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Thread: I.o.u.s.a.

  1. #11
    Supporting Member Emp's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Snipe View Post
    While people know that we are a nation of debtors, they might not be aware of how it is going to affect them and the entire country in the years to come when baby boomers start collecting government checks.
    Whats with the hate on Boomers here? SS checks for Boomers are not going to break the bank. Totally false premise.

    Medicare/Medicaid/"traditional" market based health insurance, for everyone, a dif topic. However, until the congress and the American public in general get the gumption to Just Say No to the powerful lobbies of the AMA and the health care industry (where inflation is and has been going wild for years, and there is no apparent counterbalance), no solution.
    It's a still great day to be a Muskie, but a sad day to be a supporting member of this board.

  2. #12
    Freshman Muskie73's Avatar
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    Congressional comment

    Snipe

    Congress is the last group who wants to talk about this subject. They have tossed this political hot potato around for a couple of decades now, hoping they keep it moving without getting burned. Alas, the day is certainly fast approaching when the potato will be dropped and the country finds itself in a problematic situation with very few viable solutions.

    My own personal hope is that tar and feathers comes back as a punishment for a Congress too cowardly to act, although the baby boomer generation (of which I admit to being part of) also bears guilt in this situation.
    There is no distinctively native American criminal class except Congress.
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  3. #13
    All-Conference Snipe's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheEmperorHasNoClothes View Post
    Whats with the hate on Boomers here? SS checks for Boomers are not going to break the bank. Totally false premise.

    Medicare/Medicaid/"traditional" market based health insurance, for everyone, a dif topic. However, until the congress and the American public in general get the gumption to Just Say No to the powerful lobbies of the AMA and the health care industry (where inflation is and has been going wild for years, and there is no apparent counterbalance), no solution.
    I tend to lump them both together and I should not. Medicare is a bigger problem than social security. People are living longer and health care costs continue to grow at twice the rate of inflation. That doesn't mean that social security is not a problem. Over the next 20 years 78 million Americans will go on the public dole. We haven't saved up any money to pay any of them. The same 78 million will be demanding more healthcare than ever before.
    RIP Brian Dargin McCormick

  4. #14
    All-Conference Snipe's Avatar
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    Muskie 73, I agree that Congress doesn't want to touch it. It doesn't fit the current two year election cycle. By the time they have to address it our options will be very limited.

    The presidential candidates don't want to touch it either. The public likes positive messages that talk about the promise and the greatness of America. Some candidates are planning a whole new slew of spending, making more promises that we can't keep. Both Democrats and Republicans have failed us. I think that a tar and feather party would be in order.

    I would also agree that Baby Boomers bare guilt for this situation. By the time they get done this country will likely be bankrupt.
    RIP Brian Dargin McCormick

  5. #15
    Supporting Member PM Thor's Avatar
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    I wouldn't blame the baby boomers. They set the standard when it came to spending outside of their means, but the following generations have exascerbated the issue tenfold. Can you believe where the deficit and debt for this country will be in 50 years, if we don't deal with the issue now? It's quite simply infuriating.

  6. #16
    All-Conference Kahns Krazy's Avatar
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    I like deficit spending. I don't want to wait until I can afford things. I like to charge it and worry about it later. Or not.

    I will admit that this was my attitdude in my 20's. "I'll be able to pay for it later", I thought. Oh, I paid for it later all right. Paying down debt is not easy. I did not enjoy it at all. I can't imagine how the country is going to colectively tighten the belt and get the debt under control.


    Debt is not in and of itself a problem. Increasing debt is a problem.

    It's really hard to wrap my mind around some of the government numbers. Looking at the FY2009 budget, the US government is projecting receipts of $2.7 trillion. That's $2,700,000,000,000. That is an insane number. The budgeted spend is $3.1 trillion. That is an even insaner number.

    The net interest expense for FY2009 is $260 million, or approximately 9.6% of what the country will bring in. That number on its own doesn't really bother me. If we had a $50 billion surplus and the national debt (9.6 trillion!) weren't scheduled to be repaid for 192 years (!), I think a 9% interest/income ratio is sustainable.

    I read a lot of the budget. It's exceptionally interesting and exceptionally boring all at the same time.

    If you find that kind of thing interesting, you should skip to Table S–8. Budget Summary by Category first. That freaking table should be page one of the budget. I couldn't find anywhere in the actual budget document where it says that the President wants to spend $407 million more in 2009 than he is expexting to bring in.
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  7. #17
    All-Conference Snipe's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PM Thor View Post
    I wouldn't blame the baby boomers. They set the standard when it came to spending outside of their means, but the following generations have exascerbated the issue tenfold. Can you believe where the deficit and debt for this country will be in 50 years, if we don't deal with the issue now? It's quite simply infuriating.
    Where do you get that?

    Boomers just started retiring this year. Over the next 20 years 78 million of them will retire. No generation sets the political table like the boomers; they are the most powerful generational force in American history.

    How have "following generations exacerbated the issue tenfold"?
    RIP Brian Dargin McCormick

  8. #18
    All-Conference Snipe's Avatar
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    Link BP? Make it easy on me...
    RIP Brian Dargin McCormick

  9. #19
    Supporting Member PM Thor's Avatar
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    I'm not refferring to social security and the whatnot about babyboomers. I am refferring to the idea that baby boomers were in charge for most of the time when the US debt grew. The following generations have taken this concept and run with it, screw the future.

    I am talking about when generations are in power in this country. Not when they retire.

  10. #20
    All-Conference Kahns Krazy's Avatar
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    Thor, what generation do you consider to be currently in power in this country?

    Snipe, all the sections of the budget are PDF files and can be found at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy09/browse.html

    The table I'm referring to can be found at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy...get/tables.pdf

    I'm a finance guy, and a lot of those tables are difficult for me to read. The one I like is page 26, Table S-8. Note that this table is in billions of dollars.
    Last edited by Kahns Krazy; 08-21-2008 at 05:18 PM.
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