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So tonight is the Repugnant Debate, it is suposed to be just Economic Questions, which means that they don't have to worry about wrestling with Too Many LandMine Questions. ( You know like the women's rights questions, and those damn people wanting their kids insured,and those 47 Million that have no healthcare that also might be repugs, no medical mari-juana questions for Mitt, and etc etc.)
It can be any question you want, you get to be the Divine Sorcerer and ASK the most probing questions you want. ( and please no toe tapping ...... or bathroom breaks).
[ BTW Heads Up, Mary Ellen, the DIVINE DEMOCRAT has a great write up about Not-dead-yet-Freddy....it is a must read]
*{ Click the Title for Music: Music picked during the Heat Wave last night, still warm here- upper 70's. "We don't have to take our clothes off"....let's hope NO One does that tonight at the debate!! ]*
38 comments:
Ok! Here is my economic question:
Topic: Fiscal Conservatism
In September 2007, the national debt hit an all-time high of $9 trillion, according to the Bureau of the Public Debt at the Treasury Department.
Numerically, that’s in excess of the debt ceiling set by Congress, which stands at $8.965 trillion.
The Government's "fix" for this is to bump up the debt ceiling in order to continue to allow the debt to continue to increase by $1.47 billion dollars PER DAY.
That means the Ntl Debt has increased by 57 percent on his watch. So far.
And it’s not just the size of the debt that’s historic. So too is the amount taxpayers must pay annually in interest payments on $9 trillion in borrowed funds.
Last year, the interest on the debt exceeded $405 billion dollars. This year’s interest payments will be even greater.
The National debt is a huge concern and burden to be passing off to our children and the next generation. What is the plan to address this?
Will (or has) the ceiling been raised to allow for even greater debt?
*Follow up comments-- the question should say "generations (plural)" because one generation can't fix this debt problem. I know the answer is the "mass distraction"- because one article I read really focused on how the bushco admin completely ignores the debt topic. Let's not forget he drove more than one business into bankruptcy on his watch.
Traditionally, the republicans claimed to *own fiscal conservancy*, and the dems were the "tax & spenders", but the truth is, contrary to the current approach, ignore it & it will go away.... it's more like ignore it and it will go a waaaaaay higher.
In real life, when credit is maxxed out, you cut up the credit cards (or the lenders revoke them) & you HAVE to pay down the debt, tighten the belt. The spending of debt is cut off. We can;t ignore the elephant in the room either. this damned war is costing $200 million a day. Of course the cost of lives is most important, and I would glady approve spending of whatever it took to GET OUT of there ASAP- both Iraq & the other war we rarely hear about in Aghanistan. The wars are money "black holes" that must also have other hidden costs that don't even make it to the pie charts & press reports. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out why Seniors struggle to pay for meds, medicare does not cover, kids don't have healthcare or enough books for everyone in the classroom, or bridges are collapsing from neglect- why these items are not funded.
But the debt is under OUR watch. I guess the question is Are we watching?
Fran
enigma
There are so many but with defense stocks carrying the day will you admit this is a war economy that Bush will keep going even when he is gone and how bad will it get when we have to start paying off his trillions in debt after he is gone and reality starts hitting Bush's atrificial economy?
Well, actually, I thought it was a brilliant republican stratagem to hold this debate in the afternoon guaranteeing the fewest possible American viewers.
Sadly, it looks like some network will choose to rerun it in prime time.
Dada: that was because all of them have bedtimes that are before Primetime.,...sorry..Also with all of that makeup and primping, they probally started getting ready yesterday....lol....But I am going to watch Keith- I am sure he will have all the gems for us plebians...
Jim: Bush doesn't matter in the scheme of things- he will be long gone...to South America...where he can hide from the hordes that hate him and from the mess he has created....It is odd, because the War Companies issue is interesting, because it is a small group of elite war profiteers that will take their money to offshore areas anways ( Caymans, Dubai).....
FRAN: Omg woman ....you rock...that';s it from now on you are in charge of coordinating all the debates here at the cafe...extra coffee for you....and here a cheese danish.....you are thinking...and hell Someone should have you on their Policy Team...you are a THINKER...
I have not put my questions on...BUT later I will...
Dada: I have to laugh...the Debate is not until 9pm...and there are plenty of good shows on- so their numbers will indeed suck ( oh boohoo)...and THEY really will be in bed- I can 't think of one that might still be up...and they don;'t have much time to edit it either...
see I AM waiting to see how ron paul answers the questions...i happen to thing - gasp - that he might actually have the best interests of us...check out his web site some time...and yes i know - he' s a - well , um, repug...
my only question is when are we - America - going to stop funneling all our money and pretend/borrowed money into the richest Rich's pockets
and start helping all Americans?
As an alien I don't really get to ask a question. Still, we Australians still get swamped by US policy outcomes.
The difficult part is that the current 'economics de jour', neo-liberalism - Reganomics or whatever handle you use, is not economics but fiscal. That is the distribution of government held funds as opposed to economic regulation.
Given that a debate on the 'economics' becomes problematic.
My question, however, would be: What steps will the US take to strengthen the dollar and head of the growing strength of the Aussie dollar against the greenback?
Any action would, of course, call for a measure of regulation. But the increasingly weak US dollar presents a danger to economies across the globe.
cartledge: As a former student of economics, I have but one question for you?
"Huh?"
Ok, ok, just kidding. Obviously, you are far more "up" on economics than I? (I studied before 'trickle down' or as it's known to we on the left, 'piss on you' economics of the Reagan era.)
But if I were running as a republican candidate, I would answer your question about what we would do to strengthen the dollar against the Aussie dollar (and every other currency 'round the globe) thusly:
"Being as we are the dominant global empire, we DON'T NEED to strengthen the dollar. In fact, we don't give a flying fippard's ass about the weakness of the dollar. That's because every $5, $10, $100, $1,000 U.S. American bill cost approx. $ 0.054 to make (paper and ink costs). The rest of the dollar's value comes from FAITH we Americans have in each bill's denomination, i.e., $4.946 of faith in the $Fiver, 9.912 in the $10, $99.12 in the $100, and so on.
Point being....we don't need flippin wealth as long as we Americans (and all the Chinese, Japanese, Australians and everyone else floating American hubris) continue to share the "faith" of we Americans.
But should YOU lose it, pull our plug and *POOF* bring it all down...well, oh hell, oh damn, we'll probably have to pull our troops out of Iraq (and Japan, Korea, Germany, U.K., and the other 100 or 200 nations we have troops in.
So, sadly, your question is moot, so long as we--and you--"Keep the faith, baby, keep the faith."
(Good question, however, were we living in a rational world.)
I never heard of a national debt ceiling, Fran. If there was ever was one, I guess we blew right through it in our messianic zeal to foist amerikanism on the whole damn world. Ya gotta hand it to bush, he has exceeded all previous prezzies in upping the debt ante.
AZ, since I DVR'd this one, I think I will ffwd through all BUT Ron Paul, just to see how he answers economic questions. I know he is a small govt man.
I liked Dada's answer to Cartledge, even if I don't exactly know what a "flying fippard's ass" is! Some CNN guy over the weekend was touting why our weak US dollar is good. Something to do with all our exports now being so much more affordable for prospective foreign buyers. Problem is I couldn't think of many exports, other than war.
And of course, since I slept through Econ 101, I am not really entitled to ask any economic question.
I'd ask how long has the Republican Party been run by Nazi Fascist and how long have you been a Nazi.
God Bless.
Unfortunately I was busy doing PolSci, with the result that the economics has been a hard slow self education.
One, I should add, which has a long way to go. But my point stands; the US in the end must rely on the health of its client economies. Even more so when China is snapping at the countries economic heels.
Oddly China is our salvation, being Australia's major buyer of the minerals driving China's growth boom. Our higher dollar rate/export prices aren't hurting demand, any probably won't.
It is really the fiscal argument here now; how do you spread the wealth without driving inflation?
cartledge..."spreading the wealth" is an exotic concept with which I suspect the ruling class of America is unfamiliar or has no interest in. (It does have a nice ring to it though.)
Please know I am not attacking your ideas but, rather, those hoarding the wealth while bankrupting our nation, its future and endangering global economic health.
Wow...I got here late ...and I am really puzzled...what happened...First off I think it is a really good idea to discuss what is not being discussed, and won't be discussed on the Debate tonight...so First off, I am puzzled, by Larry's question- I don't think anyone here has Hate ? and certainly not for anyone that has less....So I need to quickly go find Larry and find out if he really said this, or asked thi question...because larry knows all of us, and that we care about what we discuss and each other and the people of this country....So Please just hold the discussion for a few minutes while I read all the comments and while I check in with larry....thanks..
Enigma,
That is not me, but I don't know how they got my bio on their name link.
Mahybe I can figure out how to delete it.
Got it off Enigma. That happened to me before on another blog. Guess I better change passwords.
Thanks for telling me.
Larry, So sorry I was rushing back to take it down..sorry..No worries all taken care..I will keep a sharp eye...thanks...
Don't worry Enigma I know who the culprit is.
The main thing that is here is that we actually have a pretty good dicsussion going , and funny none of these issues is on the table over at the Debate...oh the shock..thanks for everyone for putting their thinking caps on and It hink it is Great that we have the Down Under perspective. I wish more people would talk about the effects glogally of the Devalued Dollar- it is a very important issue, that NO one in the States talks about..
And sadly Dada you are soooo right that the idea of Spreading the wealth has been lost upon the wealth in this Country- they have been getting richer and richer these past 5 years...it is a shame becuase they could have been investing in this country...OUR country...but it no longer is OUR country--- it belongs to war mongers and war profiteers, and that is the living shame of it..
Larry, we will keep an eye out for the Impersonator...we are smarter than that..and we love you here,you know that...no worries...
Keep thinking folks...
Dada has a refreshing sense of the humour and I certainly don't take exception to the comments.
Except that he remind me how old I am - "I studied before 'trickle down'"
So I'm am old Galbraith/Keynes devotee. Some old stuff is still good... I think ;)
Dada indeed has a good sense of humor...so does Dk, Fran, Larry, and Anon, Anok, AZ, and Patriot..thank heavens..or how would we get through this....if we can't laugh we would all pull our hair out and have to scrape vomit out of the keyboard daily....
Okay so on the Debate- who rocked??? yup...Az called it...Ron Paul...Freddy looked like he need a transfusion, Rudy a drink, Mitt more tapdancing lessons, John McCain an enema...oh stop me...I am awfull........
Don't know which Faux repug "won" the debate, but the American people lost as usual.(with the MSM cheerleading that loss).
Clif: you are right, I should not use the word "win"....silly me...the person who was the most Interesting...and yes, the American People have been losing for years....and the MSM are still the WH lapdogs...and yes, they are the cheerleaders for the Cheerleader.....I watch this stuff to test my sanity and also to see if they have ANY reality....at all..
OK, I made it through about 30-minutes before feeling like hawking up a hairball. AZ, your guy (R Paul) sounded good right out of the box (later on, I don't know, but get the feeling he is being "kuciniched"). WHAT is wrong with F Thompson? Does anyone else think he is waaay out of his depth here? And I thought these hollywood types always got their eye bags removed, maybe this is what happens after the 200th eyetuck. Everyone else looks tan & blowdried, except Mitt is tan & oiled and McCain is is pasty & blowdried and Duncan Hunter looks like the grinch who stole xmas. Issues -- hmmmm, nope, just crowdpleasin' taxbustin' expenditureaxin' securityfencin' deficitluvin' notiraqtonightdearIhaveaheadache!
I did not catch the debate or debacle, whatever you want to call it... I can barely stand the dems let alone the repugs-- but we caught a blurb on national news saying F Thompson made a campaign trail remark about the "Soviet Union", instead of "Russia". The Soviet Union disbanded 16 years ago.
That just made us all bust out in laughter.
Fran: he is sooooo out of touch...lordy...He was going on and on in his opening statement about how good the economy is doing...???? ( My son said he is stuck in some other era..) the Soviet union...oh my...People keep saying he is LIKE Reagon???what? how could that be...WHAT ...his earlobes? his shoe size?
DK: oh my ......what the heck is wrong with those bags under his eyes...maybe he stores old law and order scripts there..you are so funny..you are right Mitt is well oiled..( and so are his reponses..) they are all a grosse bunch...
Freddo is like Reagan in that they are/were both *actors*.
I caught a glimpse of the debate just now... these old coots are the country's finest?
Ahh they just need some marketing slogans---
Fred Thompson: Give me a good script & I'll act like a president.
Mitt Romney: Putting the *mental* in fundamentalism.
Juliano: "I thrive on disaster!"
Oh darn! I missed this post yesterday! Now it's too late to put up a question (great post idea, btw!)
I think I would have asked "Why is it that the Republican party lays claim to being better at National Security when it was on Bush's watch that we were hit with the biggest terrorist attack on our land since Pearl Harbor?"
Ooops...forgot to add thank for the link to my blog! Much appreciated!
My question: As "the party of fiscal responsibility", What's the deal?
Okay...you all had the best questions...I think I am laughing and nodding....and sadly now that the debate is over- I have to say..proudly- OUR questions are better...
NEW post up this eve....or late afternoon..
How much money in your first budget presented to congress will you allocate towards the care of veterans of this nation, and how will you cut the time to qualify for care down from a year to when care is first applied for?
And yet another great question that was not asked at the debate...
Was it just me that noticed the name of John Kennedy being invoked by the Republicons as an example of responsible leadership during the debate ?
I hope people see through this disingenous tactic more quickly than they did their vision of mushroom clouds over America.
Who will they quote next .... Pope John Paul, Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King, John Lennon to win votes in '08 ?
It's like they were trying to win sympathy for the devil.
Peace,
Cosmic
Wellll..they can't realy invoke or even whisper Bush...WHO SHALL NOT BE NAMED....
and very little religion ? did you notice...
and very little Terra too?
and very little about Been Laden...odd...
The whole thing was like watching A Mortician Convention in a Dry State... waiting for crappy appetizers while the wives were off freshening their makeup....
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