One thing I note in this chart is that the original 700bil TARP is being loaded on Obama's back. I also disagreed with Obama's line last night, "inherited a 1.3 Trillion dollar debt" putting the cost all on GWB, and think the credit/blame for that initial 700bil is split with 350bil each, as GWB not only had Obama in on discussions of where the first 350 would be spent, but left the second 350 fully to Obama to dispense. Anyway, looks to be some "discussion" of the Obama budget, even in this heavily dem congress, and of that I'm glad.
Someday, somewhere, we will have laws stating a govt. can’t spend more then it brings in and no funny accounting tricks either. Probably not in this century but sometime.
Any idea if those are adjusted dollars…not that that matters I just don’t want it to look as bad as it does…I’m looking for hope…anything, throw me a bone.
Also there was some mention that Obama changed “Accounting practices”. I’m wondering if that was made retroactive so we are comparing apples to apples or if we are really just screwed.
Mortgages, for example, lets you buy a house in your twenties instead of your fifties, so you can use it most of your adult life instead of a decade or so before you hit the rest home.
Without deficit spending we wouldn’t have won WWII or the Cold War.
Debt lets the poor compete with the rich. If you have a fantastic business idea, but no capital you’re totally out of luck without debt.
Debt is one of the most fantastic, brilliant ideas of the free market/capitalist system.
Now you can complain the amount of debt, or inefficient spending of debt - but getting rid of it altogether would be dumb.
Just realized that Obama is using the 700bil TARP funds BOTH ways (even last night); he said he inherited a 1.3 billion deficit from GWB which would include imputing the amount to Bush, then he spoke of “halving” the deficit with his current budget…well the deficit number that he is talking about halving is the one in the graph that imputes the TARP money to him. Man, politicians suck.
If you are smart and use it wisely, debt also allows you to take a fixed amount of equity to invest and buy 3-4 times the amount of property your equity alone would allow you. If conditions are right, you are a rich man. I would never accuse the government of being smart and using it wisely.
