the less fortunate, which is what the administration is doing, as being as fair as taxing an extra million from a guy who makes twenty million per year and owns three houses and five cars.
 
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  • #38
edward said:
According to the FEB AARP Bulletin, the debt now amouts to $156,000 for every man woman and child in America (God I hope they are wrong. Is it really that high?)

Assuming that the number is accurate, where exactly will this money come from? We do know that higher government debt translates into higher interest rates. This means that the people in the average income bracket will be paying out a much higher portion of their income for debt service.

All things considered the "make someone else pay for it mentality" will be a necessity for the average income family. They simply do not have the money and they never will.

This narrows the options pretty much to cutting all entitlement programs entirely, increased taxes for the wealthy, or a combination of both.

Somewhere there has to be a balance that is fair to everyone and I don't see that cutting health care for the less fortunate, which is what the administration is doing, as being as fair as taxing an extra million from a guy who makes twenty million per year and owns three houses and five cars.
Why should the average American sacrifice basic needs like health care (preventative care is less expensive), retirement benefits, etc. while political leaders (BushCo) and CEOs alike are collecting benefits often of astronomical proportions? Aside from Bush’s skewed tax reductions, why is the U.S. “nation building” in Iraq, and giving huge amounts of aid to countries like Israel, countries that are not the poorest and most needy? Why aren’t we bringing troops home, and allowing other countries to take more financial responsibility in their regions? Why are we spending so much on old technology per the energy and transportation bills, instead of investing more in future technology, related jobs and exports?

The average American already has a good portion of their paychecks going to taxes and social programs, and struggles with increasing cost of living because wages aren’t keeping pace. It would be great to see leaders like Bush face the music for fiscal mismanagement right along with the executives from Enron.
 
  • #39
edward said:
According to the FEB AARP Bulletin, the debt now amouts to $156,000 for every man woman and child in America (God I hope they are wrong. Is it really that high?)

I just did this by sight, but wouldn't that be around $70 trillion? The debt right now, according to the public debt clock, is a little over $8 trillion.

Not to say that isn't high, but I'm not sure that $70 trillion even exists.
 
  • #40
LYN, assuming a pop of 300 mil it comes out to about 47 tril. There once was a counter up at 14th street and Union Square here in NY, and the cost per individual was moving up faster than the hundredth sec counter in a down hill ski competion.
 
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