Before Bush was elected, the American public purse was doing great. You couple the loss in revenue from those unfunded tax cuts, with the financial meltdown which compounded revenue loss, and the half-measure borrowed money to keep the US economy from tanking further and that gets the US to the point it is in now.
I see your point, but the issue is not as cut and dry as that and as far as the rest of my post is concerned; this is not a 'blame game' position... It is what it is and nothing more
The Bush tax cuts came at a time when the economy was very strong, and in part, that strength is based on Bush creating (or preserving) a domestic investment climate that encouraged reinvestment into the USA... That can be seen in the unemployment #'s and the increasing avg wages that were experienced.
The housing crisis, that underpinned the financial crisis was felt most severely in those nations that had lax borrowing rules - especially at the consumer level (think NINJA mortgages)... Those regulations were/are a function of multiple administrations across both parties going all the way back to Jimmy Carter.. The message being, the root of the problem is not at the feet of Bush, although in hind-sight, he may have amplified the effect.
The underlying message is that the USA has a situation right now that has fewer solutions available and based on the size of their debt, taking on more loans is becoming less and less realistic (read: who is willing to lend them money these days?)
To be frank, the US can afford more debt...they aren't in the same situation as Greece and until the debt ceiling fiasco there was never a doubt that the US wouldn't be able to pay it's debt. That's why US bonds are still a safe place to put money. They're paying about $1.64 a year on $100 borrowed in 10 year Treasury notes. A tad better than under a mattress...
I'm not saying that US Bonds are not safe, but to assume that they are is somewhat of an illusion.
Take this recent event for example.. The German gvt released a bond issue that guaranteed the return of the capital at par value... No interest or return on investment, just to return the money dollar-for-dollar... And that is an offering from a nation that is considered to be 'strong' in the relative measure of global economics.
Also, look at the relationship between gold and the greenback... Each time that the price of an ounce of gold increases, it is often accompanied by a devaluation in the US dollar. Further, one of the strengths of the greenback is that it is one of the few currencies that has enough actual cash in circulation to support global trade... That is certainly a strength, however, there does come a point where there is too much and you transform your currency into a virtual peso.
They ought to re-build more of their infrastructure that is crumbling around them. Get construction booming again and they'll be laughing. The single largest part of their deficit comes from the downturn in the economy.
That's an excellent idea, but it requires borrowed money to do so.... Where will that money come from?
How the hell did the brainless wonders manage to turn a thread about Liberal Party Leader hopeful, Justin Trudeau, into a ANOTHER fu cking thread about obama? :roll:
Because Trudeau has much in common with Obama; namely, no real life experience and he's prepared to tinker with an entire national economy in order to pimp for votes
and the above is the REAL reason the mindless conservative drones are worried about Justin. He has proven, on more than one occasion, that he CAN unite the people behind him and win in situations that were considered un-winnable.
I'm not worried about Trudeau as much as I'm worried about the mindless drones that would actually support this pretender to the throne.
I can't see how there can be a shortage of work- what about some "house keeping" on the planet? We know the soil is depleted in some countries like Somalia and others in Africa. As far as money shortage goes, it's little wonder, how many $billion C.E.O.s are sitting around with their finger up their ***? I say until this mess is straightened out there has to be some wage controls and nobody gets a dime for doing nothing!
Go look at the unemployment figures and then take another look at the same figures that include the # of people that have stopped looking.
In the end, over 50% of the working population in the US don't pay federal income taxes... That alone should set off the red lights.
