The budget proposal no one is talking about....

Best budget I have seen. The DoD budget (all programs) could be cut in half. Easily, without Congressional interference. The problem is that now the budget is a) what the military needs and b) what the Congress wants. B l o a t!

 

The defense budget could not be cut in half. There is no one to take our place globally.

 

So you want a budget that increases medicare, social security spending? You want a budget that increases taxes by roughly 25%? You think that is our best bet? This is the budget of a European style socialist nation. How well are they doing economically? Is that what you want for America? A failed economy, and more government in every single aspect of our lives is what we get from this.

 

There is no correlation between the US and Europe. Absolutely none. In fact, if there is a lesson to be gleaned from all of this it is this: strict austerity does not work when you are in the throws of an economic crisis. I am not defending the budget proposal....it sucks. That said, so does that political document that Paul Ryan calls a budget.

Further, John Boehner was on the Sunday morning talk shows proclaiming that the US "does not have an immediate debt crisis." Hear that? The US "does not have an immediate debt crisis." Want to know why? Remember when I told you that the budget cuts and tax increases that have been enacted over the past year and half would be enough to stabilize the debt and, thus, for the first time in a long time allow us to start paying down the debt? Yep. Boehner get's out in front to soften the blow to the faithful who have drank the kool-aid for the past four years that the free spending dems and Obama would never get the budget balanced.

The budget will not actually be balanced until we are completely out of Afghanistan but we are very close; much closer than the Republicans would like you to believe.

 

Best I've seen, put up a better attempt. It will not go anywhere, though, gores too many Congressional oxen. You cannot imagine how insidious our process of governing has become. The lack of any financial responsibility is just a symptom.

 

That budget proposal mimics the western socialism ideas that have nearly bankrupted several European nations, and threaten the economic stability of the EU as a whole. There is no corralary between the US and Europe because we have not set forth the type of policy iniatives presented in that budget.

And I add this, the best performing Euro economy is Germany, the nation that enacted the stiffest austerity measures.

You can keep saying this, but that doesn't make it true. You just look more disconnected from reality.

We are nowhere near paying down the debt. We aren't even clost to being able to stabalize and shrink the debt as a percentage of GDP. As we currently stand debt will continue to grow as a percentage of GDP for the next ten years.

Link.

 

that budget proposal is a non-starter just like the republican proposal is and I said as much. Germany has continued it's growth not because of it's strict austerity measures but because they hold the lion share of manufacturing in the EU so let's tell it like it is and not parse words. You say there is no corollary between the US and Europe yet you just tried to draw that comparison in your previous post, so which is it? Fact is, you are correct that there is no corollary between the US and Europe, just like I said in my post. Enough said.

If you can honestly take a look at our current economic indicators and not have reason to be very optimistic then you don't know what you are looking at or what you are talking about. You say that I am disconnected from reality.....is Boehner disconnected from reality also? what about Eric Cantor? because both of these guys have made statements in the past two weeks that we are no longer in a debt crisis. We still have some work to do but we've stabilized our debt to gdp ratio and that is the first step toward a balanced budget and paying down the debt. Of course we are no where near paying off the debt, I never claimed we were. I said that we have put ourselves on a more sustainable path, which is true.

The link you posted verifies everything I have been telling you. The part that I am sure you found particularly appealing: that deficits would go back up in the future, is assuming that unemployment and growth figures remain at 8% and 1.4% respectively, and frankly that is not a smart assumption. When the CBO makes such a report they use the current baseline numbers, which is all they have to work from. They do not, and cannot, make predictions about what future growth or unemployment will look like, so their reports are simply a snap shot in time. The CBO will be out with another report toward the end of the year and they will use the current economic data as base lines when they do so. So, if unemployment is 7.5% and growth is 3% their numbers would reflect accordingly.

 

I will say this, in Texas, it is a VERY good time to be working.........


That is all.

 

I don't know what you can't grok here. I have said it very clearly twice. The proposed budget in the OP would move us in the direction of Western European socialism. To date we have not gone down that path, and our economy is stronger for it. Do you disagree?

We are in a three year period where the national debt will not be a concern, but as the CBO has projected the debt and deficits will continue to mount due to an aging population.

That is not at all what the article said. The CBO assumed 8% unemployment and 1.4 % growth for 2013, not for the entire ten year period.

I don't know why you continue to try to paint this overly rosey picture. We are nowhere near a balanced budget or even a shrinking debt as a percentage of GDP. These are facts.

 

If I am so wrong then show me I am wrong. I explained to you why the CBO's projections are easily taken out of context. Explain to me why I am wrong because I don't think you can.

Your story continues to change. Now you say that we are in a three year period where the national debt will not be a concern....just a few posts ago you had us going down the path of Europe. Which is it?

You say that the CBO assumes unemployment and growth only applies to 2013 but where are their numbers for the other nine years? That's right....they don't have any because they use the same base line numbers just like I told you.

I find it humorous that you call my perspective rosy and I got a good laugh out of it. Thanks.