A little snarky perspective is in order...
Was 2007 the Dark Ages? Was Grandma forced to make soup out of dewdrops and moss? Were our soldiers sent into battle with spitballs and slingshots? Were scientists and researchers shaking tin cups in doorways? Were our 18-year-olds unable to scrape together enough loans to attend our finest universities so they could prepare for a dynamic global job market by sharpening their Beer Pong and sexting skills? (Forbes - Kyle Smith)He goes on to explain how what we are facing is nothing compared to Greece's calamity. They are spending 50% of GDP. Here in America...
Federal spending has averaged 20.2% over the past half-century. As recently as 2007, the last year before the (permanent?) state of emergency began, federal spending was 20% of GDP. And that takes into account the huge increases in spending on homeland security, not to mention Iraqland and Afghanistanland security. In 2011, spending is suddenly 24% of GDP. In a quarter of a century, that figure will be 33.9% of GDP if something isn’t done to alter the trend line.So compared to Greece, our travails are a piffle. Trim annual spending to 18% of GDP and our financial situation is stabilized. Cut an extra 1-2 % off and we're now starting to fill in that deep hole we've been digging for over 180 years now.
The solutions are so obvious even a politician can see it...
Indeed, they are so obvious even the politicians are aware of what they are: turn Medicaid into block grants for states, reorganize Medicare as a subsidy for well-regulated private insurers along the lines of the Paul Ryan plan, raise the qualifying age for Medicare and Social Security and means-test the latter to return it to its roots as a cure for elderly poverty instead of a checkbook-abusing free-for-all.As a bonus, stop giving money to fetid foreign sewers full of bug-eyed screamers who hate us, and declare a moratorium on foreign military adventures and global community organizing.
Teach Government to Live on 18% of GDP
History suggests that Americans have a settled notion of what the federal government is worth: about 18% of GDP. Why should shopping for public services be any different than shopping for groceries? We Americans know what we can afford.People like Ducky perform the useful task of reminding us it's not just income tax. There's also payroll taxes, state, city, county and local taxes, not to mention business taxes. Who can calculate the final horrible total that is sucked into the voracious bureaucratic beast's insatiable maw?
And I don't trust the bond market people either. The US goose is laying golden eggs for them and these rent-seekers need that goose to stay healthy, and in debt. If the US cleaned up it's debt and only engaged in current account-type borrowing, that would be a huge blow to the global debt markets.
Once the curtain descends on the latest DC kabuki, a good reporter would ask the president how long he thinks the US can continue to borrow $1.5 trillion per annum. Don't hold your breath.
Kyle Smith - Debt Ceiling Panic Button
Heritage Foundation - Balanced Budget Amendment
Mark Zandi - How to Cut the Deficit
