DesideriScuri
Posts: 12225
Joined: 1/18/2012 Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: DarkSteven 1. You cannot inherit a deficit. Deficits are simply a yearly shortfall. Obama inherited a debt, which is the cumulative shortfall. 2. We have a debt problem. (Although, as I said earlier, it's not that much of a problem.) Calling it either a revenue or spending problem suggests the expected solution. I assume that any realistic solution will involve both reducing spending and upping revenues, although in this partisan atmosphere that may sound too much like compromise to get done. I disagree with #1 an see #2 as the result of the spending/revenue problem. 1. You can inherit a deficit. Have previous Administrations set the spending wheels in motion? Sure. Does that mean you have to abide by those commitments? Not necessarily, but there had better be some sort of plan. On Day 1, Obama could have told the DoD to do what they needed to do to stop fighting, pack up and leave Iraq and Afghanistan. Would that have been smart? I don't think it would have been, thus, it was spending Obama inherited. Medicare, SS, etc. are all "mandatory"spending. That stuff all adds up and there wasn't an awful lot Obama could do to lower those in FY2009. He didn't have to add to them, but he would have been hard pressed to reduce them. Add into it inheriting an income shortfall from the recession, and you have your deficit. 2. The debt shows how much spending surpasses revenues (forgive me for stating the obvious, but I wanted to start there). If your revenues are too low, or your spending is too high, you will have a deficit leading to a debt. If you make the case that the spending is too high, you are making the case that the current levels of revenues are correct. If you make the case that revenues are too low, you are also stating that the spending levels are fine. With revenues being near all-time highs, spending has to be through the roof, to get the deficits we are seeing. Since revenues are at all-time highs, deficits can't really be caused by the lack of revenues, but by over-spending.
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What I support: - A Conservative interpretation of the US Constitution
- Personal Responsibility
- Help for the truly needy
- Limited Government
- Consumption Tax (non-profit charities and food exempt)
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