[Falconoffury]

The bush administration has borrowed more money than all previous administrations combined, and the current deficit is around 8.2 trillion. Do they honestly know what they are doing with the budget and clearly understand the effects and direction the budget is heading?

[Clouseau2]

I agree that the current administration and Congress is a fiscal disaster, but where does "borrowed more than all previous adminstrations combined" come from? Doesn't that imply that the debt had to more than double (which it hasn't). It certainly can't be true if you factor in inflation!

I think the taxcut-and-spend policies are analogous to both the peak oil problem and also to the .com implosion. I think Warren Buffett described it best, talking about the .com insanity:

"The line separating investment and speculation, which is never bright and clear, becomes blurred still further when most market participants have recently enjoyed triumphs. Nothing sedates rationality like large doses of effortless money. After a heady experience of that kind, normally sensible people drift into behavior akin to that of Cinderella at the ball. They know that overstaying the festivities - that is, continuing to speculate in companies that have gigantic valuations relative to the cash they are likely to generate in the future - will eventually bring on pumpkins and mice. But they nevertheless hate to miss a single minute of what is one helluva party. Therefore, the giddy participants all plan to leave just seconds before midnight. There’s a problem, though: They are dancing in a room in which the clocks have no hands."

[basketballjones]

you missed an option..

they're doing it to get re-elected. inflation doesn't get people kicked out of office, but a recession will.

[jaws]

Voted chimpanzees. As I've been telling you the whole time, governments are nothing more than a well organized and well armed gang of thieves and thugs. Don't count on them for anything.

[jmacdaddio]

They're trying to trigger a dollar collapse. Nothing wipes away debts quite like inflation. They know what they're doing.

[smallpoxgirl]

I'm sure they're aware that they're creating a horrible mess, I just don't think they care. By the time the troubles role around, somebody else will be in office and that person, rightly or wrongly, will take the blame from the public. For now, people can still do the things they want to do and consume what they want ot consume, so only a miniscule number actually care about the national debt. Honestly, I'm not sure I even care. The government's solvency or lack thereof is their problem not mine.

[rogerhb]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('smallpoxgirl', 'T')he government's solvency or lack thereof is their problem not mine.

[smallpoxgirl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rogerhb', 'E')xcept that you are a shareholder of the government and underwrite the debt.

[rogerhb]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('smallpoxgirl', 'I') believe we've been through this before roger.

[Doly]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rogerhb', '
')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('smallpoxgirl', 'I') did not and would not voluntarily join the US government.

[MrBill]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Doly', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rogerhb', '
')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('smallpoxgirl', 'I') did not and would not voluntarily join the US government.

[topcat]

It is worse than you think. Here is what the US Govt Accountability Ofc has to say in their report:

“· Material deficiencies in financial reporting (which also represent material weaknesses) and other limitations on the scope of our work resulted in conditions that, for the ninth consecutive year, prevented us from expressing an opinion on the federal government’s consolidated financial statements…

“· The federal government did not maintain effective internal control over financial reporting (including safeguarding assets) and compliance with significant laws and regulations as of Sept. 30, 2005…


“The current financial reporting model does not clearly and transparently show the wide range of responsibilities, programs, and activities that may either obligate the federal government to future spending or create an expectation for such spending. Thus, it provides a potentially unrealistic and misleading picture of the federal government’s overall performance, financial condition, and future fiscal outlook. The federal government’s gross debt in the consolidated financial statements was about $8 trillion as of Sept. 30, 2005. This number excludes such items as the gap between the present value of future promised and funded Social Security and Medicare benefits, veterans’ health care, and a range of other liabilities (e.g., federal employee and veteran benefits payable), commitments, and contingencies that the federal government has pledged to support. Including these items, the federal government’s fiscal exposures now total more than $46 trillion, up from about $20 trillion in 2000. This translates into a burden of about $156,000 per American or approximately $375,000 per full-time worker, up from $72,000 and $165,000 respectively, in 2000. These amounts do not include future costs resulting from Hurricane Katrina or the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Continuing on this unsustainable path will gradually erode, if not suddenly damage, our economy, our standard of living, and ultimately our national security…

The above notes were signed off by David M. Walker, comptroller general of the United States.

From this link:

http://www.whiskeyandgunpowder.com/Arch ... 60313.html

46 Trillion is a bunch of money. I want my $156,000 now.

[Battle_Scarred_Galactico]

I think they know they're fucked, and are "borrowing" accordingly. Hell, you don't need much more evidence do you.

[smallpoxgirl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MrBill', 'I')f you want, I am sure you can sell your UK passport on someone else and use the money to buy a passport in any number of developing countries? You can always buy a passport. You can have a child in a foreignland and get a passport that way. You can live and work in a foreign country and gain citizen that way. There are many ways to get a new passport. Funny how not too many go from the rich world to the third world? ; - )

[seahorse2]

Smallpox,

You just made the list, for the 10,000 time that is.

[smallpoxgirl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('seahorse2', 'S')mallpox,

You just made the list, for the 10,000 time that is.