Budget Debt
The US Government spends more than it takes in just about every year. Here are the budget deficit numbers by year since 1932. If anyone wants to know why we have a budget problem in this country, all you have to do is look at the running debt clock. We are now at $21T in debt.! But, if big numbers alone don't get your attention, then lets put the $21T in perspective, it represents over 100% of GDP. The nation owed $10.6 trillion on Jan. 20, 2009, when President Obama was sworn in, and he doubled it – more than Bush piled up in two terms. There is bipartisan agreement that we cannot sustain this level of debt. There is also bipartisan agreement that we must correct the outflows exceeding inflows that drives the debt higher every second (see debt clock) . Everyone who manages a checkbook has seen this problem before and knows how to correct it - reduce expenses and increase income. Increasing revenues is critical to the solution, but will not have an immediate impact. Reducing expenses is also critical to the solution and can generate immediate impact. It is the only thing in your control instantly! Sequestration and government shutdown revealed that with immediate impacts in 2012 & 2013. Everything else we here about this subject beyond these two facts is just noise and should be ignored. The political left and right cannot agree on how to correct this problem. The left solution to our problem is to increase taxes on the rich to increase income. Currently the top 20% of income earners pays 80% of the federal tax burden. So do we want them to pay 100%? 110%? 120%? Maybe just write the check every year for the entire cost of government, whatever it is? Clearly this is not a solution. The right wants us to reduce spending and taxes, which was also a poor solution in a recessionary economy, but in a growing economy in 2017 has promise. But, the truth is we must do both (reduce expenses and increase income), we must do it now and it will not be easy. All the political hot air outside these two facts is simply a distraction from the difficult but obvious answer. Trump's tax law in Dec 2017 had an economic stimulation effect. A growing economy will usually increase income (tax revenues for the government) over the 10 years, but not immediately. The Trump tax reform due to money overseas that will be returning home, will have immediate positive revenue impacts. His military defense spending will have a negative national debt impact. To immediately begin to impact our budget deficit and debt problem whiling anticipating increased revenues we also must immediately and dramatically cut spending. That MUST include discretionary spending AND entitlements (Social Security, Medicare & Obamacare) which represent 90% of the problem. The left will say you are hurting education, the homeless, healthcare of all Americans, the elderly and on and on. The right will shout "we are already taxed enough". All This whining MUST be ignored. No one wants to hurt themselves, their families or their neighbors We have no choice but to intelligently make these difficult decisions while minimizing the pain. But there will be pain. And our representatives MUST ACT NOW. It is a dereliction of duty if they do not. The 2 year budget passed Feb 2018 does not do this. It was a purely bi-partisan negotiation (which is good) but gives everything to everyone and makes no tough decisions on spending. Below you can watch the ongoing debate on this critical issue. And hopefully see the solution we need develop. Then, in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic arrives and budget busting, debt and printing money takes on historic proportions!

Shutdown appears likely

9/27/23
from The Gray Area:
9/27/23:
The media cannot help themselves. The latest attempt on Capitol Hill, by the Senate, at a breakthrough on the spending fight comes with political narratives in headlines: MAGA Republicans Rip Apart Senate Spending Bill: 'Disgraceful'. The messaging is clear and consistent from the media, those nasty 'MAGA' Republicans who want to be fiscally responsible, no, they just want to shutdown the government! Folks, its a negotiation, granted a high stakes negotiation, where neither side has an obvious negotiation advantage. In the Senate, a bi-partisan agreement on a 45 day spending bill, through Nov. 17th, includes Republican Senators. In the House which controls the purse strings, no such bi-partisan  agreement from either side will emerge. The best we can hope for is the Republican factions will find common ground. But, will that common ground pass the Senate before mid-night Saturday? McCarthy stated after the House finally overcame a procedural hurdle Tuesday night to bring his own continuing resolution to the floor this week, probably Friday, either a House-crafted version or a CR the Senate sends across. Here's A Guide to Federal Spending, how the process is supposed to work. Obviously, the process is not working properly, lets not forget that point, and the responsibility for this failure belongs to both parties in Congress. Where we are currently, the House has only passed one of the 12 appropriations bills, and the Senate has passed none. There is not time for the House and Senate to negotiate on 12 appropriations bills before government funding expires. This is not the position conservatives want to be in, but it is the reality of where we now are. With Republicans holding a narrow majority in the House, conservatives still have an opportunity to put forward a solution to the American people. If Republicans pass a conservative plan to fund the government that ALSO cuts spending and secures the border, this increases Republican leverage going into negotiations with the Senate and White House. If Republicans do NOT put forward a plan to fund the government, they will have no starting position for negotiations and will get steamrolled by Biden and Schumer. Understanding this dynamic, some of the most conservative members in the House Freedom Caucus — Rep. Chip Roy and Rep. Scott Perry — worked out a plan with moderate Republicans in the Main Street Caucus to pass a 30-day Continuing Resolution. Republicans hate CR's, but this is the best one conservatives have ever seen, because it cuts spending for 30 days AND contains permanent border security provisions, such as:
  • Ending Asylum Fraud
  • Ending “Catch and Release”
  • Continuing construction of the Border Wall
  • Increasing Border Patrol resources—in conjunction with closing loopholes in the immigration system
  • No Amnesty
Does anyone think a Democrat will ever support such a set of border provisions?  Conservatives feels they would be giving Democrats what they want (no shutdown) in exchange for the most robust border security bill ever signed into law in addition to spending cuts. The first step is, the House must pass it and send it to the Senate. Conservatives want to put Democrats on defense and force them to choose between securing the border – an issue that has 80/20 support by the American people – or shutting down the government. So, are we headed towards a shutdown on October 1? Very likely yes (but nothing is final). The proposal negotiated by Reps. Perry and Roy does not yet have the support of 218 House Republicans. Surprising to some, the holdouts are not from the middle, but from the right. The conservative holdouts are raising concerns about passing a CR instead of voting on 12 standalone appropriation bills. However, Congress finds itself in a position where there is simply not enough time to pass 12 bills before a shutdown. That’s unfortunate, but it’s where we are. The only other deal being offered up to keep the government open is from Schumer in the Senate. It is a 45 day "CR”, with conitnued spending levels and without border security provisions and that’s a non-starter for the majority of House Republicans. As the House is unlikely to pass anything, and the Senate has passed a “clean CR” that is unlikely to even get a vote in the House, then that means a shutdown is very likely. McCarthy has said he hopes, a very short one. More From Breitbart: More From Barrons:


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