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| Economy |
| Obama's Big Fat Greek Budget |
| 2015-02-08 |
| [SultanKnish] In a speech at the Department of Homeland Security, Obama declared that he wants to replace "mindless austerity" with "smart investments that strengthen America". Those smart investments scattered across a gargantuan $4 trillion budget include a $500 million Green Climate Fund for the Third World and $105 million to help the government build better websites. Obama is fond of putting the word smart in front of stupid ideas to make them seem less stupid. The $4 trillion budget is actually as stupid as the new left-wing Greek government elected on a platform of not paying its debts. This new government intends to replace the old policy of getting money in exchange for cutting spending with a new policy of not cutting spending and demanding money anyway. So far this new policy has been rejected by every country from Germany to China. Greece has managed to spend itself into a debt that stands at 175 percent of its GDP. But of course we're Americans. Our smart government with its "common sense reforms" and eagerness to spend a vast fortune to build better websites couldn't possibly have dug us into a hole that deep. Our debt-to-GDP ratio is only 101 percent. Under Bush, it stood at 64 percent. By the time the last election rolled around, it was nudging 100 percent. But that's no reason for "mindless austerity". It's no reason to stop investing in things like spending hundreds of millions of dollars to help Third World countries buy crudely inefficient solar panels from China that will break down even before our economy does. Obama's idea of "smart" investments that "strengthen America" is to borrow money from China to buy things from China for other countries. That's not even a smart investment for China which has been reducing its holdings of US Treasury bonds because it's not all that confident in our "smart" investments. |
| Posted by:g(r)omgoru |
| #9 If I were a congress critter, it would be a good chance for some performance art. Have my staffers wheel a giant wood chipper up to the podium. Feed the entire packet in and yield the remainder of my five minutes to Mr Speaker. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2015-02-08 22:30 |
| #8 OTOH see CHINESE MILITARY FORUM [Rock Solid Politics Blog] END OF DAYS [looms?] FOR [Global Ponzi-based = Current] WORLD ORDER? VERSUS * TOPIX, BIGNEWSNETWORK > IS PUTIN/RUSSIA MOVING BACK TO THE GOLD STANDARD? Iff so, may be the best shot-in-the arm for Russia's economy + Putin's legacy??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2015-02-08 22:15 |
| #7 Well, the fine print, err....the unreported details are that the budget includes proposals for $2.0 TRILLION in new taxes, AND a $875 BILLION Deficit. That's a real whopper. SO with another $2.0 Trillion in taxes, which I do not think our economy can absorb, you have a $875 Billion deficit? Unbelievable...the Dems will roll out the disabled, and the children, and the crumbling infrastructure (which I thought the stimulus and its shovel ready project BS was supposed to fix) and crumbling schools, and other fluffy bunny imagines to make the mean old Republicans look even more mean and old. Let me repeat that Gentlemen, $2.0 TRILLION in new taxes AND a $875 BILLION Deficit in spending including the new taxes. |
| Posted by: mystic was my code name 2015-02-08 22:07 |
| #6 You left out buying influence with future post-presidential allies. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2015-02-08 16:17 |
| #5 To be more accurate, it's a code word for 'spending for political advantage.' To be even more accurate "gaining political advantage by rewarding one's friends." |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2015-02-08 11:26 |
| #4 'Investment' is the regimes code word for more taxes To be more accurate, it's a code word for 'spending for political advantage.' |
| Posted by: Pappy 2015-02-08 10:56 |
| #3 I would like to see a movement to restrict the budget In ye olden times, that used to be called "Congress" |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2015-02-08 10:39 |
| #2 I would like to see a movement to restrict the budget to the previous years revenue. Revenue goes up, spending can go up; revenue goes down spending goes down. None of this BS that bases future spending on present planned spending (when is a 5% increase a cut in spending? when you really wanted 10% more) |
| Posted by: AlanC 2015-02-08 08:37 |
| #1 'Investment' is the regimes code word for more taxes. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2015-02-08 07:19 |