Yes. it's politicians that have spent the money but it's LBJ who moved it to the general fund where they could get their greedy paws on it. Repealing Obamacare and putting the remaining stimulus money into a SS trust would be a nice start. Why should I be asked to cut benefits I paid for while people who have never paid a penny of income tax and illegal immigrants get federal benefits?
Why should I have to work to supply a portion of every SS recipients' retirement? That is 6.25% of every check I'll ever earn gone with no benefit to me. I'm not saying its fair. I'm saying it is necessary. And as a matter of fact if all wellfare programs and foreign were cut the Federal budget would decrease from 3.8 trillion to 3.77 trillion.
Bullchit. Prove it. Bushes tax cuts did't keep a recession from happening nor have they pulled us out of one. The Louisiana legislature cut 650 million busks from the state income in th last two years and now they can't pay for anything that they are respnsible for. Meanwhile the state economy is in the dumps. Why didn't the no-Stelly tax cut boost Louisiana's economy. Because it's bullchit, that's why.
Why Obamacare? There are funds identified to pay for it. Why not Bushcare which is already a bigger unfunded liability than Social Security! $19 Trillion to $14 Trillion. The Medicare Prescription Drug Plan is a bigger burden than Social Security after only six years. http://www.usdebtclock.org/ You shouldn't. Only, Nobody here has advocated paying SS to illegal aliens or those who haven't paid FICA taxes for 40 quarters.
Ya ever hear of this thing called 9/11 or this other thing called the dot com bubble? That might of had a tad bit more to do with that recession than tax cuts. I dunno. Maybe. The state economy is actually doign pretty doggone good all things considered. Unemployment is well below the national average. Private investment is way up. Economic development is going on at a pace rarely ever seen in this state. All this in spite of a painful oil spill and a drilling ban that may cripple us. I'm sure you know that a sizeable portion of our budget shortfall is because of a stupid post Katrina medicaid formula change. Our problem is not one of income. It is one of spending.
I'm talking about the recession that we are in, not the 2001 recession. You know, the one created by the mortgage crash and the banking crash. Why didn't the Bush tax cuts pull us out of that if what you say is true? Open your eyes and look around. 8.3% unemployed is significant and about to get worse when the stimulus runs out. State Departments are being cut significantly. LSU is taking a 35% cut in top of the 20% already cut in the last two years. That's half the campus budget that will be gone. Thousands of state employees, university employees, and teachers jobs will be eliminated. State services are going to be slashed and major university departments eliminated. Hundreds of private contractors doing business with the state and it's universities will be impacted. The state economy is far from healthy. And it's going to get worse for the next five-ten years. The brain drain from LSU has already begun. The best and brightest students in Louisiana high schools and colleges are leaving the state for better prospects in education and economic opportunities. That ain't a good thing for Louisiana. It's both. Dems think taxes solve everything, GOP thinks tax cuts solve everything. Both are wrong. It takes both. You don't cut taxes first and then let the state get in this shape. You keep them at a level that pays the bills. Then you start systematically cutting spending where it can be done. When we start posting surpluses, THEN we cut taxes to put that money back into the hands of the citizens. It's bass-ackwards to cut income in the face of a recession like the Louisiana legislature did when it rashly repealed Stelly (which had been approved by the voters). This current Louisiana economic crisis is a direct result of Republican legislative incompetence and irresponsibility.
Well we are now out of the recession, and I would argue that this deep and painful recession would have been deeper and more painful with heavier taxes. Your boy Obama agrees with me. That is why he wants to make most of the Bush tax cuts permanent. Good. Look the higher education cuts suck. But the legislature refused to move on Jindal admistration objectives to change the way funds are allocated. And reductions to most state departments and services would be awesome. Half my agency could leave tomorrow and the place would get better. I agree that brain drain is bad, but Louisiana is currently seeing brain gain. Our population is growing because employment oppurtunities are better here than most other places, because higher ed is cheaper than most other places, and because the economy is out performing most other places. Entrepreneurship is way up in the state. Growth in high tech fields is way up in the state. Digital media is exploding here. I am aware that we have some real struggles to overcome, but I don't buy into the doom and gloom you are selling. Collecting surpluses is the worst thing a government can do. That just kills economies. State and Federal governments already consume 30% of the economy. For every 10 cars GM makes the government takes three of em. If they only need two they shouldn't take three and then give one back. GM could do a lot more with the third car than the stupid government can. Some pretty major schools of economic thought (Chicago School) would argue the exact opposite. A recession is the absolute best time to cut taxes.
And Jindal refused to veto the Stelly disembowelment. They both suck. Jindal is worse than the last governor and that is saying a lot. That's not the half that will leave, unfortunately. They won't go in and cut out the dead wood. They are just going to cut half the trees to eliminate half the dead wood. It's a lose-lose situation. What employment opportunities are those? How soon you forget the 90's. Surpluses and a booming economy. And you didn't pay attention. I said that surpluses should trigger legitimate tax cuts. The ideal is a balanced budget. Republicans are insane to spend like mad on unneeded wars, cut income, add huge unfunded programs, and borrow us into economic collapse like they almost did. I can't believe you advocate running huge deficits. :insane: Not without cutting spending. That just digs the debt deeper.
We will agree to disagree there. You are right. It is the top talent like me that will leave. I am used to 10% wage growth. I am not inclined to let the legislature balance the budget on my back. My stay in civil service could be short. Too bad for the people of Louisian. My department runs well. IT jobs are growing here faster than anywhere else in the nation. Digital media faster than anywhere else in the nation. Green collar jobs among the fastest in the nation. Ac****ing jobs among the fastest in the nation. Hi tech manufacturing among the fastest in the nation. The state is viewed as a goldmine for entrepreneurs. Our rankings are advancing in every business journal in just about every category. Where have I advocated deficit spending? Stop making things up. And nowhere have I defended Republican policies. What I have said is our problem is on the outgo side. Not the income side. You don't know much about economic theories do you? Many major schools of economic thought say the best thing that a government can do during a recession is to cut taxes and increase spending on things like infrastructure and other one time outlays. That is where Obama screwed up. He cut taxes and increased spending on recurring outlays that are sure to swell future budgets.
