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ORIGINAL: willbeurdaddy

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ORIGINAL: dcnovice

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ORIGINAL: Mercnbeth

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Did you miss the part where Clinton left office with not only a balanced budget but a surplus?

A surplus that Bush quickly pissed away?

You must have missed the part about a couple of jets going into buildings in NYC.

Ignoring that, and the unilateral, bipartisan response to it to built up military spending and increase security, while the economy was making its first circle around the drain; only points to a vision of those times remembered though a carnival mirror of partisan agenda.

But at least that's consistent.

But didn't the Bush deficit begin before 9/11, with his revenue cuts?

No.

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ORIGINAL: tazzygirl
It is worth digressing here for a moment to address one common misconception about the Social Security trust fund. A number of critics have attacked the "reality" of the trust fund, on the basis that the trust fund holds only "government IOUs." This attack is a red herring.

In point of fact, the macroeconomic reality of the trust fund does not hinge on the assets that it holds, but rather on the issue of whether trust fund accumulations are backed by government saving.

In the old regime, in which balancing the unified budget was taken to be the standard of adequate fiscal performance, the trust fund did not have great significance from a macroeconomic perspective (even though it is very "real" indeed for other purposes). And the same was true regardless of what assets the trust fund was invested in -- be they gold ingots, corporate shares, or Treasury securities.

By contrast, in the new regime, in which the fiscal objective is to balance the budget excluding the Social Security surpluses, then the trust fund is fully "real" from a macroeconomic perspective, again without regard to whatever assets the trust fund may be invested in.

The key is whether changes in the level of the trust fund are backed, dollar for dollar, by government saving. If they are, then - for my purposes as a macroeconomist - the trust fund is very real indeed. And this accomplishment - the fact that the Social Security trust fund now has real macroeconomic meaning - is, in my view, one of the most under-rated achievements of the Clinton Administration

http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/ls1088.htm

Again, your source.

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ORIGINAL: Sanity


Bull shit. Bowing means you are submissive to them. Why not polish his knob while he's down there because thats the implication. You bow to indicate that your head is theirs to lop off or otherwise for them to do with as they please.

If hes your god then bow. If hes a man then you wave to each other to prove your hands are free of weapons then you might shake his hand as a sign of trust, especially if you are the leader of a free people.

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ORIGINAL: SpinnerofTales

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When it becomes an act instead of just another lie in a litany of them, it will be a positive.
ORIGINAL: willbeurdaddy

I'm going to save this post, Willbeur...and when and if it comes to pass, I'm going to see if you have the ethics, honesty and guts to say that it is a positive or if you'll just twist it into another mindless anti progressive rant.

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ORIGINAL: Sanity


Thank you rml, thats awesome. We've found agreement on something. Everyone agrees, there is plenty of room to cut "non-discretionary" spending. Obama agrees, the Republicans agree...

Everyone agrees, except Animus.

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ORIGINAL: Raiikun

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/03/31/politics/washingtonpost/main4906936.shtml

"The Treasury Department has for decades borrowed money from the Social Security trust fund to finance government operations. If it is no longer able to do so, it could be forced to borrow an additional $700 billion over the next decade from China, Japan and other investors. And at some point, perhaps as early as 2017, according to the CBO, the Treasury would have to start repaying the billions it has borrowed from the trust fund over the past 25 years, driving the nation further into debt or forcing Congress to raise taxes."