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My advice on debt and deficit, Mr. Obama

By DelbertPGH ·
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If I could write Obama a speech for tonight, I'd give him these three points:

1. "I recognize that, under the 14th amendment, neither Congress nor any other body has the authority to disregard America's debt. Since Congress has already authorized previous years' and the current year's spending, no debt ceiling limitation is constitutional. The fight on this issue is over. We will borrow as needed."

2. "The Bush tax cuts, all of them, are set to expire in 2012. I will not permit the extension of any of them, for rich and poor alike. The deficit crisis that looms over the coming decades is equal in amount to the Bush tax cuts. This has been a case of borrowing to cut taxes, which is nonsense. The Bush tax cuts have not resulted in prosperity, and seeing government reliably funded would restore confidence to business, and give business the faith to resume investing in this country's future."

3. "I will not seek the Presidency in 2012. I've been the weakest leader since Millard Fillmore, and it is a disservice to my party, my country, and to liberalism itself for me to pursue re-election. Plus, given that my assertion of the unconstitutionality of the debt ceiling will be sure to come to the Supreme Court, and the Supremes lately have been an arm of Republican interests, it is more likely my decision will be upheld if there is a chance of a Republican President enjoying the authority I seek, instead of me."

All big problems solved, in one simple speech! Except for the financial industry. That sucker still needs some major fixing. But breaking up the big banks and designing a short leash for them requires a President with much more nerve than the current guy.

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Take the Banks' control away

by TonytheTiger In reply to My advice on debt and def ...

by realizing that money (including income) is not wealth.

Money is a medium of EXCHANGE! We need to treat it that way and no other.

"Government shouldn't be giving money to any person or entity, except as payment for a product or service provided to the government by that person or entity."

Think very carefully about the above, and you'll see the root cause of the current economic struggles WORLD-WIDE.

Wealth in a capitalistic system builds because the same money get used again and again and again, perpetually in exchange for something of value.

(Here's the proof... Say a person earns a million dollars and they spend it on something of value (say a grand home with a big yard, garage, pool, etc. Even though that person spent all that money you'd consider that person wealthy, wouldn't you? And they'll remain that way as long as those assets they bought maintain their value, right? But someone else has all that money now... the SAME money... which THEY can now use to create their own wealth.)

Now suppose you give that money to someone without getting something in return (as in entitlement programs), or are forced to give MORE of it without getting MORE in return (as in raising the minimum wage). Every time you do that, the money (ALL money) loses a little of its value. Doing it again and again and again causes it to lose more and more and more of its value (just as exchanging it again and again and again created more wealth each time). This is the real cause of inflation... and eventually more serious economic problems (Not so much for those who have acquired non-monetary wealth though... you're not hurting them a bit... just making what they have worth more money. Mostly it hinders those who are trying to acquire wealth which necessarily affects those who would normally benefit from those trying to acquire wealth... MOST OF US!).

And what does the government usually do? Print more money? Raise minimum wage? Sure, it helps those who get the newly printed money, or those who just got the raise, but at the expense of all the holders of money! They essentially steal a little value from all the money in circulation to give to the new money. How does it end up? Not good! More and more money having less and less value? Hyperinflation.... Devaluation of currency... increasing poverty...

World-wide, people are expecting more for less, or something for nothing. It's this demand for a "free lunch" that is killing us!

Now, there's nothing wrong with caring for the poor and infirm, but do it voluntarily, out of your own resources, and only those you are sure need it. That way it will NOT devalue what you have left, and won't devalue what other people have left either.


Think about it.

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Not the way it works

by AnsuGisalas In reply to Take the Banks' control a ...

You're saying that by lowering minimum wage there'd be more wealth.
Why should it be lower? Why should it be higher? Those are directions.
You also fail to realize that the poor (minimum wage) spend more of their money on economy-stimulating goods than the rich (who tuck it away in real estate).
So raising minimum wage takes wealth out of the standing pools (the rich) and pours it into the fast streams (the faster-spending poor), generating more flow, more wealth.

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No, I'm not

by TonytheTiger In reply to Not the way it works

You're saying that by lowering minimum wage there'd be more wealth.

I'm saying [that] raising it makes it harder to acquire wealth, by putting upward pressure on prices.

So raising minimum wage takes wealth out of the standing pools (the rich) and pours it into the fast streams (the faster-spending poor), generating more flow, more wealth.

No, it does nothing to standing wealth,except make it worth more dollars [on paper].

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Who pays it?

by AnsuGisalas In reply to No, I'm not

Pay increases for the poorest does not equal inflation.
The economy works better if the middle class is wide.
A low minimum wage works towards widening the gap between the rich (who own and derive income from the wage-paying corporations) and the wage-earners. Thus shrinking the middle class, because fewer of the lowest wage earners will be able to support themselves or their children reaching the middle class.

The government doesn't pay that minimum wage.

I'm not saying it should rise or fall, but it should be at a level that helps obtain the optimal social structure.

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It doesn't?

by TonytheTiger In reply to Who pays it?

Pay increases for the poorest does not equal inflation.

Then where does the money for the raise magically come from? They're not working any harder for this extra money, so there's no "exchange" taking place. More money for the same (goods OR services) is the very definition of inflation!

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Overall wage increases, without corresponding growth equals inflation.

by AnsuGisalas In reply to It doesn't?

If one segment gets more and another less, that's not inflation.
If the owning class have to take less for themselves because they can't raise prices and stay competitive, then there is no inflation.
That's why free trade can be a good thing, it can force corporations to eat the cost themselves.

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Have you been to the store? (NT)

by TonytheTiger In reply to Overall wage increases, w ...
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But that's not what's happening...

by TonytheTiger In reply to Overall wage increases, w ...

Businesses are laying off (and making the ones who stay pick up the extra work for no extra pay), or reducing the quality (and charging the same price), or moving out of the country (to lower costs), or lobbying lawmakers for tax breaks (which end up being picked up somewhere else). They're not "eating it", or at least not over the longer term. Profit margins in most businesses are at the bare minimum.

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Sorry Tony

by AnsuGisalas In reply to Overall wage increases, w ...

I was talking in general terms. Not middle-of-recession terms.
Should've made that clear.
Also, I don't argue for raising minimum wage (that's a direction), I just argue against the general idea that minimum wage should be abolished (as someone else suggested just then).

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Forced pay increases

by jp85257 In reply to Who pays it?

Forced pay increases equal inflation. You can force an employer to raise their minimum wage, but they will pass on the raise in their pricing. So the same people who got the raise are now paying more for the same products as before and will also pay more in sales taxes. They've gained nothing.

The wage should be set by supply and demand. If an employer can't get employees to work for him, he will raise wages on his own or go out of business. You don't need the Government involved in wage decisions.

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