7 ms·

The U.S. government is set to borrow nearly $1 trillion this year

57 points by enraged_camel 9y ago

chiefalchemist 9y ago
It's 2018. Framing this as political (i.e., party v party) is naive. Both parties continue to bloat the budget. Different spin and rhetoric. Same ends. In either case: "We spend more on our military than the next eight nations combined." Obama SOTU 2016 The rest is obvious.
- Latty 9y ago
  I mean, the Republicans have been claiming to be "the party of fiscal responsibility". Lying may be common in politics, but are we really at the point we just give up and stop even commenting on it? Also, while the Democrats may have still run a deficit, they were reducing it. It's not good, but to claim equivalence seems counter-productive. Claiming they "bloated" the budget when they cut the deficit (roughly) in half (not accounting for inflation) seems to be straight up misleading. Not to even start with how that money is being spent/where it comes from (or not, as the case may be).
  - chiefalchemist 9y ago
    Right. War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. They BOTH generate misinformation while the masses claw and beg for basic service provided at reasonable value (i.e., the taxes to waste and corruption ratio is reasonable). Meanwhile, while everyone is sucked in the (Mad Magazine) spy v spy ruse the money bubbles to the top - regardless of which side is promising the otherwise. Actions speak louder than words. Why anyone listens to, let alone trusts, a politician is beyond me.
    - Latty 9y ago
      That sure sounds like a rationalisation to not bother. Sure, I don't dispute the current system has huge flaws. It is the system we live under, however, and trying to change that system doesn't require not participating in it. There is an obvious least-bad. It may not be everything I want, but it goes from people I care about suffering seriously to not seeing as much progress as I'd like. I'll take that every time, while also pushing for more serious reform.
axau 9y ago
The title is not very useful; this quote gives some context: “It's the highest amount of borrowing in six years, and a big jump from the $519 billion the federal government borrowed last year.”
crooked-v 9y ago
The Republican motto: "fiscal conservatism, except when it's us in charge".
- sjg007 9y ago
  Yet their supporters cannot see the blatant hypocrisy.
  - mobilefriendly 9y ago
    To be fair, most Republicans think the tax bill will generate economic growth and revenue not captured by relatively static budget models. But there's no excuse on spending...there's actually little difference between GWB and Obama on spending outcomes.
    - ceejayoz 9y ago
      They should ask Kansas how that worked out. https://www.npr.org/2017/12/13/570387479/kansas-2012-tax-cut-experiment-could-serve-as-a-cautionary-tale https://www.npr.org/2017/12/13/570387479/kansas-2012-tax-cut... https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/10/us/politics/kansas-tried-a-tax-plan-similar-to-trumps-it-failed.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/10/us/politics/kansas-tried-...
      - crazy1van 9y ago
        Tax cuts may have not generated more revenue in Kansas, but there is definitely something to the theory that lowering taxes can generate more revenue. As the Laffer Curve predicts, maximum government revenue exists at a tax rate above 0% (no taxes) and below 100% (no reason to work). Determining that maximizing rate is the trick. If your tax rate is below the maximizing rate, then raising taxes would generate more revenue. But if your tax rate is above the maximizing rate, then lowering taxes would actually generate more revenue for the government.
        Latty 9y ago
mobilefriendly 9y ago
This article takes up Democratic party talking points by framing the government's massive borrowing jump from $519 to $955 billion as caused by the tax cuts. Yet the "blunt" CBO report the WaPo cites actually says just $136 billion in revenue loss is from the tax cut. So there's $300 billion in new borrowing that's simply from runaway spending. So for the entire $955 billion projected deficit next year, just 14% will be from the recent changes in tax law.
- ceejayoz 9y ago
  It's 31% of the "big jump from the $519 billion the federal government borrowed last year". That's not insignificant.
- rgbrenner 9y ago
  The 519 is a typo or something. The deficit last year was 666B: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-ends-fiscal-2017-with-666-billion-budget-deficit-2017-10-20 https://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-ends-fiscal-2017-with-6... So 955B is an increase of ~290B.. so roughly half of the increase is from the tax cut.
  - mobilefriendly 9y ago
    No, we're already in fiscal 2018 as the baseline, the trillion dollar projection is for 2019.
    - rgbrenner 9y ago
      The article says 955B for this year 2018. 666B was for 2017.
- malchow 9y ago
  Correct. Ratchet-spending social entitlement programs are responsible for the structural deficit, now and into the future. Getting agreed on this mathematical fact will be the work of patriotic centrist Americans for the next twenty years.
SubiculumCode 9y ago
Deficits in dollars aren't scary, unless they cause hyperinflation, IMO.
matte_black 9y ago
If the interest rate on this borrowed money is lower than inflation it makes perfect sense to borrow money as the money that will be used to pay the loan off in the future will be worth less and less.
xbmcuser 9y ago
Well if you look at the last 30-40 years. Republicans talk about improving economy, lowering taxes and small government the deficit balloons up. Democrats talk about increasing healthcare, other social services and increasing taxes the deficit comes down and the economy actually improves.
fao_ 9y ago
Meanwhile, in india: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-42899402 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-42899402 India's GDP: "The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in India was worth 2263.79 billion US dollars in 2016."[0] America's GDP: "The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the United States was worth 18624.48 billion US dollars in 2016."[1] [0]: https://tradingeconomics.com/india/gdp https://tradingeconomics.com/india/gdp [1]: https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/gdp https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/gdp Your system is massively inefficient.
- kahnjw 9y ago
  It's pretty efficient if you're in the 1%.
- matt4077 9y ago
  As percentage of GDP, India is running a deficit more than twice as high as the US (6.6% vs 2.8% over the last ten years). But those numbers are meaningless for proving or disproving "inefficiency". The US is obviously getting far better infrastructure/education/welfare system/research/military/etc.
  - fao_ 9y ago
    > The US is obviously getting far better infrastructure/education/welfare system/research/military/etc. Is it? Research is on shaky ground: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/03/data-check-us-government-share-basic-research-funding-falls-below-50 http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/03/data-check-us-governm... https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/dr-no-money/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/dr-no-money/ https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/03/trump-budget-cuts-science/519825/ https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/03/trump-bu... http://theconversation.com/men-get-most-of-the-research-funding-its-a-serious-problem-for-women-and-science-85469 http://theconversation.com/men-get-most-of-the-research-fund... https://www.vox.com/2016/7/14/12016710/science-challeges-research-funding-peer-review-process https://www.vox.com/2016/7/14/12016710/science-challeges-res... Welfare system is failing: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/09/29/our-infant-mortality-rate-is-a-national-embarrassment/?utm_term=.8136e4325ad9 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/09/29/our-i... http://time.com/5090112/infant-mortality-rate-usa/ http://time.com/5090112/infant-mortality-rate-usa/ https://www.npr.org/2017/05/12/528098789/u-s-has-the-worst-rate-of-maternal-deaths-in-the-developed-world https://www.npr.org/2017/05/12/528098789/u-s-has-the-worst-r... https://www.propublica.org/article/die-in-childbirth-maternal-death-rate-health-care-system https://www.propublica.org/article/die-in-childbirth-materna... https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/05/america-homeless-population-2017-official-count-crisis https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/05/america-home... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42248999 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42248999 https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v70n3/v70n3p111.html https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v70n3/v70n3p111.html Education is failing en masse: https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/12/american-schools-vs-the-world-expensive-unequal-bad-at-math/281983/ https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/12/americ... http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/15/u-s-students-internationally-math-science/ http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/15/u-s-students... https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/03/10/469831485/americas-high-school-graduates-look-like-other-countries-high-school-dropouts https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/03/10/469831485/america... https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertreiss/2015/11/17/how-to-fix-education-in-america/#98109b5441c8 https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertreiss/2015/11/17/how-to-f... Millitary is using shoddy, ancient tools: https://newrepublic.com/article/113484/how-pentagon-boondoggle-putting-soldiers-danger https://newrepublic.com/article/113484/how-pentagon-boondogg... http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/us-modernizing-its-nuclear-arsenal-despite-criticism-over-weapons-a-932188.html http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/us-modernizing-its... http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/the-us-military-really-bad-shape-19446 http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/the-us-military-re... https://breakingdefense.com/2018/01/hasc-ew-expert-bacon-us-not-prepared-for-electronic-warfare-vs-russia-china/ https://breakingdefense.com/2018/01/hasc-ew-expert-bacon-us-... https://breakingdefense.com/2018/01/armys-basic-illusions-gone-time-for-futures-command/ https://breakingdefense.com/2018/01/armys-basic-illusions-go...
jihijvjd 9y ago
Political commentary on HN is bankrupt. Nothing on the memo, the largest political scandal of our times, apparently all these enlightened HN commentators have nothing to say on incumbent political party using the intelligence apparatus to spy on the opposition during an election year. That's literally the behavior of a third world country but here complete silence, just virtue signaling jokes of being anti Republican Sadly my comment will be down voted, flagged, disappeared, assuming I am even allowed to post. Disgraceful.
- dang 9y ago
  It's because it's off topic here. Please see https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html. Could you please stop creating accounts to post like this? If you want to use HN as intended, that's fine, but that means intellectual curiosity, not political warfare.
  - threatofrain 9y ago
    You're asking someone to politely follow the rules when they're already engaging in full gamesmanship with you.
    - dang 9y ago
      There's no harm in asking.
Mikeb85 9y ago
With current economic growth and expected growth from the tax cut as well as low rates, it only makes sense to borrow. Also, 'borrowing' in this sense means selling lots of bonds with a very low face rate. People still gladly buy them...
jihishuee 9y ago
jihijvjd 3 minutes ago [flagged] [dead] [-] Political commentary on HN is bankrupt. Nothing on the memo, the largest political scandal of our times, apparently all these enlightened HN commentators have nothing to say on incumbent political party using the intelligence apparatus to spy on the opposition during an election year. That's literally the behavior of a third world country but here complete silence, just virtue signaling jokes of being anti Republican Sadly my comment will be down voted, flagged, disappeared, assuming I am even allowed to post. Disgraceful.
heymodsihuman2 9y ago
Even with show dead my comment was removed. Apparently pointing out the truth is grounds for silencing your opinion. Disgusting. Hey mods, not allowing articles and opinions on the greatest political scandal of our times is incredibly disappointing. Our government spied on the opposition political party, that's the truth. But keep hiding it. So disgusting.
uhbhhddj 9y ago
jihishuee 8 minutes ago [dead] [-] jihijvjd 3 minutes ago [flagged] [dead] [-] Political commentary on HN is bankrupt. Nothing on the memo, the largest political scandal of our times, apparently all these enlightened HN commentators have nothing to say on incumbent political party using the intelligence apparatus to spy on the opposition during an election year. That's literally the behavior of a third world country but here complete silence, just virtue signaling jokes of being anti Republican Sadly my comment will be down voted, flagged, disappeared, assuming I am even allowed to post. Disgraceful. jihijvjd 12 minutes ago [flagged] [dead] [-] Political commentary on HN is bankrupt. Nothing on the memo, the largest political scandal of our times, apparently all these enlightened HN commentators have nothing to say on incumbent political party using the intelligence apparatus to spy on the opposition during an election year. That's literally the behavior of a third world country but here complete silence, just virtue signaling jokes of being anti Republican Sadly my comment will be down voted, flagged, disappeared, assuming I am even allowed to post. Disgraceful. heymodsihuman2 1 minute ago [flagged] [dead] [-] Even with show dead my comment was removed. Apparently pointing out the truth is grounds for silencing your opinion. Disgusting. Hey mods, not allowing articles and opinions on the greatest political scandal of our times is incredibly disappointing. Our government spied on the opposition political party, that's the truth. But keep hiding it. So disgusting.
silencemesjw 9y ago
Apparently freedom of speech is too dangerous a concept for HN. jihishuee 10 minutes ago [dead] [-] jihijvjd 3 minutes ago [flagged] [dead] [-] Political commentary on HN is bankrupt. Nothing on the memo, the largest political scandal of our times, apparently all these enlightened HN commentators have nothing to say on incumbent political party using the intelligence apparatus to spy on the opposition during an election year. That's literally the behavior of a third world country but here complete silence, just virtue signaling jokes of being anti Republican Sadly my comment will be down voted, flagged, disappeared, assuming I am even allowed to post. Disgraceful. jihijvjd 14 minutes ago [flagged] [dead] [-] Political commentary on HN is bankrupt. Nothing on the memo, the largest political scandal of our times, apparently all these enlightened HN commentators have nothing to say on incumbent political party using the intelligence apparatus to spy on the opposition during an election year. That's literally the behavior of a third world country but here complete silence, just virtue signaling jokes of being anti Republican Sadly my comment will be down voted, flagged, disappeared, assuming I am even allowed to post. Disgraceful. heymodsihuman2 3 minutes ago [flagged] [dead] [-] Even with show dead my comment was removed. Apparently pointing out the truth is grounds for silencing your opinion. Disgusting. Hey mods, not allowing articles and opinions on the greatest political scandal of our times is incredibly disappointing. Our government spied on the opposition political party, that's the truth. But keep hiding it. So disgusting. uhbhhddj 1 minute ago [flagged] [dead] [-] jihishuee 8 minutes ago [dead] [-] jihijvjd 3 minutes ago [flagged] [dead] [-] Political commentary on HN is bankrupt. Nothing on the memo, the largest political scandal of our times, apparently all these enlightened HN commentators have nothing to say on incumbent political party using the intelligence apparatus to spy on the opposition during an election year. That's literally the behavior of a third world country but here complete silence, just virtue signaling jokes of being anti Republican Sadly my comment will be down voted, flagged, disappeared, assuming I am even allowed to post. Disgraceful. jihijvjd 12 minutes ago [flagged] [dead] [-] Political commentary on HN is bankrupt. Nothing on the memo, the largest political scandal of our times, apparently all these enlightened HN commentators have nothing to say on incumbent political party using the intelligence apparatus to spy on the opposition during an election year. That's literally the behavior of a third world country but here complete silence, just virtue signaling jokes of being anti Republican Sadly my comment will be down voted, flagged, disappeared, assuming I am even allowed to post. Disgraceful. heymodsihuman2 1 minute ago [flagged] [dead] [-] Even with show dead my comment was removed. Apparently pointing out the truth is grounds for silencing your opinion. Disgusting. Hey mods, not allowing articles and opinions on the greatest political scandal of our times is incredibly disappointing. Our government spied on the opposition political party, that's the truth. But keep hiding it. So disgusting..
ggm 9y ago
State borrowing is fine. It's where it's spent and what they chose to ignore which worries me.
kapauldo 9y ago
Permanent war is the problem.

57 points by enraged_camel 9y ago

It's 2018. Framing this as political (i.e., party v party) is naive. Both parties continue to bloat the budget. Different spin and rhetoric. Same ends. In either case: "We spend more on our military than the next eight nations combined." Obama SOTU 2016 The rest is obvious.

Latty 9y ago
I mean, the Republicans have been claiming to be "the party of fiscal responsibility". Lying may be common in politics, but are we really at the point we just give up and stop even commenting on it? Also, while the Democrats may have still run a deficit, they were reducing it. It's not good, but to claim equivalence seems counter-productive. Claiming they "bloated" the budget when they cut the deficit (roughly) in half (not accounting for inflation) seems to be straight up misleading. Not to even start with how that money is being spent/where it comes from (or not, as the case may be).
- chiefalchemist 9y ago
  Right. War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. They BOTH generate misinformation while the masses claw and beg for basic service provided at reasonable value (i.e., the taxes to waste and corruption ratio is reasonable). Meanwhile, while everyone is sucked in the (Mad Magazine) spy v spy ruse the money bubbles to the top - regardless of which side is promising the otherwise. Actions speak louder than words. Why anyone listens to, let alone trusts, a politician is beyond me.
  - Latty 9y ago
    That sure sounds like a rationalisation to not bother. Sure, I don't dispute the current system has huge flaws. It is the system we live under, however, and trying to change that system doesn't require not participating in it. There is an obvious least-bad. It may not be everything I want, but it goes from people I care about suffering seriously to not seeing as much progress as I'd like. I'll take that every time, while also pushing for more serious reform.

axau 9y ago

The title is not very useful; this quote gives some context: “It's the highest amount of borrowing in six years, and a big jump from the $519 billion the federal government borrowed last year.”

crooked-v 9y ago

The Republican motto: "fiscal conservatism, except when it's us in charge".

sjg007 9y ago
Yet their supporters cannot see the blatant hypocrisy.
- mobilefriendly 9y ago
  To be fair, most Republicans think the tax bill will generate economic growth and revenue not captured by relatively static budget models. But there's no excuse on spending...there's actually little difference between GWB and Obama on spending outcomes.
  - ceejayoz 9y ago
    They should ask Kansas how that worked out. https://www.npr.org/2017/12/13/570387479/kansas-2012-tax-cut-experiment-could-serve-as-a-cautionary-tale https://www.npr.org/2017/12/13/570387479/kansas-2012-tax-cut... https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/10/us/politics/kansas-tried-a-tax-plan-similar-to-trumps-it-failed.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/10/us/politics/kansas-tried-...
    - crazy1van 9y ago
      Tax cuts may have not generated more revenue in Kansas, but there is definitely something to the theory that lowering taxes can generate more revenue. As the Laffer Curve predicts, maximum government revenue exists at a tax rate above 0% (no taxes) and below 100% (no reason to work). Determining that maximizing rate is the trick. If your tax rate is below the maximizing rate, then raising taxes would generate more revenue. But if your tax rate is above the maximizing rate, then lowering taxes would actually generate more revenue for the government.
      - Latty 9y ago

mobilefriendly 9y ago

This article takes up Democratic party talking points by framing the government's massive borrowing jump from $519 to $955 billion as caused by the tax cuts. Yet the "blunt" CBO report the WaPo cites actually says just $136 billion in revenue loss is from the tax cut. So there's $300 billion in new borrowing that's simply from runaway spending. So for the entire $955 billion projected deficit next year, just 14% will be from the recent changes in tax law.

ceejayoz 9y ago
It's 31% of the "big jump from the $519 billion the federal government borrowed last year". That's not insignificant.
rgbrenner 9y ago
The 519 is a typo or something. The deficit last year was 666B: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-ends-fiscal-2017-with-666-billion-budget-deficit-2017-10-20 https://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-ends-fiscal-2017-with-6... So 955B is an increase of ~290B.. so roughly half of the increase is from the tax cut.
- mobilefriendly 9y ago
  No, we're already in fiscal 2018 as the baseline, the trillion dollar projection is for 2019.
  - rgbrenner 9y ago
    The article says 955B for this year 2018. 666B was for 2017.
malchow 9y ago
Correct. Ratchet-spending social entitlement programs are responsible for the structural deficit, now and into the future. Getting agreed on this mathematical fact will be the work of patriotic centrist Americans for the next twenty years.

SubiculumCode 9y ago

Deficits in dollars aren't scary, unless they cause hyperinflation, IMO.

matte_black 9y ago

If the interest rate on this borrowed money is lower than inflation it makes perfect sense to borrow money as the money that will be used to pay the loan off in the future will be worth less and less.

xbmcuser 9y ago

Well if you look at the last 30-40 years. Republicans talk about improving economy, lowering taxes and small government the deficit balloons up. Democrats talk about increasing healthcare, other social services and increasing taxes the deficit comes down and the economy actually improves.

fao_ 9y ago

Meanwhile, in india: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-42899402 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-42899402 India's GDP: "The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in India was worth 2263.79 billion US dollars in 2016."[0] America's GDP: "The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the United States was worth 18624.48 billion US dollars in 2016."[1] [0]: https://tradingeconomics.com/india/gdp https://tradingeconomics.com/india/gdp [1]: https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/gdp https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/gdp Your system is massively inefficient.

kahnjw 9y ago
It's pretty efficient if you're in the 1%.
matt4077 9y ago
As percentage of GDP, India is running a deficit more than twice as high as the US (6.6% vs 2.8% over the last ten years). But those numbers are meaningless for proving or disproving "inefficiency". The US is obviously getting far better infrastructure/education/welfare system/research/military/etc.
- fao_ 9y ago
  > The US is obviously getting far better infrastructure/education/welfare system/research/military/etc. Is it? Research is on shaky ground: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/03/data-check-us-government-share-basic-research-funding-falls-below-50 http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/03/data-check-us-governm... https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/dr-no-money/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/dr-no-money/ https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/03/trump-budget-cuts-science/519825/ https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/03/trump-bu... http://theconversation.com/men-get-most-of-the-research-funding-its-a-serious-problem-for-women-and-science-85469 http://theconversation.com/men-get-most-of-the-research-fund... https://www.vox.com/2016/7/14/12016710/science-challeges-research-funding-peer-review-process https://www.vox.com/2016/7/14/12016710/science-challeges-res... Welfare system is failing: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/09/29/our-infant-mortality-rate-is-a-national-embarrassment/?utm_term=.8136e4325ad9 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/09/29/our-i... http://time.com/5090112/infant-mortality-rate-usa/ http://time.com/5090112/infant-mortality-rate-usa/ https://www.npr.org/2017/05/12/528098789/u-s-has-the-worst-rate-of-maternal-deaths-in-the-developed-world https://www.npr.org/2017/05/12/528098789/u-s-has-the-worst-r... https://www.propublica.org/article/die-in-childbirth-maternal-death-rate-health-care-system https://www.propublica.org/article/die-in-childbirth-materna... https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/05/america-homeless-population-2017-official-count-crisis https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/05/america-home... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42248999 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42248999 https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v70n3/v70n3p111.html https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v70n3/v70n3p111.html Education is failing en masse: https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/12/american-schools-vs-the-world-expensive-unequal-bad-at-math/281983/ https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/12/americ... http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/15/u-s-students-internationally-math-science/ http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/15/u-s-students... https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/03/10/469831485/americas-high-school-graduates-look-like-other-countries-high-school-dropouts https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/03/10/469831485/america... https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertreiss/2015/11/17/how-to-fix-education-in-america/#98109b5441c8 https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertreiss/2015/11/17/how-to-f... Millitary is using shoddy, ancient tools: https://newrepublic.com/article/113484/how-pentagon-boondoggle-putting-soldiers-danger https://newrepublic.com/article/113484/how-pentagon-boondogg... http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/us-modernizing-its-nuclear-arsenal-despite-criticism-over-weapons-a-932188.html http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/us-modernizing-its... http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/the-us-military-really-bad-shape-19446 http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/the-us-military-re... https://breakingdefense.com/2018/01/hasc-ew-expert-bacon-us-not-prepared-for-electronic-warfare-vs-russia-china/ https://breakingdefense.com/2018/01/hasc-ew-expert-bacon-us-... https://breakingdefense.com/2018/01/armys-basic-illusions-gone-time-for-futures-command/ https://breakingdefense.com/2018/01/armys-basic-illusions-go...

jihijvjd 9y ago

Political commentary on HN is bankrupt. Nothing on the memo, the largest political scandal of our times, apparently all these enlightened HN commentators have nothing to say on incumbent political party using the intelligence apparatus to spy on the opposition during an election year. That's literally the behavior of a third world country but here complete silence, just virtue signaling jokes of being anti Republican Sadly my comment will be down voted, flagged, disappeared, assuming I am even allowed to post. Disgraceful.

dang 9y ago
It's because it's off topic here. Please see https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html. Could you please stop creating accounts to post like this? If you want to use HN as intended, that's fine, but that means intellectual curiosity, not political warfare.
- threatofrain 9y ago
  You're asking someone to politely follow the rules when they're already engaging in full gamesmanship with you.
  - dang 9y ago
    There's no harm in asking.

Mikeb85 9y ago

With current economic growth and expected growth from the tax cut as well as low rates, it only makes sense to borrow. Also, 'borrowing' in this sense means selling lots of bonds with a very low face rate. People still gladly buy them...

jihishuee 9y ago

jihijvjd 3 minutes ago [flagged] [dead] [-] Political commentary on HN is bankrupt. Nothing on the memo, the largest political scandal of our times, apparently all these enlightened HN commentators have nothing to say on incumbent political party using the intelligence apparatus to spy on the opposition during an election year. That's literally the behavior of a third world country but here complete silence, just virtue signaling jokes of being anti Republican Sadly my comment will be down voted, flagged, disappeared, assuming I am even allowed to post. Disgraceful.

heymodsihuman2 9y ago

Even with show dead my comment was removed. Apparently pointing out the truth is grounds for silencing your opinion. Disgusting. Hey mods, not allowing articles and opinions on the greatest political scandal of our times is incredibly disappointing. Our government spied on the opposition political party, that's the truth. But keep hiding it. So disgusting.

uhbhhddj 9y ago

jihishuee 8 minutes ago [dead] [-] jihijvjd 3 minutes ago [flagged] [dead] [-] Political commentary on HN is bankrupt. Nothing on the memo, the largest political scandal of our times, apparently all these enlightened HN commentators have nothing to say on incumbent political party using the intelligence apparatus to spy on the opposition during an election year. That's literally the behavior of a third world country but here complete silence, just virtue signaling jokes of being anti Republican Sadly my comment will be down voted, flagged, disappeared, assuming I am even allowed to post. Disgraceful. jihijvjd 12 minutes ago [flagged] [dead] [-] Political commentary on HN is bankrupt. Nothing on the memo, the largest political scandal of our times, apparently all these enlightened HN commentators have nothing to say on incumbent political party using the intelligence apparatus to spy on the opposition during an election year. That's literally the behavior of a third world country but here complete silence, just virtue signaling jokes of being anti Republican Sadly my comment will be down voted, flagged, disappeared, assuming I am even allowed to post. Disgraceful. heymodsihuman2 1 minute ago [flagged] [dead] [-] Even with show dead my comment was removed. Apparently pointing out the truth is grounds for silencing your opinion. Disgusting. Hey mods, not allowing articles and opinions on the greatest political scandal of our times is incredibly disappointing. Our government spied on the opposition political party, that's the truth. But keep hiding it. So disgusting.

silencemesjw 9y ago

Apparently freedom of speech is too dangerous a concept for HN. jihishuee 10 minutes ago [dead] [-] jihijvjd 3 minutes ago [flagged] [dead] [-] Political commentary on HN is bankrupt. Nothing on the memo, the largest political scandal of our times, apparently all these enlightened HN commentators have nothing to say on incumbent political party using the intelligence apparatus to spy on the opposition during an election year. That's literally the behavior of a third world country but here complete silence, just virtue signaling jokes of being anti Republican Sadly my comment will be down voted, flagged, disappeared, assuming I am even allowed to post. Disgraceful. jihijvjd 14 minutes ago [flagged] [dead] [-] Political commentary on HN is bankrupt. Nothing on the memo, the largest political scandal of our times, apparently all these enlightened HN commentators have nothing to say on incumbent political party using the intelligence apparatus to spy on the opposition during an election year. That's literally the behavior of a third world country but here complete silence, just virtue signaling jokes of being anti Republican Sadly my comment will be down voted, flagged, disappeared, assuming I am even allowed to post. Disgraceful. heymodsihuman2 3 minutes ago [flagged] [dead] [-] Even with show dead my comment was removed. Apparently pointing out the truth is grounds for silencing your opinion. Disgusting. Hey mods, not allowing articles and opinions on the greatest political scandal of our times is incredibly disappointing. Our government spied on the opposition political party, that's the truth. But keep hiding it. So disgusting. uhbhhddj 1 minute ago [flagged] [dead] [-] jihishuee 8 minutes ago [dead] [-] jihijvjd 3 minutes ago [flagged] [dead] [-] Political commentary on HN is bankrupt. Nothing on the memo, the largest political scandal of our times, apparently all these enlightened HN commentators have nothing to say on incumbent political party using the intelligence apparatus to spy on the opposition during an election year. That's literally the behavior of a third world country but here complete silence, just virtue signaling jokes of being anti Republican Sadly my comment will be down voted, flagged, disappeared, assuming I am even allowed to post. Disgraceful. jihijvjd 12 minutes ago [flagged] [dead] [-] Political commentary on HN is bankrupt. Nothing on the memo, the largest political scandal of our times, apparently all these enlightened HN commentators have nothing to say on incumbent political party using the intelligence apparatus to spy on the opposition during an election year. That's literally the behavior of a third world country but here complete silence, just virtue signaling jokes of being anti Republican Sadly my comment will be down voted, flagged, disappeared, assuming I am even allowed to post. Disgraceful. heymodsihuman2 1 minute ago [flagged] [dead] [-] Even with show dead my comment was removed. Apparently pointing out the truth is grounds for silencing your opinion. Disgusting. Hey mods, not allowing articles and opinions on the greatest political scandal of our times is incredibly disappointing. Our government spied on the opposition political party, that's the truth. But keep hiding it. So disgusting..

ggm 9y ago

State borrowing is fine. It's where it's spent and what they chose to ignore which worries me.

kapauldo 9y ago

Permanent war is the problem.