4 ms·

The America our parents left us

11 points by sajid 16y ago

"The thing we make that everyone wants that no one else can make is the US dollar." "We will go down as the stupidest generation ever. The one who had it all and threw it all away."

anonymoushn 16y ago
This is factually incorrect. If we fail to raise the debt ceiling, we still wouldn't default unless our tax revenue failed to cover our interest payments for the year. As it stands, our tax revenue is somewhere between 3 and 5 times the interest payments we pay in a year.
- arethuza 16y ago
  Doesn't the US government have rather a lot of ongoing expenses that is "has" to pay?
  - anonymoushn 16y ago
    There is a lot of "mandatory spending," but the portion of that for which the government has a contractual or legal obligation to pay is approximately nothing. Evidence RE: Social Security - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flemming_v._Nestor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flemming_v._Nestor
    - arethuza 16y ago
      So why not do what has happened in the UK - large cuts on government spending and increased taxes explicitly to reduce the deficit.
    - jhaglund 16y ago
      I think the argument here is that we inherited a country which always paid it's debts. If we decide we don't HAVE to pay our debts, then this is a different country, the world will recognize this and we'll find it more painful to borrow. If we abolish every federal institution citizens depend on (social security, medicare, education, etc.) to pay debts, I think you're asking for a revolution.
      - davewiner 16y ago
        It's much worse than that. We enjoy a special status with the dollar as the reserve currency. We'd probsbly lose that before we defaulted, just the fact that we were considering defaulting would be enough. And without a reserve currencey the world economy would go into a tailspin. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reserve_currency http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reserve_currency
pwg 16y ago
The real question should be: Just what is the point of a "debt ceiling" if, every time we get near it, it simply gets raised to allow more debt to be aquired? It is not really a ceiling if it never actually stops the debt from growing.
- davewiner 16y ago
  That's correct. It's completely unnecessary. The budget that was passed by Congress and signed by the President dictates the finances for the country for the next twelve months. Its dishonest for a party to have voted for the budget and then to turn around and blame the other party for the spending it dictates. The time to have this fight is when deciding on the budget. Not by holding the economy hostage.
cromulent 16y ago
> It's known around the world that the United States always pays its debts...We're pretty much the only country that people depend on this way. Really? I thought that the US arrears situation with the UN for the last 25 years was well known. I would suggest Finland as a country that always pays its debts.

11 points by sajid 16y ago

"The thing we make that everyone wants that no one else can make is the US dollar." "We will go down as the stupidest generation ever. The one who had it all and threw it all away."

anonymoushn 16y ago

This is factually incorrect. If we fail to raise the debt ceiling, we still wouldn't default unless our tax revenue failed to cover our interest payments for the year. As it stands, our tax revenue is somewhere between 3 and 5 times the interest payments we pay in a year.

arethuza 16y ago
Doesn't the US government have rather a lot of ongoing expenses that is "has" to pay?
- anonymoushn 16y ago
  There is a lot of "mandatory spending," but the portion of that for which the government has a contractual or legal obligation to pay is approximately nothing. Evidence RE: Social Security - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flemming_v._Nestor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flemming_v._Nestor
  - arethuza 16y ago
    So why not do what has happened in the UK - large cuts on government spending and increased taxes explicitly to reduce the deficit.
  - jhaglund 16y ago
    I think the argument here is that we inherited a country which always paid it's debts. If we decide we don't HAVE to pay our debts, then this is a different country, the world will recognize this and we'll find it more painful to borrow. If we abolish every federal institution citizens depend on (social security, medicare, education, etc.) to pay debts, I think you're asking for a revolution.
    - davewiner 16y ago
      It's much worse than that. We enjoy a special status with the dollar as the reserve currency. We'd probsbly lose that before we defaulted, just the fact that we were considering defaulting would be enough. And without a reserve currencey the world economy would go into a tailspin. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reserve_currency http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reserve_currency

pwg 16y ago

The real question should be: Just what is the point of a "debt ceiling" if, every time we get near it, it simply gets raised to allow more debt to be aquired? It is not really a ceiling if it never actually stops the debt from growing.

davewiner 16y ago
That's correct. It's completely unnecessary. The budget that was passed by Congress and signed by the President dictates the finances for the country for the next twelve months. Its dishonest for a party to have voted for the budget and then to turn around and blame the other party for the spending it dictates. The time to have this fight is when deciding on the budget. Not by holding the economy hostage.

cromulent 16y ago

> It's known around the world that the United States always pays its debts...We're pretty much the only country that people depend on this way. Really? I thought that the US arrears situation with the UN for the last 25 years was well known. I would suggest Finland as a country that always pays its debts.