How America Is 'Broke' and Why It Matters

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well for starts lets look at US spending. $80 billion for this country to rebuild, $2 trillion for that country, for what? lets look at the treasury numbers, $200 billion every month in revenue and taxes, only $120 billion is payed out every month. mmmmm $80 billion left over every month? and speaking of senators and congress, why would anyone want to spend $1 million + to get a job that only pays $200k a year? now SS and Medicare, our elders paid into that thier whole lives, yes inflation sucks, but SS and Medicare are thier own industry AND IN NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM SHOULD THOSE NUMBERS EVER BE MESSED WITH. that is not government money. cut teachers, police officers, parks and recreation wages? that is just obsurd. our children are gonna grow up stupid, raped, robbed, murdered, and without outdoor activities. create a congressional panel to manage spending, i have never understood how you save money by spending it. lets talk real life now, quit giving our money to other counties that already cant take care of themselves. dont give free health care to illegals,(along with the other programs they give to illegals), and quit lining the pockets of rich industry with free money. they already have thier own. let imports in tax free but tax our local economies? mmm that makes sense. last but not least, come on people wake up and look at what is happening. they are stealing from you without hiding it, and its not ok. pay attention to what you are voting for, and what the powers that be are doing. this counties people have fought and died in wars that were right along these same lines of garbage. No Taxation Without Representation sound familiar?

guy of KS 12:10PM July 18, 2011

I don't have time to read these comments on both sides of the issue. I'm working! Hey, that's a novel idea.

John R of AL 11:42AM March 09, 2011

The problem is a result of too much spending rather than less tax revenue. I think we can both agree that it is everyone's civic duty to pay taxes. And, since we are duty bound to pay taxes then there is a recipricol expectation that those tax dollars will be used wisely, constructively, and appropriately. As such, It's the fiduciary responsibility of elected officials.
American's are basically saying, "Hey I already gave you my tax dollars and you have nothing to show for it, and now you want me to open my wallet wider so you can dig deeper. What kind of fools do you take us to be."
The solution is control spending. You can be assured that there will be more taxation since that's the modus operandi of government. What people are saying is we are tired of being duped and we are now willing to effect the appropriate changes at the ballot box if you are part of the problem and not part of the solution in terms of getting our fiscal house in order.

david of ID 11:11AM March 09, 2011

"The problem is, NOBODY has the cajones (sic) to make the tough choices."
I agree, as none of you or anybody else here or in Congress says, the tough choice is to raise taxes. Something you greedy minded people can't get through your heads. Sure cuts need to be made. Let's start with the military, Congressional pay/benefits (which nobody seems to mind paying taxes for and they don't work even nine months out of the year; yet, teachers/civil workers are pariahs on society), to receive SS raise the age of retirement for white collar workers because working at a desk vs. pushing a broom is not hard work, and retirees that make more than $35,000 w/o SS would no longer be eligible and have to pay a higher premium for Medicare.
Those are just a few ideas that I have the cojones to talk about. Besides, for all you backward thinking people this is the 21st Century not the 1800s things cost money and you have to pay for it.

Tree Hugger of CO 10:49AM March 09, 2011

Bill Parks of MD really, that's your solution? Monetize our debt? Just print more money and hope the nasty monster called debt will crawl back under the bed. Perhaps you may want to take a few business classes at your local community college. Take a few Econ, Finance, and Accounting courses then come back and talk to people when you have some knowledge on the subject.
W Smith of Utah seems to not have any problem with the status quo regarding America's entitlement programs.
Let's give W Smith some facts to chew on. Let's start with some rough numbers. 310 million Americans. Subtract from that 59 million who Social Security pays to not work and non factors in the work force. Subtract 72 million children under age 18 that are non factors in the work force. Subtract 15 million who are currently unemployed and non factors in the work force. Subtract 2.8 million federal government employees who produce nothing, and who are fed by government tax dollars and are non factors in the work force. Subtract 2.2 million criminals behind bars and who are non factors in the work force. Subtract approximately 1.5 million military personnel who are non factors in the work force. I'll do the math to help you with the big number W Smith. That's 152.5 million non factor Americans that depend on another tax paying American for their food, clothing, shelter. Or, 157.5 million (310 - 152.5) that work, pay taxes so that others don't have to. In fact, I wonder what the number really is when you also consider the number of non working spouses in America as well as the number of unemployed people who have given up hope and dropped off the welfare rolls.
Essentially, there is a problem in America my two liberal friends. Monetizing the debt and scalpel reduction in a budget here and there are not solutions. In fact, the suggestion would be akin to putting a butterfly bandage on a sucking chest wound the size of a softball.
The solution is so much deeper. The only solution is the white elephant in the room that everyone tries so hard to ignore. The problem is entitlements. Defense is only 14% of budget. Welfare is 11%, Education is 13%, Pensions is 15%, Health care is 16%. The rest is discretionary. That means entitlements account for 55%, more than half the entire budget. www.usgovernmentspending.com
Don't get me wrong. The elderly who are too old should not work. Children deserve their youth, there are some who are legitimately disabled and deserve our grace, some who are on the verge of destitution and need help. But, even a liberal would agree that things are out of wack. Proving Michael Moore is still an idiot.

david of ID 4:41AM March 09, 2011

Uncle Sam, you're getting too old,
And you've made promises galore,
That, true, were once as good as gold,
But now mouths wag that you are poor.
Uncle Sam you need to just put
Out all that older family.
Nieces and nephews under foot
Should call it quits at 63
At that age a computer chip
Inserted inside each one's skin
Would trigger a terminal trip
To a heaven or hell check-in.
Everyone's got to sacrifice.
Age 63 is the right price.

Ima Ryma of IL 4:04AM March 09, 2011

The real problem is that there are no proposals for SHARED sacrifice. Sure the old folks have to give up, but will go out fighting, screaming, and voting when government workers feed voraciously at the public trough, and greed rules Wall St. and CEOs, and so forth. It is not an uncommon result that sailors would rather sink the ship and go down with it than suffer sacrifice while the captain and officers live it up.

Luther of AK 10:54PM March 08, 2011

The United States is not broke. It cannot go broke. It is a sovereign nation with full monetary authority to issue all the money it needs or wants. Many of the American people have been hoodwinked.
The national debt is simply a discretionary welfare subsidy provided for banks, bankers and Wall Street bond traders.
The cause of the problem is easy to see. When congress established the Federal Reserve in 1913, it delegated some of its monetary authority to a privately owned assemblage of for-profit banking corporations. They have been ripping off the American people ever since the Federal Reserve was founded. The Fed simply issue credit to itself, using that credit to buy government bonds, creating a national debt and charging us interest on our own money. In the past twenty years, we, the taxpayers, have been charged more than $7 trillion in interest, half of the accumulating $14 trillion debt, forcing a near collapse of our economy. All this, because we delegated our sovereign monetary authority to an assemblage of privately owned corporations, and then borrowed our own money.
Never have so many, paid so much, to so few, for so little.
All is not lost. Americans have thrown the banks out before. Two hundred years ago Congress refused to renew the charter of America’s first central bank because the Constitution grants the power to issue money to congress not to a private corporation. The Bank of England owned a controlling interest in the bank, prompting some historians to claim this was a principal cause of the War of 1812.
Only a sovereign government can create a stable currency, necessary for a sustainable economy. It can create money by fiat, lend money like banks, issue and spend money directly into the economy for programs and infrastructure, and it can fine-tune the money supply with taxation. Banks simply cannot do all those things.
If we simply reclaim the monetary authority inherent in our sovereign nationhood, the United States Treasury can issue all the debt-free money we need to fund government, operate our economy, payoff the national debt and reduce or eliminate most taxes including the income tax

Bill Parks of MD 9:39PM March 08, 2011

Now Fannie & Freddie is a different story. Naturally Democrats gave them unlimited line of credit.
on W. Smith Republicans are discussing cutting "the big four"--Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and Defense " in 2013 budget. They are cutting as things progress. $$$ 4 billion in spending cuts just for 2 weeks extension of budget that Democrats should have passed Oct. 2010. I'm hoping $$$ 105 billion be removed from obamacare by barry for next 2 week extension.
Programs that people paid for you want cuts done now. I paid into S/S & medicare for 40 years. My employer match. Then there is 40 years of interest. I see Democrats in Congress say I got my money worth. Not as I just explained. He failed to tell the whole story. Why ?
I'm willing to take a hit on what I paid for. How about programs people did not pay for ? I am for closing military bases and other cuts too. It's coming.
In latest cuts Democrats are finding what $$$ 10.5 billion. Republicans asking $$$ 60 billion in cuts.
Cost of illegals is great. At federal, State, and local level...

Bill Hedges of MO 8:16PM March 08, 2011