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Federal Tax Revenue Will Barely Cover Mandatory Spending This Year

24 points by Four_Star 8y ago

malcolmgreaves 8y ago
Oh no, the US owes all this money......in US dollars.
- Four_Star 8y ago
  What do you think your salary and savings are denominated in? Oh right. US Dollars
- codyb 8y ago
  What a silly thing to say. It's been less than what four decades since the US experienced rapid inflation during the oil embargo? These last few years of incredibly stable USD may have clouded your judgment, and this idea that we can just print money whenever we want is... beyond silly. We may have more leeway than most as we are the world's largest economy, the world's largest military, and the largest portion of the global reserve currency but to dismiss this so arrogantly and easily? That's dangerous. When things change, they tend to change very quickly. This is absolutely something we should be concerned about as we continue to allow our hijacked political system which benefits the few at the expense of the many to hand out humunguos tax breaks to the already inordinately wealthy among us.
  - slededit 8y ago
    Fed policy has significantly changed since then. Much of the stability is a result of the fed carefully controlling inflation. This is why they are tightening now.
- toomuchtodo 8y ago
  No need to increase taxes when you can inflate away people's savings and they're unlikely to understand the difference.
- paulddraper 8y ago
  * Specifically the US national government owes all this money.
amanaplanacanal 8y ago
I can't quite understand how "spending money today, and passing the debts on to your grandchildren" became a conservative value. But every time federal taxes are cut, that's exactly what's happening. I'd like to think that they would be ashamed of themselves, even though I know it's not true.
- toomuchtodo 8y ago
  Shame is not a trait the people doing this have. You can't appeal to them; you must treat them as irrational actors and act accordingly.
  - awshepard 8y ago
    Is it economically rational, or irrational, to pass costs on to someone else if one can? It seems a little odd to pass costs to one's grandchildren, but hey, then it's "not my problem!" and they can vote to pass the costs to their grandchildren!
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
    - dsq 8y ago
      It is rational because the costs are being passed on to our (the 99 percent) grandchildren, not to theirs (the top decision makers).
    - slededit 8y ago
      The costs are diluted by inflation and the children inherit the built infrastructure. If the diluted debt is less than the value of the infrastructure then everyone wins.
  - paulddraper 8y ago
    I'm not sure they are "irrational" actors. Inconsiderate actors. Unscrupulous actors. But not irrational actors.
- 8y ago
NTDF9 8y ago
I think we're going to hit economic recession sooner than we think simply because the US govt needs to borrow so much money to keep itself running. I have an idea. How about the politicians who voted for this deficit be on the hook for deficits and have to liquidate their own assets to pay for the deficit first. Come to other citizens later.
StillBored 8y ago
Blah blah... "With the economy strong, unemployment low, and tax receipts at record highs, now is the time to cut spending and bring the federal budget into order." Uh, how about we just stop cutting taxes for people & corps that are in the top few %? These "trickle down" policies have been repeatably proven not to actually boost the economy. In many cases its been shown that we are actually boosting foreign economies more than our own. Not only that but most "spending cuts" are really just backdoor tax hikes. Cut the road budget, give eminent domain easements to big corp/bank which builds a toll road and pockets 50%+ of the tolls as interest/profits. Cut higher education spending $1, raise tuition on students $2. The best ones are the ones like cutting spending on "women's health" that comes back as 2-3x in medicaid spending. It just goes on and on... One party is insane, the other is afraid of them and won't speak up for fear of the next election (despite actually being the losers for last last 40 years).

24 points by Four_Star 8y ago

malcolmgreaves 8y ago

Oh no, the US owes all this money......in US dollars.

Four_Star 8y ago
What do you think your salary and savings are denominated in? Oh right. US Dollars
codyb 8y ago
What a silly thing to say. It's been less than what four decades since the US experienced rapid inflation during the oil embargo? These last few years of incredibly stable USD may have clouded your judgment, and this idea that we can just print money whenever we want is... beyond silly. We may have more leeway than most as we are the world's largest economy, the world's largest military, and the largest portion of the global reserve currency but to dismiss this so arrogantly and easily? That's dangerous. When things change, they tend to change very quickly. This is absolutely something we should be concerned about as we continue to allow our hijacked political system which benefits the few at the expense of the many to hand out humunguos tax breaks to the already inordinately wealthy among us.
- slededit 8y ago
  Fed policy has significantly changed since then. Much of the stability is a result of the fed carefully controlling inflation. This is why they are tightening now.
toomuchtodo 8y ago
No need to increase taxes when you can inflate away people's savings and they're unlikely to understand the difference.
paulddraper 8y ago
* Specifically the US national government owes all this money.

amanaplanacanal 8y ago

I can't quite understand how "spending money today, and passing the debts on to your grandchildren" became a conservative value. But every time federal taxes are cut, that's exactly what's happening. I'd like to think that they would be ashamed of themselves, even though I know it's not true.

toomuchtodo 8y ago
Shame is not a trait the people doing this have. You can't appeal to them; you must treat them as irrational actors and act accordingly.
- awshepard 8y ago
  Is it economically rational, or irrational, to pass costs on to someone else if one can? It seems a little odd to pass costs to one's grandchildren, but hey, then it's "not my problem!" and they can vote to pass the costs to their grandchildren!
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - dsq 8y ago
    It is rational because the costs are being passed on to our (the 99 percent) grandchildren, not to theirs (the top decision makers).
  - slededit 8y ago
    The costs are diluted by inflation and the children inherit the built infrastructure. If the diluted debt is less than the value of the infrastructure then everyone wins.
- paulddraper 8y ago
  I'm not sure they are "irrational" actors. Inconsiderate actors. Unscrupulous actors. But not irrational actors.
8y ago

NTDF9 8y ago

I think we're going to hit economic recession sooner than we think simply because the US govt needs to borrow so much money to keep itself running. I have an idea. How about the politicians who voted for this deficit be on the hook for deficits and have to liquidate their own assets to pay for the deficit first. Come to other citizens later.

StillBored 8y ago

Blah blah... "With the economy strong, unemployment low, and tax receipts at record highs, now is the time to cut spending and bring the federal budget into order." Uh, how about we just stop cutting taxes for people & corps that are in the top few %? These "trickle down" policies have been repeatably proven not to actually boost the economy. In many cases its been shown that we are actually boosting foreign economies more than our own. Not only that but most "spending cuts" are really just backdoor tax hikes. Cut the road budget, give eminent domain easements to big corp/bank which builds a toll road and pockets 50%+ of the tolls as interest/profits. Cut higher education spending $1, raise tuition on students $2. The best ones are the ones like cutting spending on "women's health" that comes back as 2-3x in medicaid spending. It just goes on and on... One party is insane, the other is afraid of them and won't speak up for fear of the next election (despite actually being the losers for last last 40 years).