'we don't have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem'

[spanone]

[polichick]

1. It's a shame that Dems, including the prez, have bought into the narrative...

Doesn't help.

[bbinacan]

2. 14 trillion in debt?

I'd say by any measure, there's a spending problem.

[Octafish]

3. $13 trillion of it rung up after Reagan cut corporate taxes...

...and the rest. Of course, he did up defense spending on the word of Bill Casey and Robert Gates.

[bbinacan]

4. And about 3 Trillion

rung up in the last few years.

[Octafish]

10. Yes, after the Bush 2 tax cuts were allowed to continue.

It wasn't in all the papers.

[Zywiec]

6. +1

[Bake]

7. That's part of it ... THREE WARS is a helluva lot of spending

The other part is the relentless tax cuts for the rich. Yes, we DO have a revenue problem. If you cut revenue, you damn well can't afford three wars. You can have guns or butter, but not both. Econ 101.

Bake

[emulatorloo]

12. They don't seem to get that. Three wars and Tax Cuts - it makes no sense?

Put the war on the credit card, and big presents for the rich on the other credit card.

[notesdev]

13. And

if they haven't figured it out by now they probably got a drthinking problem too

[grahamhgreen]

15. Returning to the tax levels of 1957 would yeild over 700 billion - the first year!

The debt would be gone in under 10.

[peacebird]

5. and somehow it is the "entitlements" NOT the WARS that are the problem.

[mrcheerful]

8. No what the R's did was they took a pay cut then they decided that it was a good ideal to get out

the trusty old credit card and go on a shopping spree for crap they didn't or couldn't figure out a way to use, Star Wars anyone?, then decided the best way to handle the debt from that was to take more pay cuts, increase more spending trying to get back at the Jones for their dog pissing in their yard, Iraq, now they decide that the best way to deal with rising interest rates on their credit card is to cut back on things that are needed to keep them healthy and hunger free, while buying more trinklets to impress their neighbors with.

[orangeapple]

14. the wars are ridiculous

and the president needs to end them.

But as a percentage of GDP 'defense' expenditures have been declining while "entitlements" are going the other way.

Furthermore, if we stay on this present reckless track of trillion dollar deficits the interest carrying cost will soon be higher than the 'defense' spending! The severity of the problem is currently masked by extraordinarily low interest rates, but way too much of that debt is in 5yr or shorter notes, and when interest rates rise so will the burden of (the ever-growing) debt.

[OwnedByFerrets]

9. Well, we DO have a spending problem. Spending TWO BILLION

dollars a day on the corporate war machine is a HUGE PROBLEM

[Bigmack]

16. I take issue with your number....

Chris Hellman makes a powerful argument that the real number is $1.2 Trillion a year.

http://www.thenation.com/article/158923/12-trillion-national-security

That's $3.2 Billion a day.

Shiiiit... if we can't afford $2 B a day, we sure as hell can't afford $3.2 a day.

[OwnedByFerrets]

17. You are correct....I was using the number which indicates how

much we are spending on JUST the two/three wars in which we are engaged.

[Tyrs WolfDaemon]

11. Mighty fine pile of 'Horse Apples' you got there. If you're a Repug...

Then you got yourself something to sell to the people.

[HughBeaumont]

19. If you're a Repug, you'd be calling it "Reaganomic Souflee" and scarfing it up with glee.

[KittyWampus]

18. You don't think the money spent on Defense is obscene?