Is it so beyond the pale that Republicans would even consider tax increases that this obvious solution isn't even discussed here? Then that means that whatever Congress comes up with to "solve" this crisis will just add to already-astronomical deficits and national debt? Am I missing something obvious here or is Congress?
4
@Tom: The Republicans operate on the belief that whatever money the government spends is wasted. That is certainly true of things that ideally will never be used so they will create large future disposal costs.
1
US government debt before the 2008 meltdown was bad enough but having to rescue all those banks and financial institutions by simply printing more money moved us into fantasy land economics. And now with Trump’s trillion dollar tax cut showing up as the sham we all knew it was, we are headed for never never land.
So yeah, who needs debt limits, print all the money you want, nobody can say boo... but there is this nagging doubt that it can’t be that easy, that eventually debts have to be repaid and if the answer is we will just print more money then there is major crisis looming ahead.
5
@Sohrab Batmanglidj: The "meltdown" of 2008 was caused by the simultaneous triggering of all sorts of financial derivatives at the same time. These bets were more than the global annual economic product. The system was literally incapable of flowing money fast enough to meet all the obligations created simultaneously,so it became a liquidity crisis. The Fed's actions all strove to increase liquidity, to get the zero sum game of derivatives sorted out.
I don't think it is wise public policy to treat financial securities as chips in a gambling casino.
2
Will the Democrats finally take on the Trump/GOP obscene tax-cut for the rich? Any candidate that astutely addresses this issue could swing Red state Trump voters and give the Democrats a 2020 win in the Senate.
The real question is--Does the Chuck Schumer/Joe Biden wing of the DNC want to win the Senate??
4
The debt ceiling always gets raised eventually, whether easily or after a period of brinkmanship. Given the fact that it always eventually gets raised, it seems rather pointless to even have a debt ceiling. It’s not as if raising the debt ceiling increases the deficit, but because all it really does is allow Congress and the President to pay for the deficit that has already been created.
Why not just abolish the debt ceiling and get rid of all the drama and brinkmanship?
1
Just read a federal report showing the $$$billions wasted by duplicate efforts in various departments. Studies done and redone and unnecessary efforts to maintain high #'s of federal positions. Departments range from top to bottom, including the VA, Pentagon (especially the Pentagon) IRS and many others. The only department pinched by budget is the NSA which controls our national security.
Problem: Congress could eliminate a huge variety of these sources but they may lie in their individual districts., so nothing happens, of course. We need to start a 'bottoms up' operation by signaling our own deep-state folk to tighten the reigns and claw back some of these funds.
@Snoocks2: Broad-based taxation supports spending that fills a lot of local gaps of opportunity.
1
Forgive my ignorance, but I thought the tax cut bill the Republicans passed in 2017 was suppose to take care of deficit spending, plus Arthur Laffer is getting the Presidential medal of freedom. I am not sure who mirrored who first, the gospel prosperity evangelists or the current Republican party. Either way they know when you got a good con going you don't quit until they run you out of town, then you just find another town, but make sure you cover your bases while you are able, cut the regulators or better yet put your fellow kleptocrats in charge of them.
6
@John Hazlitt: Laffer's whole argument relates to what tax rate optimizes the productivity of a mixed economy. Without getting into the details, it clearly is not zero,
It would be so simple to balance and cut at least $125 billion.
First, eliminate about 40% of the federal agencies - those that overlap with others (could be more, but let's be conservative).
Second, fire those not doing their jobs, including 50% of the administrative overhead.
Third, hold remaining administrators responsible for passing their legally mandated audits AND enact a one page piece of law that mandates Congress do something, anything, when they fail said audit.
@Ma: You oversimplify. Everyone who has a gainful income is able to live and do things that cause other people to have incomes. This is called "multiplier effect". For reasons unknown to me, Republicans believe that multiplier effect from paying people from tax revenue somehow produces less multiplier effect than if the employer were a private company. It's not true. If you are a human being with an income and you spend money, somebody else will make something from it.
7
It is telling that Republicans want money for "the military" while Democrats want money for veterans.
4
@CPlayer: We don't want to arm up for the ultimate battle for political control of the ultimate limited resource.
1
@CPlayer: We don't want any more deaths so the dead shall not have died in vain.
Who cares. It’s nothing but a side show for the nerds in Washington to show how dedicated they are to the party line. Just another opportunity to get free press.
@Prudence Spencer: Why are you here?
And I hope that we can use this as an opportunity to force open the White House stonewalling on Congressional oversight.
4
The general thought around the world is that Trump's economy is now on full recession alert.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12237097
6
@CK: Americans just don't get rule number one of damage control at sea: when there is a loose cannon on deck, just let it go overboard.
4
Now those who were unaware of Trump's numerous bankruptcies, failures, swindles and the fact no reputable western institution wanted his business(...which is why he does business in Saudi Arabia, Russia, Latin America), might hopefully start realizing that the emperor has no clothes! Please wake up America. We are at a very scary precipice!
15
Been there for two years, and not in any happy Calvin&Hobbes kind of way.
2
@Ben
They were NEVER unaware of this perfidy. There are some folks who would rather burn the entire country down, than allow a few immigrants in. They are holding the rest of us hostage to retain power and to ensure their own survival. It is the same human flaws that led them to destroy Indians for their land and enslave generations to do their work.
8
Dealing with Trump, the answer is probably no. And McConnell won't help either.
10
This tired old Deficit Ball game is squarely in the Republican Party's court. The goal of the game is to use the deficit that the Republicans skyrocket whenever in power to weaken and kill those government agencies the wealthy 1%ers so despise.
I call this the old Republican Party 4-step.
Step 1: Give unnecessary giant tax cuts to the already wealthy and big corporations, which bankrupts the treasury.
Step 2: Like a bunch of crazed Chicken Littles, the Republicans flap their arms and run around screeching "the deficit is coming, the deficit is coming."
"
Step 3: Next come hysterical demands to slash the federal budget by eviscerating the social safety net, raiding the Social Security fund (that we workers paid into for decades), getting rid of the EPA and other pesky regulatory agencies that get in the way of Big Business making money the old-fashioned way--by cheating and fleecing customers and employees.
Step 4 and the final step: quickly dust off and implement the old GOP regressive flat tax plan, where all Americans--rich and poor--pay a 10% tax on their salaries (but not on their interest and dividends or stock market and capital gains).
It is the Republican way: Rob the poor to pay the rich
19
@PB Called Starving the Beast
3
why didn't you vote for me. don't you remember my slogan: "vote for me and I'll set you free"
2
There are plenty of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle that are strictly in their job to promote and enrich themselves and nothing else. The interests of America as a whole mean nothing to them. Certainly the polarization in our country today has made this situation even worse but these types of lawmakers have always been present. And Donald Trump has only added gasoline to this fire. As long as these lawmakers feel no pain and continue to gleefully collect their pay and benefits for doing nothing then we will have only useless rhetoric polluting the air from these people. Perhaps those who voted these fakers into office will vote them out in the next elections.
4
@Howard Herman: Deciding anything destroys its utility for fundraising to both sides.
2
Well , the fast rising US federal debt is the grease that will end the US global empire (800 foreign bases). The US dollar will lose its primacy and the US government will no longer be able to sanction other nations via trade and banking restrictions.
ALL empires fail in time. The USA`s empire is crumbling and China is rising. The Trump-Kushner crime family will be OK though.
9
So let's see, in spite of the recent tax cuts, we have higher federal tax receipts than ever in history; we haven't gotten into any new wars since about the turn of the century; we've been paring back our international military excursions markedly in the last 10 years; and we aren't in a recession requiring emergency federal stimulus (just the opposite, the economy's on fire). Somehow, in spite of the foregoing (i.e., the wind being decidedly at our back), we're still running a $440 billion deficit, which is almost entirely the result of our staggering $4 trillion federal budget. It bears mentioning that the federal budget in the early 2000's was $1.7 trillion, well less than half what it is today. What exactly the extra $2.3 trillion or so per year in government spending is actually doing for us, I haven't a clue...Given that most seem to agree cuts need to be made, and no one can agree where the cuts should be made, I'm thinking maybe an across the board budget cut of $125 billion or roughly 3% of the existing budget would be what the doctor ordered rather than a disaster. For the record, I'm not suggesting it's acceptable for the US government to default on previously assumed obligations, but I think the notion that a 3% cut to a bloated budget is "draconian" is a bit alarmist. It sounds better to me than the likely "compromise" - that Repubs get to spend too much on military, Dems get to spend too much on everything else, and the American taxpayer gets to pay for it all.
5
@Bob: $725 billion per year is Trump's investment in military infrastructure. Bullies need lots of defenses.
10
No, not an across the board cut. We need to cut the military spending by 2/3 over time and move that money to infrastructure, health and education. The US will still be safe, the world will be safe and our military will still be formidable. Time to stop the grotesque, bloated and corrupt bleeding of the American taxpayer to fund fatcat defense contractors and pointless military interventions. Period.
12
Remember when Mulvaney led the Freedom Caucus to oust Rep. Boehner since he was too liberal in forging a bipartisan budget?
He is more self-centered than Trump.
13
I don't see anything positive from the process to increase more government debt to grease the palms of the GOP and Dem donors, except the efforts to hold spending in the blue states, at least that is something. But when real people are hurt more by increased government debt it is fine with the GOP as long as it is the liberal people, after all the liberals can afford it. How are the farmers doing? I have not seen a planted field around here and it is 3 Jun.
3
The usual bi-cameral dithering. Somehow Congress must start treating each other with respect and void the tribal aspects of their current methodology for running Congress. A tall order with Mitch in place.
6
Not many Elite Liberals chided President Obama for doubling our debt to $19T.
1
Not many so-called conservatives chiding Ronald Reagan for tripling the national debt or George W. Bush for doubling the national debt. Little of it for infrastructure, education, or other long term investments.
Barack Obama was handed a near depression level economy, which meant tax revenues fell off a cliff. Federal spending to stimulate the economy and fund automatic stabilizers like unemployment insurance are necessary responses to recessions.
Increasing the national debt to fund tax giveaways to the wealthy and corporations in a healthy economy like Trump, McConnell, and other Republicans have done is sheer insanity. Any reputable economist will tell you that debt acceleration should slow or reverse during an economic expansion.
And you’re clearly uneducated about the economics of the national debt. Debts and deficits are best evaluated relative to GDP, tax revenues, and other measures of the entire economy. The absolute value isn’t meaningful when cited in isolation.
13
Funny how most conservatives seem to suffer from near total amnesia. Must come from watching too much Fox News.
10
@Dr. John First, the House establishes the budget, not the President, so blame Congress. Second, The fiscal stimulus required to keep us out of a Depression was the cause. Unlike his predecessor, who fought unfunded wars and passed huge tax relief for the wealthy. Never forget Cheney's 'Debts don't matter' quote.
4
Wait! Wait! Just how much did corporations save with ehe Trump tax cuts???
4
Less military spending is a good thing. Why do we need 2,424 F35 aircraft which cost $210 million apiece? To fight with Al Queda?
12
While strict caps will be placed on Medicare, Social Security, and prenatal care of actual infants, the GOP will be adding to their budget the demolition of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC to make way for a statue of Donald J. Trump in its place, except that it will be bigger and covered in gold leaf and awarding him, as well as themselves, another "big beautiful" tax cut.
Because when you have a bankrupt birther in the White House who is running up the deficit by over 1 trillion each year, deficits don't matter -- that is, unless you're talking about healthcare and other popular programs that help real people.
8
@Jbugko
One could hope.
Has everyone on Capitol Hill so ignorant of the Constitution that all this talk about the federal government defaulting on its debts is nothing more than hot air?
The federal government is, in fact, CONSTITUTIONALLY PROHIBITED from defaulting on its debts. Section 4 of the Fourteenth Amendment makes that crystal clear:
"The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law. . . SHALL NOT BE QUESTIONED. . ."
Failure by Congress to meet the federal government's debt obligations (i.e., raising the debt ceiling) would surely constitute a questioning of the validity of the federal government's debt and thus violate Section 4 of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Whether Congress likes it or not, it MUST not allow the federal government to default on its debts. It will have violated the Constitution if it does.
2
@SkeeterVT And, that would be unusual for this Congress, who does not hold the President to the emoluments clause and a President who does not permit oversight? Laws mean nothing to those who are so hungry for power.
2
i figured it out. We can't trust what our elected representatives tell us.
So who are they working for?
2
@Occupy Government
Israel and Russia
5
@Simon
We need a regime change.
1
I hear that Mitch McConnell is planning to 1) give himself a big raise, and 2) announce another huge tax cut for the .01% to solve this problem.
5
I suggest that the congress pay a visit to the Donald. Ask him for money from that magic pot he has to keep building his wall, pay for his near weekly golf outings, send his family to the UK, give farmers $16 billion. If he refuses have him declare the US bankruptcy as he has a lot of personal experience with that. Perhaps he can go see his buddies at Deutsche Bank, give them misleading financials and get a bridge loan.
This morning trump said we were going to collect $125 billion in tariffs from the Chinese that was not going to cost US businesses or consumers a penny. Where is that money going to?
7
@Steve
I agree with you totally. If trumpf is as rich as he says he is: Why doesn’t he use some of his millions to pay for his ever-expanding entourage of family members and assorted syncophants and pay for their expenses and not dump those costs on us.
And why does he charge all the Secret Service and other security forces to to pay full freight at the trumpf tower and his other golf courses around the world ehen he visits. Couldn’t he just absorb those costs instead of sticking it to us, the taxpayers?
I could go on and on, but the bottom line is that he’s too cheap to pick up these tabs.
8
The Republican Senate can create debt by punishing the American populace more and that is their intent.
We should grow hungry and starve while Republicans and Trump grow richer along with their Russian allies. No bananas or tomatoes for us because Trump’s wall is more important. Mexicans are not important to Republicans even though they are 1/3 of our population and do most of the gardening, housework and child care.. Is something wrong with this Republican agenda above? I think so. What do you think?
7
I think they've been emboldened by their last government shutdown. It ostensibly produced a higher rate of growth in the quarter it occurred. The swamp must be drained.
1
Let's get this straight: I honestly do not remember the last time that safety net domestic programs got a raise.
All I've seen is cut, cut, cut.
On the other hand I know the military got BIG increases in '17, TWO raises in '18 and another one this year - and a planned increase for next year.
So, let's stop pretending that there is any kind of fairness or balance here between the MIC and the folk.
Gosh, let's hope it all works out better than that "Tax Cut" did!
10
I have watched as this" American Armagedon" has unfolded over the tops of our heads in the past nearly three years and I have always thought, and now am sure of that, Trump is an ally and emissary of Valdamire Putin. Trump's main goal seems to be the dimantling of the government (lock, stock and barrel) and, more importantly, the philosophical basis from which America was born and has thrived since the late 1700's.
Of course this plays well into the hands of the likes of the Koch Brothers, though even they must have some reservations about Putin,one would hope. (A ray of hope were the 2018 elections where the Koch's reportedly spent 400 million.)
Some of the "Ultra Wealthy" with their Republican Party lap dogs have decided that a totalitarian government is more to their liking.
Lincoln was right about America only "being able to be taken asunder by it's on hands."
"Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live."
That we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
6
@RUSSELL THAMES
Lincoln implied, that excepting, of course, those with (falsified) bone spurs...
Reaching a deal in Congress is the easy part. The hard part is getting Trump to sign it, especially if it once again has no money for his wall.
6
" ... increases in military spending, which Republicans want ... " The never ending story, money for the military contractors whose campaign donations are to Republicans as blood is to vampires. "Individuals and political action committees associated with the defense sector contributed more than $27 million to political candidates and committees ... with far more going to Republicans than Democrats" (OpenSecrets.org) Yes, the US already spends as much on the military as the next dozen or so countries combined. But so what, more is always better, right?
5
In late October, Treasury will run out of room to borrow which could damage the stability of the US economy.
In late October, Brexit is set to occur with no plan as of yet for withdrawal, and the potential to have a British government led by politicians who increasingly favor a hard Brexit.
The trade war with China shows no sign of abating, and threats of tariffs with Mexico are being bandied about.
The Fed has continued to cut rates, so when (not if) the next downturn does occur, the typical economic levers to pull will not be in place.
October 2019 could be a historic month for the global economy, in the same way the eruption of Mount Vesuvius was historic for Pompeii.
18
@Mash: Quantitative easing is always available to the Fed. Debt the government owes itself costs no more than the electronic credits to banks to buy it.
There is absolutely no possibility that the government will default on its debt. There is more than enough revenue coming in to cover all of the interest payments on the debt Congress has authorized as well as any principle that comes due.
If there were an extended delay between approving higher debt levels, the federal government would still be able to issue new debt as old debt required payment to lenders, but the interest rate would likely be higher than the old debt.
If the impasse lasted a long time, payments that are discretionary would decline and things like Social Security and Medicare would be at risk to the extent that they exceeded payroll receipts.
Only a Democrat administration like under Obama would threaten to violate the Constitution by refusing to pay debt.
1
@ebmem
I would not be surprised if a Republic Administration did.
Trump has done this many times before he was in government.
6
@ebmem: "Only a Democrat administration like under Obama would threaten to violate the Constitution by refusing to pay debt."
Please, Oh, PLEASE share a citation when THAT happened.
8
@ebmem
This is not a Democratic administration we're talking about here. This present government is run by the right wing who is not interested at all in funding what would be beneficial for its ordinary citizens who have just recently paid higher taxes than last year because of the so-called tax cut that went the the richest of our country and the it's corporations. Added to this is billions of dollars being collected in tariffs that again is being paid for by the average American wage earner. What that means is that the average person is experiencing a tax increase, while the highest earners can afford to spend whatever it costs to buy fruits and vegetables from Mexico taxed at 25%.
Where's all this money going? We're paying for our president to fly to his favorite private golf course on Air Force 1, while all kinds of needs could be met. Let him play municipal golf like the rest of us and do the job of governing in a positive healthy way
3
The current tax plan is disastrous at best. The most conservative economists will confirm this sentiment. Cutting taxes and increasing spending with over 20 trillion in debt, is unheard of. It's only a matter of time that the economy feels the results. It's time to start listening to experts and not special interests.
66
@Scott
Since the economy is doing well, why is it necessary to increase domestic spending? Shouldn't domestic spending decline when there are fewer people in need?
We collect sufficient funds to finance the government. Our problem is we spend too much and much of the spending is wasted.
I'm left to wonder why no one in Congress found this looming calamity to be worthy of cancelling or shortening their much-lengthened Memorial Day break. Most of us must be content to have a three-day weekend. Not so with our elected representatives. Two weeks sounds much nicer.
Now they are back and will soon be screaming that the sky is falling and pointing fingers. But, before they start the blame game, perhaps they should look in the mirror. If, in a corporate environment, they had shown this little sense of urgency or ownership to a major financial issue, they would have been thrown out on the sidewalk.
59
@Tom Q
They need the time to go ask donors for cash. Your needs can wait.
22
@Tom Q
You can't possibly expect legislators to grease sufficient palms, pander to enough special interests, and raise enough campaign funds in only a three-day weekend!! What's next, asking them to actually do their jobs and pass laws?!? The horror!
8
@Tom Q
You really, really don't expect those elected to Congress to do actual "work" do you?
Dear God....how naive...
5
To be quite honest the USA shouldn't be blaming China for all it's problems of its own making because of bad management from various governments. There needs to be laws that scrutinises politicians and their spending and what motivated corporate welfare spending. It's the ordinary person on the street that suffers because of lack of patriotism and concern for the citizens of the USA because of lobbyists and palm greasing.
This government debt has been years in the making and it now seems that the USA is looking to blame China for all its problems.
I just read a couple of articles in the radio nz news that shows the damage your government is causing to NZ and Australia. Thank goodness the Australian government is awake to USA tactics to try and destroy our great relationship with China based on mutual respect and peaceful relations.
I'm starting to think the USA is our frenemy and is desperate to get export orders and that just means if USA forces China to buy your agriculture products, then that means China will export less from NZ and Australia. USA is anti competitive and your agriculture and farm products aren't up to world standards so you're blaming China.
The Chinese people want healthy food - not chlorinated chickens. You won't win this trade war as your dumb president hasn't signed any environmental accords or agreements to clean up the planet for future generations. There's a legal process to follow to get trade these days and bullying isn't one of them.
10
@CK
What makes you think that our problems with China were caused by governments outside of China? Nearly every problem that we have had was created between private companies wanting to do business in China and the Chinese government. Every complaint we have comes from private businesses who do not want themselves to be identified because they earn so much doing business according to Chinese rules.
1
To cut any accessibility to healthcare would be foolhardy, especially with all the anti-vaxers running around.
The GOP always thinks that their ideology and policy will never affect them, or their loved ones it seems.
Are they really that comfortable?
Are they really so hermetic?
Are they really that unconscionable?
To do something so pathetic?
Silly of me to ask.
8
@prokedsorchucks
Who is cutting access to healthcare? It's Democrat policy that reduces access to care.
@ebmem Show me the proof in your statement please.
1
@ebmem Huh?? Oh, you are confusing access with actual delivery of healthcare. Yes, the GOP does not restrict access if you have the money. Silly me.
how about we stop voting them in.. how about we have term limits.. how about we do away with the 2 party system and have people run with specific plans.
better yet how about we send them all packing and vote new
8
This whole thing, our government, our debt, what does Trump care? His base only believes what he says on Twitter and what Fox "News" reports on. At the end of his presidency he will move on, indifferent to the damage inflicted on OUR country with his divisive rhetoric and we'll all be the worse for it. He'll fall back on his businesses and move forward with his own interests which seem to be protected from any real oversight.
What a shame.
7
@Jaime No, most likely he will be in jail. One can hope.
Repeal the taxs cuts - they've already proven themselves to be a disaster and the military has proven itself to be flush with money when it was ready to give money for the the wall. We need to stop funding war after war. It is literally a slow death of America. It has prevented us from building our infrastructure. We could have had high speed rails, the best highway system and a superb public education system. Social security could have been secured many times over and healthcare would have been on its way to being solved. Instead we are still paying for 10 years worth of war built on lies and an administration looking for war all over the globe. They're also looking for multiple ways to tax Americans to death via tariffs instead of repealing the tax cuts - ENOUGH!
12
@Kathryn Meyer
Those of us in flyover country are not falling for your theory that we should be building walls to protect waterfront properties on the east coast that are flooding because they are sinking.
We have nice roads and bridges which we pay for with state taxes.
@ebmem according to the US Census Bureau: Tax Foundation Tennessee ranked #7 in taking Federal Money - accounting for 38.6% of the state's revenue. So, technically states like New York helped to pay for your nice roads and bridges. You're welcome.
6
@ebmem TN has as many infrastructure problems as many other states. There was no mention of walls to protect waterfront property. TENN. DOES NOT have a state income tax. Kathryn is spot on.
4
We are indeed in a state of crisis. The republican party is hazardous to your health and our democracy. Ignore at your peril.
20
Those decision making deadlines and cliffs were carefully crafted to add to the drama of an election year...
1
@GY Don't you think it better to change the verb from "were being crafted" to an active one "are constantly being crafted"?
2
I think you're all forgetting something here about raising the debt ceiling continuously; it means the interest rate charged on that debt goes up because no one wants to buy the government bonds because you're seen as a high risk country. Oh! That's right! We all forgot about most of the government debt being bought by big business who then have power over government and dictate to them government policies that result in more government debt. Ironic don't you think that big business who got all the government corporate welfare now owns the debt because they have less debt than the government. Go figure!
4
When the Executive branch utterly fails to try to serve the entire country and only serves the minority that voted for it - it makes simple governance almost impossible.
7
@T
The pendulum swings. The blue states are still getting far more largesse, left over from the Obama administration, than red states. They are going to have to get used to paying their own bills for a while.
@ebmem
The large rich states and the people in them pay lots of high state and local taxes to pay for what they use. In fact, the income made and federal taxes paid the higher earnings of those residents on that income subsidizes so-called "fly over states". We're all in this together. Please take look at where federal money is being spent in your state, and you may realize we all need each other to do what we need together.
4
@ebmem I would appreciate data to backup your outrageous claims. The new tax fraud scheme has further moved money from blue states to red states.
1
It is a now a race to see which will cause the economy to crash.
1. The trillion dollar tax cut for the 1% and corporations.
2. Tariffs which will cause prices to rise, and consumers to slow down on purchasing.
3. The GOP's so called "Freedom Caucus" insist on the debt limit, and will cause another government shut down.
This doe snot count what Trump may do when Congress decides to take a summer recess. This aloes doe snot include "Tariff Man" imposing tariffs on additional countries.
If the stock market is any indicator, the ground work for a recession has already be put into motion. Threatening to cut government spending, and creating another government fiscal crisis will certainly sing in a recession by Christmas.
I really do miss the Obama Administration, both Bush Administrations, he Clinton Administration, Reagan Administration, Carter Administrations, and yes, even the Nixon And Johnson Administrations. No matter how bad things got, there was always hope. Now, each day that goes by, Trump, his party, his caucus, his administration throws gasoline on a aging fire. They offer nothing positive; just more misery.
Finally, ho dare Congress take a two month vacation with an out of control president in the White House, and mounting problems he is causing?
8
Trump interviewed by Bob Woodward, April 2016, excerpt (WAPO):
Donald Trump: “We’ve got to get rid of the $19 trillion in debt.”
Bob Woodward: “How long would that take?”
Trump: “I think I could do it fairly quickly, because of the fact the numbers…”
Woodward: “What’s fairly quickly?”
Trump: “Well, I would say over a period of eight years. And I’ll tell you why.”
2
Prediction: McConnell will wait until the last minute, then claim that the only solution is to cut Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid. He's licking his chops to use this crisis to accomplish his goal of dismantling the public safety net.
15
@Ken L
The Koch billionaire bros are really happy with this outcome.
3
What if the Don says “Drop the investigations or the debt ceiling gets whacked!”
What a choice!
1
@John Graybeard It is a poor atom blaster that doesn't point both ways (Asimov). The House should use the same tactic on Trump, include impeachment.
1
Congress is going to have to face the fact that Trump's tax cut was a big funding cut which cannot be remedied with cutting all government services right down to counting the money collected by the tariffs and mothballing half of the Navy ships in service, or borrowing until the private sector howls over interest rates.
3
The only interest anyone should have in McConnell is see to it that criminal and his corrupt wife are arrested and locked up.
14
Easy fix: 1) repeal the tax cuts 2) reduce military spending by 15% 3) stop feeding the red welfare states money from the Big Government Washington. I'm absolutely sure those folks living in those red states believe the government should not give them anything, don't they??
29
@Cyclist No, they don't. I will assume you were being sarcastic.
3
The NYS put together a report asserting that the reason NYS cannot afford to pay for infrastructure is because the state is paying more than it gets back from the federal government. That is a false statement, which you would know if you had read the report rather than just hearing the talking points.
You pay a lot of city state and federal taxes. The funds paid to the city and state are squandered. NY state receives more per capita by 30% than the national average. Medicare and Medicaid providers are paid 50% more than the national average. NYS receives $1.20 for every dollar paid by drivers in fuels excise taxes. In comparison, Tennessee gets $0.80.
NY is not a donor state. It relies upon charity from the rest of the country.
You have been snookered.
@Cyclist
Right. When you wake up, we can talk about what really can be done, not what a truly rational Congress would do.
Please stop using the term "debt default" in an entirely inaccurate and dishonest manner.
The single, universally-agreed upon definition of "debt default" is "failure to make a regularly-scheduled principal and interest payment on a debt obligation". It has absolutely nothing to do with the debt ceiling. In fact, it should be obvious even to folks who have not taken a freshman economics course that one does not "avoid debt default" by increasing the amount of debt one takes on (via an increase in the debt ceiling).
Since the US takes in far more income (taxes) in a month than it pays out in P&I on its debt instruments (bonds, bills, etc.), it is in no danger at all of a "debt default".
3
@Charles Payment on one set of debt obligations may entail incurring new debt obligations. Expiring short term Treasuries need to be replaced. In past cycles those debt ceiling limits did create situations where these steps could have been delayed.
@GY
The executive branch is obligated by the Constitution to pay all interest due on debt Congress has authorized as well as to return principle on maturing debt.
As long as revenue collected is sufficient to pay the interest, the principle amounts can be rolled to new debt.
Obama, who never liked to let a crisis go to waste, he liked the drama of the Republicans being responsible for his decision to ignore the constitution, but he was lying. The only reason for delay would have been gross incompetence.
@GY
NYT and others are defining "debt default" as "maintaining the current debt ceiling". That is 100% inaccurate.
Treasury rollovers are an entirely different kettle of fish.
1
Reality Check to be or not to be ,debt. Amazing how mnay trillions in last 25 years was spent by our government on computors for government use made in china. Mean while those jobs pay living wage continue to be exported at rate 200000 jobs month retirng baby bombers. Question is where does government think tax money going to come from when it buys imports?
@jerry lee it comes from the printing of much money...
The wealthy elites in big SALT cities - whose taxes increased last year because of limits on deductions - can afford to pay even more.
3
@Dr. John Huh? We can all pay more. Whether it is fair or not is key.
I think politicians know this very well. If one person owes the money, it is a serious debt problem. If the whole country owes the money, it is nobody's debt. Let debt keep rolling, and we enjoy the spending.
1
The printing presses at the treasury work fine.
We have plenty of currency paper and ink.
We have more aircraft carriers than all the world together.
We can print our way out of this mess, as long as we have the military might to defend the dollar.
Nothing to worry about.
“Start the presses”
9
@New World
Did you translate from the German, circa 1922?
Because what you are proposing is monetization of debt, which will destroy the dollar beyond the military's ability to defend it.
5
@New World
It's funny that people think "printing money" is some obviously ridiculous idea that will lead to hyper-inflation.
As if every US Dollar that ever existed wasn't created by the Federal Government from nothing.
@Koala
1. Please find a chart comparing M1 money supply with inflation since the inception of the Federal Reserve System.
2. The idea of fiat (unbacked) money can theoretically work if the creation of money does not exceed economic growth. However for several years the federal debt alone has increased faster than the growth in the economy. This is unsustainable for obvious reasons.
3. The Constitution was written to allow for asset-backed money (i.e. gold, silver and copper coin, and paper certificates backed by gold & silver held in the Treasury). Fiat (unbacked) money was introduced as "Greenbacks" during the Civil War; the Federal Reserve System and FDR's prohibition of the private ownership of gold accelerated the transition to fiat; the "Nixon Shock" that ended the ability to convert dollars to gold ended it.
3.
1
Easy solution:
Reverse the tax cuts for the wealthy.
They were paid for by increasing the debt.
Is there anyone who still thinks that capitalism is a good and fair system (except for the rich)?
28
@Caryl Towner yeah-im a 45k guy a year and it has worked great for this 6 year active duty seabee veteran. aint nothing fair. you want to level the playing field? quit trying, mother nature does not work that way.
1
@Caryl Towner
Even better idea. Raise taxes on the rich by eliminating the ability to deduct all SALT taxes. Drop the threshold for deducting mortgage interest from $750,000 loan balance down to $250,000.
Better yet, eliminate the ability for Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett to avoid income taxes by donating property with unrealized appreciation and avoiding capital gains taxes on billions that have never been taxed. The Trump family has paid more federal income taxes, in absolute amounts as well as a percentage of their wealth, than Buffett and Gates combined. Get them to pay their fair share.
Republicans are now setting up cuts to Medicare and Social Security since they gave away taxpayer money to the farmers and corporations.
26
@Jacquie Yep, that's been the plan all along.
3
@Morgan
The Democrats have given billions to big medicine and Buffet and Gates. Pure crony socialism, nothing to do with capitalism.
@Jacquie
And I hope it is to current recipients as well. Especially those fools who voted for Trump.
2
Disturbingly ludicrous that the same GOP who sanctimoniously played chicken suicide on the debt with Obama will now roll over and play dead.
Of COURSE McConnell will now have to go along, because to not do so is political suicide for his party.
Where is the hang-wringing from Ryan? Where is the explosive inflation? Where is the devaluation of the US$? Why isn't gold at $5000?
Bring out the fin foil hats. Don't bother, they're here.
18
Donald Trumps mission, as given him by Vladimir Putin years ago is to ruin this country morally, racially. politically, ecologically, industrially, militarily, free trade wise, and most importantly financially.
I would say he is the 5th column, and the gun lobby, religious conservatives, fascists, nationalists, racists, and naive have been co-opted to support this crisis for our nation. ,
26
@Thaddman
No, not "ruin" it, but disrupt it just enough so the gears no longer run smoothly.
Have we reached the limits of 18th century government yet?
9
DId we not have this before under GOP congress ! and Obama had a Govt shutdown. Remember GOP won more seats after that and the WH too!
We do have small sized memory too !
Let this happen and let Trump get all the credit for cutting costs and give bonus from IRA being a millionaire.
USA wants it so they elected Trump and his cheerleaders in Congress and Senate!
Dems should in fact provide the 6 billion for GOP and Trump so we the 99% can pay more taxes and billionaires get Tax rebates!
We cannot forget Trump was elected in the first place to do this and we cannot go against Peoples' choice !
1
The Trump Congress gave huge tax breaks to the wealthy (gave away our money) and Trump continues to fill his pockets at the taxpayers' expense, charging us exorbitant fees for him, his children, his staff, and his friends to stay at his properties and play golf.
Now, they will tell us, the American taxpayers, that we must tighten our belts; and they will tell the poor, the sick, the disabled, the young and the old that there will not be enough money (that we, the taxpayers have set aside for them) to provide for the necessities of life.
Do the greedy Republicans have no shame whatsoever?
27
@Barbara
You are asking a purely rhetorical question now. But on some level I actually think they'd prefer us dead. I really do.
2
Please. I can already hear the can being
kicked further down the road, accompanied by the streams of staged arias sung to the cameras by those who
no longer wish to nor can govern.
It also goes without saying that tweaking that giant straitjacket, aka the obscenely gigantic tax ripoff/ scam of 2017, is off the table for resolving the fall deadline budget conundrum. Not a single trumpican enabler will support that.
125 billion less than 7% of the revenue lost by that legislature that has completely lost its sanity
and common sense.
9
Does any of this matter as long as Trump is President? Let the debt ceiling sit where it is and he will demonstrate his uncanny ability to take going concerns and take these to bankruptcy seemly overnight. As for the spending cuts these are necessary if we are ever to have a balanced budget.
1
Let's repeal the tax cut for the rich and the corporations. This balances the budget.
18
@Howard
No it doesn't. The budget was already hundreds of billions of dollars out of balance before the tax cuts.
1
@Charles but lets be real, the tax cuts exacerbated the out of balance budget by billions. billions that went to corporations and the wealthy.
4
@Charles
100% correct. We need to massively increase taxes on the wealthy. Three people.....yes, a grand total of three....possess more wealth than 50% of the US population. Obscene.
2
Oh, oh. Did I see the Trump border wall as part of this discussion? Well, if Trump finds out about that - meaning, if he sees it on television - that could very well mean he will hold the US government hostage again, in the hopeless cause of getting us to pay for the wall that Mexico was supposed to pay for. And on a related note: How come the only infrastructure Trump is interested in is a wall?
6
We should never underestimate the willingness of Trump to do the outrageous. I wouldn't put it past Trump to order the Treasury to refuse to pay the interest on the U.S. debt owned by China--about $34 billion a year. Members of both parties need to stand firmly against such a stunt.
10
@Bob
Finally, someone who actually knows the correct definition of "debt default" (i.e. a failure/refusal to pay interest on debt). I see you're in NYC. Please knock on the door at the Times offices and ask to speak to the corner office folk who let these entirely inaccurate definitions get repeated in their paper.
4
@Bob
If Trump were to do that, it would represent his first impeachable act. If he suggests it, his advisors will tell him not to default on federal debt. So, it won't happen.
@ebmem
The debt ceiling has nothing to do with "defaulting on federal debt". NOTHING.
1
The GOP are bound and determined to bring this country down. Look at these lone wolf Republicans defaulting by their negative vote to stop disaster aid. So whether it is the rule of law, preservation of our environment, gutting the Consumer agency,
stocking regulatory entities, refusing to obey federal court order America is imperiled by the nastiest group of men aka Reoublicans
9
A debt default would be a crowning achievement: symbolizing the wretched, intentionally "disruptive" mismanagement by this president and this Republican Senate, "led" by Mitch McConnell.
With U.S. stability in tatters across the globe, a nose-thumbing bankruptcy in Mr. Trump's style would again say to the world, "America is completing its surrender of leadership; now you can chase us as we skip town, abandoning our obligations and our promises."
3
Wow, someone remembered that there is a massive national debt and a gigantic budget deficit crisis. Turns out that we neither can afford huge tax cuts nor massive new spending programs (free college, debt forgiveness, free healthcare, etc.). No one since Bill Clinton's time has even attempted to balance the budget, something every family has to do with their own finances. Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid programs have to be reformed ASAP or they'll just go bankrupt. At this point I am not counting on my social security to be there when I retire...
I wonder how we can afford to spend as much as the next ten nations combined on our bloated military industrial complex and endless wars for oil—but we can’t seem to find the money to invest in the health and education of our citizens, the way every other first world nation can.
Medicare for All, as we should all know by now, would be less expensive than for-profit health care, the most expensive health care on earth. So shouldn’t we be supporting M4A?
Bernie has explained that free community college education and vocational training could be paid for with a minuscule tax on Wall Street transactions. Wouldn’t this bring greater dividends than throwing another trillion at the MIC?
7
@Robert
A country that just creates money out of thin air at will, which is basically what we do, is not remotely analagous to a family figuring out a budget. It just isn't.
1
@Zejee I agree, cancel 1 aircraft carrier and you get 13 billion, but we need more aircraft carriers to enforce our will over the planet.
3
The trickle down theory is actually true. The amount of help it has done for the average citizen has been nothing more than a drop in the bucket.
However, for the 1%, trickle down has brought a flood of new money.
Mitch and his pals are laughing all the way to the bank.
12
The narrative continues that the economy is booming and that Trump deserves the credit for that. Republicans spread fear and horror over deficits, but only when Democrats are in office. They're silent now about the one trillion dollars they added to the debt, but then so are the Democrats. They're for Woman's Rights, the Green New Deal, and impeaching Trump. The faults of the two parties are not equal by any imagination, but who will tell the American public the truth about their future?
7
If the spending cuts go into effect, those who want them reversed will make sure they are as painful and damaging as possible. The cuts will be implemented so that sick people die and soldiers actually fighting run out of bullets and air support and take unnecessary casualties.
We need to cut things that should be cut and get more funding for things that should get more funding. The problem is not so much that we disagree on which things are which, as that the cuts and increases are marketed, and which marketing is misleading is also marketed. If we could penalize misleading marketing, we would be more than halfway there. If misleading marketing continues, there is no solution; the best-marketed proposals will have little to do with reality.
1
I always read about how politicians need to act before their recess begins. Why can't they not have a recess? Why can't they put their country first? How important is their vacation?
1
This is exactly what Trump and the Republicans want to do: force draconian cuts on social programs without having to take the blame. They have absolutely no incentive to bargain in good faith over this. McConnell will say all the right things about how they're trying their best, meanwhile he'll be leading the effort to prevent a solution.
The Democrats need to get out on front of this and make it clear to the millions of Americans who depend on these programs just who is putting them at risk. There is substantial number of "red" voters who rely on SS, Medicare, Medicaid, and other safety net programs. Make them understand who's jeopardizing them.
12
@Kingfish52
That would require Democrats to get out of the Third Way bubble they refuse to budge from. Most would rather the party keep losing but have someone to blame at fundraisers for the next race in their safe districts.
1
@Kingfish52
Honestly, if his voters haven't figured it out by now then I'm not sure I care anymore.
2
The US Senate has not received the word of Modern Monetary Theorists.
1
@5barris You mean "Magical" Monetary Theory
3
@5barris
MMT is poppycock.
1
Trump doesn’t care. He shut down government despite being told it will get him nothing. He will do the same with the debt ceiling. This will end badly.
11
Trump himself is known as "the King of Debt". He inherited $6 billion from his father Fred, and whittled it down ot less than $2 billion today. Trump has a long history of taking banks, companies and partners to bankruptcy.
Trump's Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, is a wheeler dealer who made his money buying IndyMac and rebranding it as One West Bank. Steve has a sad history as raider and scofflaw, but is loyal to the Trump charade.
Mick Mulvaney is a pure Tea Party anarchist. He doesn't have a wit of economic acumen. His biggest claim to fame is his xenophobia and hatred for a common good.
These are all very evil people … and represent dangerous times for our American ideals and principles.
30
@Joe Miksis. According to my research he has declared banjruptcy 11 times
3
@Joe Miksis
Trump inherited less than $100 million from his father, not $6 billion, in 1999. It would be useful if you could point to a single bank Trump drove into bankruptcy.
In comparison, the Clintons and their partners in crime were able to destroy Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan, but that did involve fraud.
Who cares? If the children in Congress can't spend $5bil to protect our borders, then they should have to go to bed without this $125,000,000,000, too.
@SCPro
...what does that even mean!
1
@Nick
It means that Congress cannot be trusted to do anything for America. This includes all members from both sides of the aisle.
Now they can't even agree to spend our money anymore, and that may be the best news ever.
Wait, are you telling me all those Republicans lied when they said ‘the tax cuts will pay for themselves’? What a shocker!
Now we see what ‘Tariff Man’ is up to... he’s trying to recoup the lost revenue from the tax cuts for the uber-rich by tapping Walmart shoppers with punitive tariffs - i.e., ‘taxes’ on imported goods. [No, Virginia, there is no Santa Claus and no, China isn’t paying the tariffs, you are].
Aw heck, if that doesn’t work, there’s always default. That’s the Trump Organization business model, isn’t it? Trump can’t tell the difference between the U.S. Treasury and Deutsche Bank; between the Trump Taj Mahal and the economy of the United States of America. It’s all just wildly speculative investment with other peoples’ money. In this case, money from about 330 million U.S. citizens.
20
@chambolle
You are free to send the IRS more than you owe in taxes, if the tax cuts bother you. They'll accept it. Go for it.
@AZPurdue
Oh, for God's sake. People are still doing the "you can pay more taxes if you like them so much" thing? I know literal 10 year olds capable of understanding why that completely misses the point.
4
@Shirley0401
Democrats want the federal government to force other people to pay more taxes.
Republicans never understand the President H. W.Bush and Tax rise he did.
NEVER.
in turn , Bush label their economical thinking, voodoo economics.
3
@su
HW raised taxes in exchange for Democrats promising to cut spending. They reneged and it cost Bush re-election. Democrats put forward Perot to split the Republican vote and won the election.
HW popularized the voodoo economics term when he was running for the Republican nomination against Reagan. He wasn't smart enough to comprehend the Laffer curve, and reverted to his position when he became president. The recession at the end of his term created an opportunity for Bill Clinton.
in 1935 the supreme court ruled that having incurred debt the congress does not have the right to default.USA vs perry. read the majority opinion
12
At one point I thought cuts to SS and Medicare might actually rile trump supporters but now - who knows. It's one more opportunity to foam at the mouth and stick it to the rest of us. Of course the pump has been primed because many of its supporters bought the lie that SS was going down and healthcare is not a right.
As for the military - it is obscene what we spend. And has it made us greater? Hmmm.
And while we are at it - can anyone explain what was so bad for farmers pre-trump? They had plenty of handouts then and aside from a few pesky regulations about chemicals (yes people really do prefer drinking water with fecal materials and pesticides) was it all that bad? Didn't think so.
15
Why is there no outcry about how this disaster will impact
the future of American biomedical research? Most medical schools have now linked tenure to two R01 NIH research grants. Failure to meet this bar, results in denial of tenure and in the loss of a faculty job. Senior faculty who fail to meet NIH funding levels set by the institution face paycuts and the loss of their laboratories. The rate of success of getting a National
Cancer Institute grant is now 7%. It is an outrage that
Congress is so inept. American science is dying slowly every day.
7
@Irene Cantu If what you say is true than the people running the med schools are blackmailing people. The end result is inaccurate science and falsifying of data or putting a too rosy interpretation on the data. Science should not work this way.
1
@Irene Cantu
Yet, many doctors will vote for Trump again, despite his devastating impact on funding for research and medical education. Even smart people get duped.
3
@Irene Cantu
That means that AMERICANS ARE DYING EVERY DAY because of Pelosi's fear of a voter backlash to any move to impeach Trump and the GOP surrender to Trumpian tactics that McConnell finds very amenable to his way of leading the Senate. Both parties need some overdue housecleaning. Voters, pay attention. The America you love is slowly slipping away!
1
The Times needs to stop this nonsense of pretending there is equal blame here when there isn't, and explain that this is entirely the blame of Trump and the Republicans who had no problem exploding the debt with massive cuts for billionaires and multi-national corporations yet now don't want to pay for any of the bills the government has accrued as a result of Republican corruption and profligacy, which is what raising the debt ceiling is all about, paying for what you've already bought, not what you intend to buy in the future.
25
@Robert B
Remind us again. How much did the national debt grow under the Obama administration?
@AZPurdue
Federal funds were expended, on a bipartisan basis, to, literally, save the U.S. (and World) economy during the last financial crisis. Aside from that, entitlements increased at a predictable rate owing to people (perhaps such as yourself?) who receives far more in Social Security and Medicare than was ever paid in.
But, Obama did NOT overturn the enforced budget cuts mandated by Congressional agreements. Trump did. Trump also cut taxes to a considerable degree which, so far, has not resulted in the budget surpluses that supply-siders have predicted.
Fool us once (the Reagan years), shame on us. Fool us twice, shame on those in power, and on the people that vote for them.
6
@AZPurdue - A small fraction of what has been and is yet to be grown during Dear Leader trump's witless reign.
3
the debt ceiling makes no fiscal sense for the US which is still the world's reserve currency.
unfortunately it continues to be used as a partisan strategy to force a political agenda through blackmail rather than solve the political agenda with negotiation and compromise.
6
The US government is about as prepared to pay off its honorable debt as the majority of Americans are prepared for retirement. They are both a train wreck moving in slow motion to its inevitable demise.
6
@Hans Delbruk Not really. Sovereign debt is entirely different from private debt. Nobody is going to all of a sudden demand that the US pay off all its debt. Nor are there really any deadlines. We don’t know the true impact of debt. At some point there is a belief that it will induce rampant inflation. Maybe. We just don’t know. Wringing our hands over the debt is not constructive. Looking at humane policies and being responsible in spending is sensible.
4
I understand the impact of defaulting on the government debt and resulting automatic funding cuts. What I don't understand is how the Congress can take multiple recesses without completing their Constitutional responsibilities. To date the disaster relief funding from Hurricane Michael (2018) has not been passed. We do not have completed budget and appropriations bills for the coming fiscal year. Without the authority to increase the debt automatic spending cuts will go into effect. I also understand the Senator Mitch McConnell will do little if anything to improve Congressional relationships. What I don't understand is why Speaker Pelosi has not played her trump (sic) card and called the House into session until all required legislation has cleared the House and gone to the Senate. Who controls the calendar, who controls what bills come up for consideration? That would be the Democratic leadership in the House and Republican leadership in the Senate. We have toxic dysfunctional leadership in the White House, the Senate and the House. Counting the days until the next Federal Government shutdown don't bother just understand it may well happen.
4
Because of Trump and Mulvaney, we should fully expect a government shut down as they try to use the budget and raising the debt ceiling as leverage for another attempt at a border wall or some other draconian measure we don't know about yet. And as a result if the US cannot meet its debt obligations on bonds due, we can add that government responsibility to all the rest (disaster relief, emergency declarations, migrant round-ups..) that Trump has trampled on. In time, there won't be anything good left in our country that Americans can be proud of.
6
The current administration and Senate leadership are not my father's Republican Party that preached responsible fiscal management. The only solution is to reduce military spending and reverse the Trump tax cuts. Otherwise the country will find itself with deep financial problems.
13
Is this intended to suggest that the tax cuts pushed by Trump and his enablers are not actually going to be self-paying? What about their promised spillover benefits and the increased revenues that would be created (through the magic of voodoo economics)? Oh, right.
7
@Michael The growth was going to pay for the tax cuts and Mexico was going to pay for the wall.
3
The House could have a Republican majority with a Republican Speaker, and they still would see a bare-bones spending bill/budget get killed on the Senate floor. Even if the bill got through to the Oval Office, Trump would let it die on his desk for one reason or another.
That's where we're at right now. The legislative and executive branches don't know how to govern, even if recent events tell us that the House is trying to do its job, at least; by the way, that's Republicans AND Democrats working together in the House. Sadly, I think that the lower chamber is the only functioning part of these two branches.
6
Congress needs to reverse the tax cut to the super rich.
4
The tax cuts brought about record growth. The military is for the first time fully mission capable. Yet minorities and women have been left out and their rights seen as no longer threatened. Racism and sexism are called identity politics and ignored or rather outright reversed direction. The violence against women act and civil rights legislation was designed to enfranchise those neglected by society and a robust economy is systematically discriminatory
@Jensen Parr
What planet you be on buddy? The military has reaped most of our riches since Reagan..record growth? Where? The stock market which the majority of Americans don't play?
4
@Jensen Parr
"The tax cuts brought about record growth. The military is for the first time fully mission capable."
Oh boy, save it for Fox News.
5
Mitch McConnell is whistling past the graveyard when he optimistically predicts that everyone wants to agree on the budget.Has he forgotten that seven Democratic Senators are running for president?They will not embrace a budget which does not include their priorities.This is going to be such a thorny problem that they should tackle it now.When they return from summer break the 2020 election will be just a year away with all attitudes hardened.If Trump shuts down the government again he may as well abandon his candidacy-the American electorate hates shutdowns.Brinkmanship on the budget infuriates voters.
5
There is no reason to raise the debt ceiling ever. If we did not spend such a massive amount of money lining the pockets of the war profiteers through the bloated pentagon budget, our spending could be under control.
This massive socialist handout to the .1% war profiteers that started under Reagan is taking the money away from Healthcare, education, and other programs to help the people of this country.
7
Trump proclaimed himself the "king of debt" and said there was no problem if the federal government declared bankruptcy, since he did so six times. Then again, when people cease to receive their social security benefits, physicians and hospitals fail to receive Medicare and Medicaid payments, pension and mutual funds which hold US Treasury backed securities collapse, and the government again shuts down, there may come a realization of the disaster that Trump is. But of course, he will claim, and some of his benighted followers will agree that this is just punishment for guess who? China, of course..
5
What happened to all the supposed stimulus the Republicans promised the tax cuts would create?
12
@Frederick
They knew it was a lie. It's pointless to argue against that point as they don't really care about it.
1
Perhaps they could cut a small sliver from the incredibly over bloated congressional military industrial complex to balance the budget After all these are the .1% that hoard most of the money from our budget through our socialist handouts to the uber wealthy.
4
No mention that the recovery from the recession was weakened by the Republican insistence on spending caps. In 2011, they effectively imposed austerity. But when Trump arrived in 2017, they ended it. They hiked government spending not when it was economically necessary, but when it was politically beneficial.
With Trump scuttling the economy with his disastrous trade policy, the House should let the spending caps return. The Republicans will have the fiscal conservatism they claim is ideal for growth. Unless Republicans are willing to raise revenue by rolling back tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, why should spending caps be lifted.
18
Democrats offer plans, pass bills, provide action.
It all dies under the corrupt Republican leadership in the senate.
So it goes.
29
Regardless of what happens, it is important to realize that there is no real debt or deficit crisis.
MMT is right about this, and it is long past the time journalists and others stop pretending it is some radical or crazy economic theory.
When you have people like Robert Hockett (Edward Cornell Professor of Law at Cornell University) saying MMT is obviously true, the game is over.
Here is a good interview with Hockett:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxmXRgRrV9k
MMT simply describes how money works in the US economy. It is not a radical economic theory. It is simply the truth about the relation between the government and money.
People don't understand this vital truth. And it is incredibly important that they understand it.
2
@Koala
Nonsense. You need $ coming in to pay the bills and not siphon a large amount of it out in tax cuts for the wealthy and to the military. You do past Democratic administrations who clean up Reagan/Bush/Bush and hopefully Trump's messes a disservice.
3
@Lisa
You make the fundamental mistake of thinking that the Federal Government is like a household and needs to run its finances like a household.
I don't blame you for this. This is basically the way everyone thinks. But everyone is wrong about this.
The difference is that the Federal Government is the currency issuer. You, me and everyone else are currency users.
We need to get money (either through income or borrowing) before we can spend it.
The Federal Government, on the other hand, needs to spend dollars before it can tax or "borrow" them.
Don't believe me? Take out a dollar bill and look at it. Where does it come from? It comes from the Federal Government.
How could the Fed Gov tax or "borrow" US dollars, if it had not created/spent those dollars into the economy first?
Now realize that the Fed Gov cannot "run out" of US Dollars. It creates them.
The Fed Gov doesn't tax in order to get the money to spend. That would be absurd. It issues the currency. Taxes create the demand which gives dollars their value.
Nor does the Fed Gov borrow in order to get the money to spend. It issues bonds in order to drain reserves created by its spending. It does this to maintain the interest rate.
It's all a big smoke and mirrors game to get you to believe that the Government just doesn't have enough money to provide social services. Of course, whenever there is a war, or whenever Wall Street takes a dump, then money is no object. Then every Congressman is an MMTer.
1
But this Debt and Budget issue become exactly the same as our mass shootings or gun legislation.
Why?
Congress cannot be this inept?
Every year hearing this true Tu.d is enough.
Congress must work and do their job.
we fed up hearing this debt ceiling and budget issues.
1
I lost my faith in conservatism. Anyone who truly believes that it still exists inside that party (GOP), is in denial. They still hold on to political concepts at 'face value', but Up is down and Down is up. Anything goes. Tariffs are conservative and controlled spending and taxing is liberal. The Russians, who hacked our election systems, are our friends and China is our enemy. We hide our Navy ships, so as not to offend our republican president.
It has also occurred to me that our congress cannot regulate under a fascist government takeover. This is why voting just on the issues will not work anymore. You most vote small and local elections all of the way up to impact change. You cannot just vote in the presidential elections and then expect change. Vote your values and your conscience.
20
I find it curious that the Republicans are acting concerned at all. Isn't this exactly what they have wanted all along..to basically drown the Government in the bath tub so they could defund social services?
19
@John Lusk All in the game...next president has a tough task in his hand. Near zero interest rates despite healthcare , education costs skyrocketing. Are people still worried about fiscal ,budget and trade deficits ?
1
That’s exactly what Mulvaney said who is basically running the White House.
1
" Few bills have made it through both chambers" are you not aware that the House has passed many bills & Senate majority leader repeatedly denies to bring to the floor for a vote. It appears there is only one branch of Congress working for the People. Facts matter!
30
lot of hope going on there
i was told a long time ago that hope isn't a good strategy
4
The Republicans will approve an increase in the debt ceiling. Deficits only matter when Democrats are in the white house. (see 1981-1993, 2001-2009, 2017-present). Republicans are grifters.
21
This is all GOP.. they haven't been working since Obama elected..
Mitch M is the king of NO and non working for American people.
Let's put the blame where it belongs.
13
Eventually, nope.
The game is to default on the other party's watch so you can win the next election, and then try to default again on the other party's watch.
Such an awesome game. Good job, politicians.
5
Where was all this Republican fiscal restraint and concern about the debt when passing a massive tax relief using a process that would "only" increase the debt by 1.5 trillion dollars over 10-years; which included many gimmicks to meet that threshold?
16
Trickle down and the Laffer curve is a total fraud on the American people by republicans. To add insult, I hear that Trump will present Laffer with the President’s Medal of Freedom -
They are laughing at us every day while defiling every one of our institutions and norms.
20
Start by reducing all Congressional salaries to $60K per year. no frills, no guv'mint cadillac health care for life, no gifts, bribes, lobbyist dinner invitations, etc ,etc. No safety net for them whatsoever, including their unearned pensions-- & stop the enriching revolving door to million dollar jobs & other payoffs by the corporatocracy. These people live in the proverbial "gated communities" of privilege: they are not fit to represent 98% of the American people.
20
@nicole H
If the problem is that Congress is part of the corporatocracy, the problem is the corporatocracy and the existence of gated communities of privilege that run things for themselves and make the 98% live with their decisions. Use taxes to reduce all salaries to no more than our military officers make? The corporatocracy will arrange to live off dividends, interest, and capital gains, and nothing much will change.
Tax everybody's income and our economy will have to make so many changes so fast that it will fall apart. The ship of state is listing and taking on water, and we have to make repairs while staying afloat at sea. This process will be complex and easily sabotaged by too-simple ideas.
If congress didn't spend most of their time chasing mega-million dollar offerings from the mega million dollar rich then perhaps they would get bored and do the peoples business. It's time to take away control of congressional member income and tax the snot out of it.
11
It looks like the chickens are about to come home to roost
3
It's a broken record, deja vu. Obviously there should be automatic increases in the debt ceiling to pay the government's current bills, starting with interest and principal payments due on outstanding government debt.
The real consequences for electing Trump to the presidency will come when we have a real economic crisis. In 2008, we were lucky to have Hank Poulson, Ben Bernanke, and Congress people who were able to see the impending catastrophe and work together to avert it. We don't have that now. The Trump administration doesn't have the brainpower to recognize signs of impending doom much less the knowledge of how to avoid it. While the country collapses, Trump will tweet inanities, Republicans will refuse to work with Democrats, and Mitch McConnell won't care as long he can be King of the Senate. If we can make it to the next election without a real economic crisis, we'll be extremely fortunate. I wish I were optimistic.
24
McConnell and his wife sec of transportation along with the Trump/Kushner families are busy using their govt positions to line their pockets first before anything else. THe govt budget is a distraction from their personal interests. Why do folks think Kushner arranged a Saudi visit as the first presidential visit and not Canada or Mexico ? The sovereign wealth funds of Saudi and UAE and the wildly rich princes are great sources of loans and handouts using the presidency as leverage to cash in. McCONNELL gets millions from his wife's family company in China the powers that be are kleptocrats more interested in stuffing their bank accounts than govt financials .
18
The, now usual, brinksmanship will be on full display.
Trump will say that he wants to default in order to stick it to those who have not been loyal enough and, of course, the Democrats.
He gets thrills from torturing the country. Makes him feel powerful (he seems to ALWAYS need to be made to feel powerful). I wonder what that is all about.
The Republicans want to eliminate Medicare and Social Security, so they'll think this would be a step in the right direction.
Rand Paul will oppose the final version of the agreement, to get his attention-getting fix, then change his mind once he sees his name in the paper and hears his name spoken on TV.
They'll all cave at the last minute and agree to whatever it was they were talking about six months ago.
7
Welcome to the world of debt financing lead by the master himself.....Donald Trump. All of us must prudently manage our personal finances to avoid this type of predicament. Those we send to Washington have been writing checks that will be owed by the next generation for decades. Having three grandchildren who will pay for our mismanagement is very worrisome to me. Apparently, the Republican Party has abandoned it's fiscal restraint policy in favor of their leader's bankruptcy approach. The government that runs the world's largest economy is almost insolvent. Amazing.
6
I read elsewhere that the government has failed to take in $90B (please, correct me if I'm wrong) due to the trumpian tax cuts. Any budget shortfall lands squarely on him and the complicit GOP who enables him. Programs don't need to be cut, taxes need to be raised on corporations, the 1% and all shelters and loophole eliminated. This is all part of the grand scheme perversely endorsed by many on the radical right to undo FDR's legacy and hobble the federal government. Yet another reason why trump must be voted out in 2020 by a crushing landslide.
14
This is because of the big tax cuts Trump and Congress handed to the unconscionably wealthy.
14
What exactly is the purpose of a debt ceiling limit if it is forever being raised?
7
If that money was head into billionaire's pockets absolutely. If it's earmarked for "entitlements" then it will be, "Well there are limits and Americans just need to pick themselves up by there bootstraps and..." Either way, debt will be passed on to the middle class through stagflation.
5
We need to eliminate the need to explicitly lift the debt ceiling. It has not worked as intended, which was to make us more careful with deficits. Instead, it just turns into a potential disaster every time it needs to be lifted.
3
I wonder if the GOP didn't gin up this crisis for the purpose of justifying massive entitlement cuts. They've always wanted to cut them, and this default crisis gives them the opportunity to claim they have no choice.
7
The Democrats are taking the right approach. Pass a perfectly innocuous and typical spending bill with the usual goodies for the military and increases in domestic spending and let the House tea party faction move to block it and let the Republicans in the Senate do what they do best, obstruct, and let the President continue to not lead not be helpful.
3
Complexity and politics are the impediment to progress and effective governance. Simply put, the population grows and so must the government just to provide adequate services. The idea of smaller government is illogical and troublesome, a desire of troublemakers. There's an old saying in business; "You have to spend money to make money". Would you hire the Republicans to run your business?
3
One has to recalibrate the term "disastrous" in the age fo Trump,
or we'll be using it to describe everything, every single day.
12
Here comes the calls from Republicans to cut social security, medicare, medicaid, children's benefits, the ACA and a host of other programs that help ordinary people live better lives. All for more military spending that isn't needed and a tax cut that's only helping corporations and the rich, which, of course, includes the members of Congress who voted for it. If our "representatives" actually cared about us, they would slash the military budget in half and repeal the tax break and then we'd see how fast our deficit would fall.
61
@C they already got (I believe) the largest increase in defense spending in history...and definitely more than the pentagon wanted...and they want more?
5
Revenue collection down to 17% GDP versus average of 19%.
Corporations paying 11% of federal taxes rather then the 33% they paid in 1980.
Tariffs adding about 4-6 Billion loss to GDP each month.
Gas prices due to Iran sanctions increased 40%.
Welfare for farmers due to tariffs 20 Billion and counting.
Congress meets about 2 days a week 6 months of the year.
342
@RichardHead
You’ve succinctly identified the problem.
Balancing the budget requires income, and Republicans, in their eagerness to appease their masters, left only the stupid little people to pay the taxes while handing money to grifters in buckets.
So, of course, Republicans will now be eagerly looking to raid Social Security and Medicare, and any other benefit taxpayers might get from the taxes they pay.
Just one more thing as our country continues to fall apart daily.
210
@Chickpea, their plan all along. Create a situation where they must slash SS and Medicare. Now where they cast the blame and wether or not they can build support for screwing over the vast majority of citizens, that’s a whole different story. If they aren’t working for us, vote them out.
47
@RichardHead Republicans will blow up Social Security; Medicare and Medicaid while spending buckets of money on guns and bombs. Vote out GOP and impeach Donald Trump. Ray Sipe
59
This article does a poor job of communicating the fact that these problems are solely the result of [the lack of] legislation from the Republican party. This is not a "both sides are at fault" thing. Accurate journalism wouldn't be equivocating the two parties as this piece appears to do; it would rip into the hipocracy, brutality, and ignorance of Republican governance.
438
@disquieted, Agreed. If the Democrats just played hardball for once and demonstrate what an unfunded tax cut of $1.5 trillion leads to, it would be a good thing for this country to experience!!!! Fiscal responsibility matters! Deadbeat irresponsible politicians don't!
106
@Progers9 I think democrats miscalculate what their base wants....which is exactly what you are saying. we are not looking for more outreach to republicans...we are looking for consequences for their abuse of the economy and this country since reagan. i don't understand why this is so hard for them to understand and implemement. but it clearly is.
pelosie and schumer continue to misread the mood of the country, just as clinton did. but this time it is the liberal base, not the conservative one they are blind to.
54
@disquieted The media, NYT included, has so thoroughly contorted themselves in response to bad faith criticism from the right that they seem fundamentally incapable of reporting on politics without a hefty dose of 'both sides'-ism. One has to wonder if the writers and editors actually buy the false narrative they sell.
40
Raise the debt ceiling, but allow the budget cuts to go into effect. The military has had many recent increases and will be fine. If the democrats balk on the domestic side, offer dollar for dollar reductions in entitlements in exchange. If they don't take it, at least the deficit will decrease by $125 billion. America wins either way.
3
@DRS
Why would America wins? Do you know how this 125bn are spent? Education, healthcare, foodstamps, etc. What about those who benefit from them (despite working)? Will they win?
I do not think so.
1
@DRS
HEY! I deserve my 'entitlement.' I've worked very hard for my salary AND entitlement...educating our young, but I suppose children of the masses who aren't in fancy expensive private schools aren't worthy of good education. I've been getting less pay regularly bec my program is funded partly thru Medicaid. Your DRS' hearts must be made of plastic. Other DRS I've spoken to are appalled at you
1
I know, let's have have another tax cut for big business and the top 1%, it spurred an economic boom that pulled in so much tax revenue which..
Oh, it didn't, hmmm.
29
We have created a political system that rewards intransigence and brinksmanship, and celebrates those willing to be crazier than their rivals to force concessions. This appears in the White House (though Mr Trump is more of a narcissist and personalizes 'winning' in destructive ways), but even more in the rightwards half of Congress. Unfortunately, some Democrats have learned from the "Freedom" caucus's disruptive successes. Other Democrats, even though perfectly happy to reach compromises, see that every time they seek compromise, that willingness is abused by the hardliners on the other side. As game theory has abundantly shown, cooperation is usually the best strategy in multi-player non-zero-sum games, but if one player consistently rejects cooperation and plays as if the game were zero-sum, other players are pushed to respond with the same strategy (known as tit-for-tat). Unfortunately, this leads to much worse outcomes for everyone playing... but it's what we're seeing in the Brexit struggles (hardliners in various directions veto all cooperative outcomes), and what we will probably see with the budget and debt ceiling: despite a pro-cooperation majority, the noise hardliners will block a solution.
Brace for major recession or even global depression as a result.
14
After reading 40% of the Mueller Report, I'm convinced that Trump and the collaborating Republicans and doing Putin's bidding by turning the United States and its alliances into chaos.
The Republican mantra of "What's in it for me?" has replaced "E pluribus unum" and the Constitution.
64
@Carl Ian Schwartz
Ah, there’s your downfall, you read.
6
Listen...
we've fared so poorly over so many years due to the policies of Republicans. Even when we have Democratic administrations, the Republicans (since Gingrich) tend to set spending priorities.
Think big military, small social services.
While Reagan perfected the budget deficit blow-out (up defense spending to the sky, when cuts are necessary, reduce social services)...this is an approach as old as the 1930s
If I were Speaker, I'd work hard to let the default happen. Republicans don't understand consequences because they haven't had to. The adults in the room always save them at the expense of working people (white and blue collar alike). Those adults are, unsurprisingly, democrats.
Let the binge and spend Republicans dig themselves out of this one, by MASSIVE taxes and MASSIVE cuts to the military. Do a reverse from the norm. Say, "sure, we'll OK an override if you cut the military budget by X...specifically these programs not soldiers....and reinstate protections for Obamacare and Social Security".
Be a hero Democrats. Yes, I know it's hard! It may even result in some bad press.
And you know what?
We'd all be grateful instead of depressed over how you get played again and again and again.
Maybe, just maybe, you aren't that different from your opponents? Show me I am wrong.
17
This impotent, Trumpian-owned Senate and adrift Democratic-lead House together gives me zero confidence that anything will be accomplished in the best interest of our Country's fiscal responsibilities.
Combined, our Congress lacks the maturity, passion, and dedication to work together. It is populated with too many multi-millionaires with their own political axes to grind and agendas to pursue.
9
@Susanna...while i agree with much of what you said, the republicans have far out done the democrats over many many years in outlandish and irresponsible behavior. the maturity you ask for, would require, YET AGAIN, for democrats to swallow their ideals and agree to an agenda heavily tilted toward republican 'ideals'.
Those 'ideals' are anti-progressive in terms of healthcare, regulation of business, environmental controls, health and safety, fiscal predatory practices...and so much more.
Real leadership on the left would be an unwillingness to bargain with the devil completely.
1
Now is definitely a good time for that trillion dollar infrastructure spending package. It’s a good thing Chuck, Nancy and Donald can’t stand to be same room together to talk about it.
3
Time for an alternative economic platform to replace the reckless fiscal policies of the GOP. Like taking back the tax cuts to the rich. Cutting military spending , instead of spending more on an insane arms race. Getting out of fossil fuels - which are costing us more and more in repairing the ruin from storm after storm.
25
I would like to see the Democrats force a sequester. The economy under President Obama did very well under sequester and higher taxes.
Military spending needs to be shifted toward the social safety net. The Republicans will never support it unless the Democrats dig in.
A deal that keeps in place or raises military spending for increased social spending is unsustainable. The military needs to be drastically cut.
As much as I hate the deplorables who voted for Trump. I have no desire to see them or their children suffer. They are going to need the government to supply food, shelter and health care in the coming recession that the bond market is telegraphing.
9
Any savings from less military spending belongs in the pockets of taxpayers, not redistributed via feel-good, vote buying social programs.
@HL
As of Friday according to my calculations we had an interest rate inversion. A recession may not be far away.
@From Where I Sit-
It belongs where our representatives say it belongs. Democrats, who support a stronger social safety net wiped the floor with Republican voters in the last election.
Seems Republicans have an easier time of it,
when it comes to cutting taxes.
3
We want spending cuts directed at the bloated military which refuses to stop their perpetual and endless wars. Give that money to health care, education and a hundred other things to improve our lives instead of killing people and creating enemies around the globe. Stop spending endlessly on the military.
13
It’s time for a hard reset. We cannot rebuild to our once great selves until we hit rock bottom. It’s time to let it burn and rebuild.
7
@Simon
Be careful what you wish for.
1
@LES
I’m not in the habit of writing before I think. But thank you.
2
Raise taxes on rich corporations and billionaires.
Reverse the reckless Republican 0.1% Tax Welfare Act of 2017.
Cancel 0.1% Christmas this year.
Fund the government instead of oligarchs.
Reject Russian-Republican national bankruptcy.
Stop Republican Reverse Robin Hoodism.
Tell Republican Robber Barons to take a hike.
This is not a difficult problem to solve.
Republicans have drowned fiscal responsibility in a billionaire tax cut bathtub.
This is a Republican manmade disaster.
Raise taxes, Grand Old Phonies.
These Lord of the Flies' Republicans don't have a responsible American bone is their greedy little bodies.
Remember in 2020.
39
@Socrates
Also let the mega corporations foot the bill for the military...and see how fast they will cut that black-hole, pro-death spending! After all, the military is just the police force for the big business global monopolist agenda. And disallow Congressional portfolios to carry BigPharma, MIC, BigAg etc stocks in their "insider-traded" fat portfolios.
6
Seeing as I am sick and tired of giving this clown government money, good.
3
“My hope is that we can identify areas of common ground.”
- Sen. Susan Collins
Oh shut up.
121
@Blue in Green - you first. Then show some respect for a U.S. Senator who is absolutely right. The issues to be solved will require both parties to agree. That's just a fact.
3
@DRS Everybody would show a lot of respect when easy access to weapons is stopped. Thats some common ground. 20 people injured and 12 killed...not even a single resolution about it. Life just goes on as nothing happened. Say no to guns.
4
@Blue in Green
Great, GREAT comment!!
3
I don't hear much sentiment for addressing the deficit and national debt. It's all good and well to agree on spending, but how about also agreeing on how you're going to pay for it?
7
@PoohBah2 Maybe stop the trillion dollar giveaways?
9
@PoohBah2
If you truly care about the runaway spending, then you are someone who is quickly going extinct. It seems that those who were previously 'fiscal conservatives' voted the current republican crew in to bring back coal, deregulate and cut taxes. These folks, who previously claimed that they cared about the unfettered spending, are very happy with the current state of things. The rest of us, who truly believed in balancing the budget, are in a perpetual state of anxiety about the bill coming due.
Unfortunately, these days I trust very few people who say that they are concerned with spending. Sometimes, I do not think that these people were ever real. They certainly seem to be unusually quiet under these circumstances where spending has tripled.
2
"A failure to lift spending limits, enacted in 2011 under the Budget Control Act, would automatically cut military and domestic spending by billions of dollars without action from Congress. And without congressional authorization to raise the government’s borrowing limit, the government could potentially ignite an economic catastrophe."
The debt ceiling is an artificial construction that should simply be erased from the process. It doesn't stop spending, it's only able to stop our government from paying bills - that's not helpful to anyone.
The automatic spending cuts are just a sad sign of how dysfunctional Congress has become. The Tea Party/Freedom Caucus gang doesn't help, because they're based on the desire to have as dysfunctional a federal government as possible.
I don't know the solution, but two things.
1 - before people say we need the debt ceiling to keep the Dems from spending, it doesn't stop spending, it stops paying bills, and note that the GOP tax giveaway rips out any ability that party had to claim fiscal responsibility.
2 - things did seem to work a bit better before Boehner banned pork-barrel. Party leaders could get votes done back with that. For better and worse.
10
@b fagan
I won't argue that the Dems love to spend. But this does not contrast them to Repubs. Both parties spend like mad. Just on different things...
6
@b fagan
It would be nice if people took the time to educate themselves and things were reported more clearly.
I'd also like Dems to call this garbage out but they never seem to be able to do that.
2
@Tom.....maybe...but if I spend like mad to make sure you and your family have healthcare and a social safety net, and the other guy spends like mad to ensure the wealthy get even more money....
i'd rather the former irresponsible spenthrift.
3
It's too bad that our illustrious members of Congress can't stay in Washington and do their jobs, instead of always taking a recess. They are gone more than they are there. I wish I could have had that much time off during my working career.
When they are in session, they accomplish nothing and do nothing. Maybe they should just go on permanent recess.
23
@Doremus Jessup
Congressmen spend at least one third of their time raising money for their next campaign. That's the sad truth.
1
Get ready for a recession folks! A much smaller military, and a cut in Social Security & Medicare is also coming. This will bring Socialism to us in 2020! Not my preferred way but the 1% have done too much damage for the peasants to go on.
This had been the Republican endgame (but they want that military money..still). And they have to worry about their symbiotic man-child having a temper tantrum.
15
@Chris Patrick Augustine I agree, but I'm afraid you we won't have socialism. We will have troops in the street and some type of dictatorship based upon "emergency powers" that will be required after Trump Putin and McConnell fabricate a terrorist attack. Just as Putin fabricated terrorist attacks to rally the public for the second war in Chechnya, Trump and McConnell will have no problem killing a bunch of Americans to retain power. And the troops that the public blindly supports--even when they commit war crimes---will gun down their fellow citizens and be rewarded for it.
4
How can you find common ground when the Republicans are only interested in War, Walls, Weapons and the Well to do
while the Democrats stress Women, Wages, Wellness and a certain someones W2s. I understand that we have a child at the top of our government it doesn't mean the other players need to emulate him.
20
Mr. Mulvaney's comments mirror the Republican playbook that was laid out years ago.
#1 Reduce taxes, primarily for the upper class and corporations;
#2 Watch Federal revenue collections tank and in turn driving up the Federal deficit;
#3 Use the Federal deficit as the excuse to reduce Federal programs, especially targeting programs that provide a safety net for the people that really need help; and
#4 Rinse and repeat.
The hypocrisy of Mr. Mulvaney's position is apparent as it is for the rest of the Republican party.
156
@Susan Well said. Trump represents the third cycle under your rinse and repeat model. Reagan was first; G.W. Bush was second; and Donald Trump is the third Republican leader who has soaked America thoroughly. The real question to ask is whether the GOP destroyed the foundation of our economy by design; and, if so, to what end?
17
@Susan
No one stops them, and they seem to win their elections pretty easily these days. What is up people?
The playbook of theft is pretty clear by now, how is it that this is so popular that the support never wavers?
Those of us who are depending on the things that are stolen should maybe, possibly, start to consider thinking about taking aggressive steps to be educated and vote out all gop for the sake of our shared future. How about it?
7
There's no doubt in my mind that Trump is anxious to default on US debt. He mentioned how bankruptcy turned out well for himself on the campaign trail. He truly believes it would end well for the country. He's nuts, of course, but that won't interfere with his likelihood of succeeding. There appears to be a total capitulation from any norms by Republicans.
41
@baltcate
Trump did say that defaulting on our debt obligations would be something he would and that he would negotiate better terms.
The full trust in the backing by the United States Government of our debt is the only thing keeping the global economy from collapsing.
Wait a minute. The economy is "doing great!" So now you're saying that it's on broken stilts that will not hold?? Trump won't be happy until he's completely decimated everything American. I know the debt was there when he came in, but he has ballooned it and made it so much worse. And nothing, NOTHING has gotten done.
35
At least they won't have to discuss gun control -- that has officially been taken off the table by this administration and its republican enablers. If only abortions required a gun, it would be safe too.
22
As long as Republicrooks are in charge, avoiding calamity will be impossible, UNLESS of course, corporate Democrats cooperate with them, which they are very likely to do. Just like confirming all those corrupt judges all over the country, as well as the tax cuts which also benefit most Dem Senators. What will it take for the public to see the light?
6
@ChesBay--I think I should have said "unless of course corporate Democrats FAIL to cooperate with them... Any way you look at it, there is really no difference between Republicans and corporate Democrats, who both benefit from the same kinds of "legislation," which favors the rich and corporations, not the average American, which is the hallmark of an oligarchic/katisocratic government.
@ChesBay, Democrats have had no say in confirming the odious judges all over the country or in the tax cuts. Judges require a simple majority in the Senate and the tax cuts passed without a single Dem vote (except maybe Manchin?)
Makes me long for the days of Dan Flood, Bud Shuster, Wilbur Mills and Ted Stevens. What's wrong with a few highways and airports that no one needs and nightclubbing with prostitutes when revenues meet needs and budgets get passed?
7
Wow....Congress actually DOING WORK.
Must be the Second Monday of the week; that's how often they seem to actually show up.
Now let's see if they can stop being fools and learn to compromise on something.....
1
Why do you use the word "deal"? The normal word would be "agreement." You seem to be letting Trump despoil normal language usage.
35
The Democrats need to "mirror" the aggressive attitude of the Republicans by stating their positions that will not be compromised, and holding to that.
The Republicans cannot pass anything without the House of Representatives.
While a default would be catastrophic, and a reduction of hundreds of billions in expenditures could be a concern, it may take actually showing the Republicans (and the American people) what these disasters will look like, and tell them that "if you want to go there, here is what you will be running on in 2020, since you are the dominant party."
Equally important is to show the American people what the Republicans would consider "success" including very detrimental cuts to many government programs, at the national, state and local levels.
November 3, 2020 is coming.
78
@Joe From Boston Remember the Repubs hate government, Its only good to distribute tax money to the wealthy and corporations. We have an oligarchy that is designed to protect business not people.
Over 100 bills, passed by the congress, are locked up in Mc Connell's desk and will never be voted on. The Senate will not allow the Dems to pass anything.
25
Unfortunately most of the 63 million who voted for Trump would blame the Democrats .... For everything
1
@RichardHead
You are correct that McConnell is sitting on a lot of bills, and will not let many come to the floor.
But that can work two ways. Nancy Pelosi can tell Mitch that she will see his bet, and raise him a few spending bills (which have to start in the house).
Stop calling aggressive military spending "defense spending." The US military has enormous footprints all over the globe while the percentage of money necessary to defend our shores is negligible at best.
167
@Chuck Burton Not to mention the recent bombing of the woman and 11 children in her home in Afghanistan. End the inaccurate air strikes!
23
@Chuck Burton - better to fight them over there than to fight them here. It is defense spending.
1
@DRS....don't fall for that paranoid propaganda. when you attack people it doesn't make them reconsider their opinions...it hardens their resolve.
the most effective wars are the ones never fought on the battlefield but rather on the economic front.
18
Trump and Mulvaney, good Republicans both, are betting that there's greater political upside in delighting their benighted base by standing firm against things they all hate, like nonmilitary spending, than in bipartisan efforts to move the country forward.
In the end, that they're probably right is the most depressing thing about our trying Trumpian era: Nihilistic tribalism that negates reasoned consideration of pressing national needs.
Sigh.
25
"That challenge is particularly fraught in an era of polarized and gridlocked government, on the heels of the longest shutdown in the country’s history. "
The Republican party shut down the Congress during Obama's first term. They still have it shut down. Trump was elected by people who what the government permanently shut down. Well to be fair those people want all services of the government shut down except for a huge military machine, tax cuts to business and wealthy individuals, and spending billions on a non-existent immigration problem.
We must remember that the Red State voters love the ACA medical benefits but hate "Obama Care" which is the exact same government program.
64
@Jeff You touch on what's a growing peeve of mine: the Blue State fiscal bailout of Trump-loving, federal government-hating Red States. A little gratitude for the out-sized help states like Kentucky, Alabama, and Alaska get from what I and other Blue State residents pay in federal income taxes would be nice. Instead, nothing but liberal-hating and baiting. I used to wonder why people in these impoverished, needy places don't vote in their own interests. Now I think maybe they do.
17
"those people want all services of the government shut down except for a huge military machine, tax cuts to business and wealthy individuals, and spending billions on a non-existent immigration problem."
And forced births. Don't forget the forced births. Gods (well not their God) help you if you're a pregnant woman.
6
It's always Republcan's hope to reach common ground with the Democrats but only if it is all the Republican's way. McConnell has a history of blocking all votes regardless of content and this years budget issues will not be different. They have absolutely no intention of working with Democrats on any substantive issues. But Trump and his gang will try their best to get what they claim to need from the Senate. Mulvaney is the last person I would deal with over budget issues. Just another Trump sycophant reflecting terrible ideas about our government spending. There will be no attempt to balance military with domestic spending because the GOP and Trump believe that when funds are limited, the military get's it all. Even thought Trump also believes that military funds belong to him personally.
20
The Republican Drunken 0.1% Sailor Party wants all Americans to know that annual trillion dollar deficits do not matter........unless a Democrat is President and trying to clean up a Republican economic catastrophe.
Reckless Republicans for a morally, intellectually and economic bankrupt tomorrow.
GOP 1980 - 2020
198
@Socrates. Have missed your comments, Socrates. Hope all is well.
No budget deal until the illegitimate occupant of the WH comes to heel. This is how the people have always controlled monarchs or wannabe dictators. This includes releasing the Mueller Report in full, releasing tax returns, allowing all to testify to Congress, no money spent on a wall and raising corporate and billionaires taxes.
61
The "debt ceiling" is a man-made disaster. The United States government since the time of Hamilton has always paid its debts. raising the artificial "debt ceiling" is just an acknowledgement that we will honorably pay our debts.
If Republicans were seriously interested in reducing our national debt, they would not have made repeated assaults of our country's financial integrity by the Reagan tax cuts, W's unfunded Iraqi War, and the most recent tax cuts for billionaires and corporations.
235
@JMT
I would like to know how much of our debt is owned by US citizens, how much by China and other foreign sources, and finally how much by the Fed, which can create the money to pay off its own debt to itself?
But remember for decades a balanced budget / reduce the debt was in every GOP platform
@JMT Not about more taxes, the Dem's favorite solution, it's about spending and NOT spending more than you are going to take in. It's about stopping pork for a start, but Reid stopped that change before it even got started.
Every congressman needs to be required to have a negotiation success rate of at least 50% in my opinion.
Diplomacy, negotiation and respect and "put people first" attitude towards every act of government is what is obviously not present among the many on the McConnell side of the isle, the U.S. or Chinese negotiation teams. Why is this?
We can all do better than this. How is it possible? When I see creativity, humanity, longevity and revolutionary ideas being generated from teams, than I know there is good management taking place. Having not only individuals give their best but find the unifying principle of team coherence is essential to great leadership and also that structure when enables specialized information to flow and system integrate with the ethnosphere of the problem’s fabric and context.
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@Tom Paine
But is there the will in Congress to do better. I personally think that McConnell and his fellow Republicans in the Senate will do anything they can do to undermine any of the Democrats proposals.
The mere fact that the Tax Reform Bill that was passed has undermined any sense of fair play that the Republicans claim. They undermined our financial stability by passing this bill. Now they want to slash programs, like Social Security, Medicare, CHIP, Medicaid and the ACA, to name a few, to continue to reward their friends and donors.
It is hard to have respect for most Republicans that are serving in Congress right now. They have put Party above Country. I do not consider them Patriots as they do not uphold their oath of Office.
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The 2011 Budget Control Act has been ignored since it was enacted, proving that even Congress believes itself to be above the law. Kick the Can they can play. Responsible governing, not at all.
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Would reaching no deal on the debt ceilling allow Trump to call another national emergency? One that would allow him to issue even more executive orders and concentrate even more power in his hands?
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