tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399730406480392183.post8409470766341601431..comments2024-03-27T11:18:34.222-03:00Comments on Viable Opposition: United States Debt Interest Scenarios - Have We Reached the Point of No Return?A Political Junkiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03342345936277964422noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399730406480392183.post-59339088981906035062012-02-22T04:47:15.588-04:002012-02-22T04:47:15.588-04:00The whole utility seems to be working so much fast...The whole utility seems to be working so much faster than before.what are payday loanshttps://badcreditloans.net/what-are-payday-loans.phpnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399730406480392183.post-41581856305097392202011-12-05T11:29:23.903-04:002011-12-05T11:29:23.903-04:00@ APJ.....very interesting article. In fact, it...@ APJ.....very interesting article. In fact, it's damn scary when you think of what could happen. Makes me want to grab my beef jerky and bottled water and head for the hills. I hate to say it, but the political climate in the states is such that they don't have the wherewithal to deal with these issues. It makes your scenario above a more likely outcome if Washington doesn't get its house in order.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399730406480392183.post-10358768538460582792011-11-29T04:58:51.166-04:002011-11-29T04:58:51.166-04:00Sorry for being so simple but there is
nothing her...Sorry for being so simple but there is<br />nothing here that ending the Fed wouldn't<br />fix in a big hurry.Joe Muddnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399730406480392183.post-88733285479043127322011-11-28T20:36:24.151-04:002011-11-28T20:36:24.151-04:00@PJ, Link as much as you want. I respect your anal...@PJ, Link as much as you want. I respect your analysis a great deal, and you have 10x the traffic. I haven't had this many visits since I insulted... er... <a href="http://moderatepoli.blogspot.com/2011/08/ron-paul-missing-in-media.html" rel="nofollow">criticized Ron Paul</a> 3 months ago. By the way, you handle disagreement much better than Ron Paul supporters, that's for sure.ModeratePolihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01721945380057992971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399730406480392183.post-44157507995174734092011-11-28T19:42:14.540-04:002011-11-28T19:42:14.540-04:00Thanks Don. I'll take a look as you suggested...Thanks Don. I'll take a look as you suggested.A Political Junkiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03342345936277964422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399730406480392183.post-90021338564572387042011-11-28T19:06:29.688-04:002011-11-28T19:06:29.688-04:00APJ:
Intragovernmental debt is a very sneaky (and ...APJ:<br />Intragovernmental debt is a very sneaky (and maybe snarky) type of debt.<br />Unlike debt held by the public, interest "credited" to the trust funds incurs no budget expense.<br />And, the current interest rate credited to the trust funds is 4.1%!<br />This credited interest is paid with additional debt, and as you said, the trust fund surplus is used to pay current expensdes and lower the deficits (even though every penny of interest and principal in over 230 trust funds is phantom principal and interest, being accessed only from tapping general revenues, lowering expenses, etc. (the same way we pay all government expenses, with or without a trust fund).<br />See a paper entitled Financial Audit Bureau of the Public Debt's Fiscal Years 2011 and 2010 Schedule of Federal Debt," issued by the GAO.<br />In particular, look at pages 2-3, 13, 17, 21, 25, 26,and 27.<br />http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d12164.pdf.<br />Don LevitDon Levithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02497731736648561272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399730406480392183.post-66353388744535476052011-11-28T18:41:25.321-04:002011-11-28T18:41:25.321-04:00Thanks for both of your comments (and glad that Mo...Thanks for both of your comments (and glad that ModeratePoli survived the shock - hope you didn't mind my linking to your blog). I guess one of the reasons that I'm pessimistic is that I think we have reached the tipping point for tax increases with the only hope being that any change is completely transparent and the playing field is levelled. I look at the uprisings in many nations when heavily indebted governments try to change taxes even modestly and how often increases are reversed. On the cutting side, it's a similar philosophy to the NIMBY idea; cut any program....as long as I don't need it or don't like it! <br /><br />From my observation, governments often waste the first part of their mandate when they have the political horsepower to effect meaningful change on either spending or taxing and then cannot make changes later on when they are afraid that they will lose the power they so badly seem to need.<br /><br />Let's hope that I'm wrong, although, I'd be more encouraged if there was some sign from governments that they intended to reduce the level of debt some years down the road. Otherwise, as I posted, it is the growing interest owing on the growing debt that is going to be the biggest problem with achieving balance.A Political Junkiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03342345936277964422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399730406480392183.post-26540188848081745322011-11-28T18:01:39.513-04:002011-11-28T18:01:39.513-04:00I disagree that we are past the tipping point. Whe...I disagree that we are past the tipping point. When I look behind the numbers on interest rates, I see that there is a lot of money sloshing around the world, and we're big enough and transparent enough to attract a lot <a href="http://moderatepoli.blogspot.com/2011/08/why-medicine-stopped-working.html" rel="nofollow">of that money</a>. At least for now. I think we have a little more time before we hit the tipping point. <br /><br />At least this year we're going in the right direction. Last December's deal extending the Bush tax cuts and adding on some goodies was a miserable failure for our deficit.<br /><br />One reason I'm optimistic is that, as Carl pointed out, we have many items in our budget we could cut, and sources of income we could tap if we need to and have the will to. Just think how much money we could save if we allowed (or enforced) some <a href="http://moderatepoli.blogspot.com/2011/09/16-tax-on-everything.html" rel="nofollow">reasonably conservative decision-making</a> on medical procedures. <br /><br />I don't know if we'll have the political will to make these adjustments in time. I'm going to try to be part of the solution, not one of those saying it's impossible.<br /><br />Lastly, thanks for the plug for my budget, though I jumped in shock when I saw it. Luckily, I wasn't holding anything sharp or liquid, so I survived.ModeratePolihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01721945380057992971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399730406480392183.post-24011137273305032292011-11-28T15:55:00.601-04:002011-11-28T15:55:00.601-04:00You are correct, we are past the point of no retur...You are correct, we are past the point of no return, but not mathematically...only politically. If our politicians had the gumption to end The Afgan war and downsize the military, legalize and tax drugs and prostitution, institute a VAT and a sur charge on very high incomes, and reform entitlements, this mess could be corrected...but you are right, it won't happen.Carl Jonesnoreply@blogger.com