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Americans Blame Wasteful Government Spending for Deficit

You're wrong.

We have a revenue problem not a spending problem.

How do you justify that? Obama has increased spending exponentially to a point that taxation cannot sustain it. We have a spending problem, the government spends too much and taxing citizens to feed a bad government habit will only hurt the nation. We have a spending problem, not a revenue problem.
 
on the contrary. we have no prayer whatsoever of ever having enough revenue to meet our spending. if we were to confiscate 100% of income earned by everyone making $100K and over, we would still not have

First of all, I'd like to see your numbers.

Secondly, who said anything about doing it all in one year? I'm proposing long-term changes.
 
How do you justify that? Obama has increased spending exponentially to a point that taxation cannot sustain it. We have a spending problem, the government spends too much and taxing citizens to feed a bad government habit will only hurt the nation. We have a spending problem, not a revenue problem.

In fact, the deficit results primarily from Bush's tax cuts, Bush's unfunded wars and Bush's recession. Don't blame the deficit on Obama.
 
In fact, the deficit results primarily from Bush's tax cuts, Bush's unfunded wars and Bush's recession. Don't blame the deficit on Obama.

No, it results from Obama's spending. Bush ran a deficit due to his war spending and the bail outs. Obama is running an astronomically higher deficit due to increased and dangerous spending levels. Obama isn't the only one who ran up a deficit, but he's the primary one doing so.
obama-deficit1.jpg
 
Americans Blame Wasteful Government Spending for Deficit

Well, isn't this interesting. All you ultra-liberals out there that want to raise taxes and hurt the economic recovery, take careful note. This should help make the debt ceiling debate vigorous.

irwpue_dn0sqyyrlmieeia.gif

That poll says nothing, you do know that right? Its not specificity enough. Liberal voted its that its spending too much on programs as well. You know why? Its because programs include tax subsides, tax loop holes, defense spending, warfare spending, etc.

The problem is much more complex than what that poll may lead you to think.

Personally, I thin its both a revenue problem and a spending problem. When companies and individuals pay nothing in taxes what else is there to think?


No, it results from Obama's spending. Bush ran a deficit due to his war spending and the bail outs. Obama is running an astronomically higher deficit due to increased and dangerous spending levels. Obama isn't the only one who ran up a deficit, but he's the primary one doing so.
obama-deficit1.jpg

I don't know where, but I remember seeing a graph that show the comparison of Bush debt and Obama debt that included the wars and the Bush spending increases (taking the 2009 budget and giving it to bush) The difference between the two isn't as large as you would think when you do it that way

Yea, your graph is misleading because it doesn't include 2009 as a "bush year" since the fed budget of 2009 was passed under Bush.
 
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No, it results from Obama's spending. Bush ran a deficit due to his war spending and the bail outs. Obama is running an astronomically higher deficit due to increased and dangerous spending levels. Obama isn't the only one who ran up a deficit, but he's the primary one doing so.
obama-deficit1.jpg

Doesnt the 2009 Budget belong to President Bush?
 
No, it results from Obama's spending. Bush ran a deficit due to his war spending and the bail outs. Obama is running an astronomically higher deficit due to increased and dangerous spending levels. Obama isn't the only one who ran up a deficit, but he's the primary one doing so.
obama-deficit1.jpg

Im also pretty sure that tax refenue fell about 450 billion in 2010 due to all of the people who lost their jobs and it went down another 250 billion for 2011. Just saying.
 
Im also pretty sure that tax refenue fell about 450 billion in 2010 due to all of the people who lost their jobs and it went down another 250 billion for 2011. Just saying.

Exactly......:2wave:
 
andrew cuomo's state of the state in NEW YORK, january 4:

The State of the State begins with an honest analysis of the crisis that we face. In government, as in life, you can never solve a problem if you refuse to acknowledge it. We have the worst business tax climate in the nation, period. Our taxes are 66% higher than the national average. Upstate is truly an economic crisis. In real GDP, from 2001-2006, upstate New York grew about 1.7% per year while the average in the nation was 2.7%. The costs of pensions are exploding, 1.3 billion in 1998-1999, projected for 2013, 6.2 billion - a 476% increase and its only getting worse.

The State of New York spends too much money, it is that blunt and it is that simple. Our spending has far exceeded the rate of inflation. From 1994-2009, inflation was about 2.7% per year; medicaid when up over 5% per year and education went up over 6% per year. We just can’t afford those rates of increase.

And most damaging, our expenses in this state far exceed revenue. We’ve been focusing on this year and the deficit this year, which is a very large deficit about $10 billion, and that is a problem and it is a major problem. Next year, the problem goes to $14 billion. The year after, the deficit goes to $17 billion. This is not a one year problem my friends. This is a fundamental economic realignment for the State of New York.

Not only do we spend too much, but we get too little in return. We spend more money on education than any state in the nation and we are number 34 in terms of results. We spend more money on Medicaid than any other state in the nation and we are number 21 in results. We spend about $1.6 billion per year in economic development and we are number 50 in terms of results. We are spending more, and government is growing more.

And the large government we have is all too often responsive to the special interests, over the people of the State of New York. The proof is in the pudding. And New Yorkers are voting with their feet. Two million New Yorkers have left the State over the past decade. What does this say? It says we need radical reform, it says we need a new approach, we need a new perspective and we need it now. This is a fundamental realignment for the state. You can’t make up these kinds of savings over this long of period of time through a budget cutting or trimming exercise. We are going to have to reinvent government. We are going to redesign our approach because the old way wasn’t working anyway, let's be honest.

Because what made New York the Empire State was a not a large government complex, it was a vibrant private sector that was creating great jobs in the State of New York. That’s what made us the Empire State once and that’s what’s going to make us the Empire State again. At the heart of this State is business. And we have to relearn the lesson our founders knew and we have to put up a sign that says New York is open for business. We get it. And this is going to be a business friendly State.

Next, we are going to have to confront the tax situation in our State. The property taxes in New York are killing New Yorkers. Thirteen of the sixteen highest tax counties are in New York when assessed by home value. In absolute dollars, Westchester County has the highest property taxes in the United States of America. Nassau County has the second highest property taxes in the United State of America. It has to end, it has to end this year. We have to hold the line on taxes for now and reduce taxes in the future. New York has no future as the tax capital of the nation. Our young people will not stay. Our business will not come.

Put it simply, the people of this state simply cannot afford to pay any more taxes, period. We need to transform our budget. We need to hold the line on taxes, we need a state spending cap and we need to close this $10 billion gap without any borrowing.

GOVERNOR ANDREW M. CUOMO STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESS | Governor Andrew M. Cuomo

there's your table, deal with it

leadership, anyone?
 
you think that Americans believe A) that we spend "too much" and that B) we should raise taxes so that we can keep spending "too much"?

Apparantly you can't read. I think Americans think we spend too much and need to decrease spending and increase taxes.
 
No, it results from Obama's spending. Bush ran a deficit due to his war spending and the bail outs. Obama is running an astronomically higher deficit due to increased and dangerous spending levels. Obama isn't the only one who ran up a deficit, but he's the primary one doing so.
obama-deficit1.jpg

Why not take the recession into consideration before making such an argument?

Tax revenue as a percentage of GDP peaked in 2000, and has since declined from its relative maximum (21%) to around 14.9% in 2010. Due to the extension of the Bush tax cuts, this ratio is projected to fall to 14.5% in 2011 before picking up in 2012.

Which brings me to automatic stabilizers, e.g. unemployment insurance, food stamps, medicaid etc....

Research
from the Federal Reserve Bank:

This paper provides quantitative estimates of the effects of the automatic stabilizers on
the government budget and on the economy. We find that at the general government level each
1 percent increase in the GDP gap increases the deficit by 0.45 percent of GDP with 0.35 percent
of GDP occurring at the federal level. According to simulations with FRB/US, the automatic
stabilizers provide a moderate amount of buffering of aggregate demand shocks.
The stabilizers
attenuate the effects on aggregate demand by about 10 percent after four quarters and 20 percent
after eight quarters. Turning to active fiscal policy, the federal government has engaged in
countercyclical policies following most business cycle peaks. This has been offset to some
degree by tightening at the state and local level. During 2008-09, the combined effects of federal
and state and local budgets on aggregate demand (from both discretionary actions and automatic
stabilizers) may have lifted the level of GDP by 2½ percent in 2009.

If you are looking for something to blame for deficit spending, blame the recession.
 
:lol: yes, so long as you can plug in whatever multiplier you like, gosh, the model always works!


watch, i can do it to: okay.... now, yesterday, I bought a broom and some other cleaning supplies, costing me about 20 bucks. now..... we'll just go ahead and figure that 20 bucks is going to get spent a few thousand times before it get's destroyed, only to be replaced by another 20, which will itself get spent........ okay, so figuring for a multiplier of 5,000,000.........


:shock: I just saved or created thousands of jobs!!!.


hey, if you are out there, and you have a job today, you're welcome. because last week I also bought some food - so I'm pretty sure if I hadn't done that, you would have been fired.
 
:lol: yes, so long as you can plug in whatever multiplier you like, gosh, the model always works!


watch, i can do it to: okay.... now, yesterday, I bought a broom and some other cleaning supplies, costing me about 20 bucks. now..... we'll just go ahead and figure that 20 bucks is going to get spent a few thousand times before it get's destroyed, only to be replaced by another 20, which will itself get spent........ okay, so figuring for a multiplier of 5,000,000.........


:shock: I just saved or created thousands of jobs!!!.


hey, if you are out there, and you have a job today, you're welcome. because last week I also bought some food - so I'm pretty sure if I hadn't done that, you would have been fired.

Why even bother responding? If you want to rant, by all means go right on ahead. Just don't expect to be taken seriously....

If there is a multiplier of 3/2, and you spend $20, it would lead to an additional $10 in total output (expenditure approach). In the future, do try and make some sense when you post.
 
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Why not take the recession into consideration before making such an argument?

Tax revenue as a percentage of GDP peaked in 2000, and has since declined from its relative maximum (21%) to around 14.9% in 2010. Due to the extension of the Bush tax cuts, this ratio is projected to fall to 14.5% in 2011 before picking up in 2012.

Which brings me to automatic stabilizers, e.g. unemployment insurance, food stamps, medicaid etc....

Research
from the Federal Reserve Bank:



If you are looking for something to blame for deficit spending, blame the recession.

Or you could seek the truth. The link will give clarity to your errors, big time.

Legal Schnauzer: Dissecting the Economic Debacles of the George W. Bush Administration
 
How do you justify that? Obama has increased spending exponentially to a point that taxation cannot sustain it.

That's just not so.

The Pew Charitable Trust has examined the effect of legislation passed in the last ten years on the the deficit. In 2001, they projected a surplus of $2.3t for 2011. Insetead we have a defict of $10.4t. That shift of $12.7t is caused primarily by the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, 27%, the recession, 28%, the wars, 10%, Medicare Part D, 2%. The Recovery Act was responsible for only 6% of the $12.7t. This is not Obama's fault.

http://www.pewtrusts.org/uploadedFi...ic_Policy/drivers_federal_debt_since_2001.pdf
 
I think Americans think we spend too much and need to decrease spending and increase taxes.

fair enough, just tell harry to write it up and move it

it's been seven hundred and FIVE days since the party in power produced an itemized budget---in times like these

why?

when do you expect hurryup harry to hustle one up?
 
Americans Blame Wasteful Government Spending for Deficit

Well, isn't this interesting. All you ultra-liberals out there that want to raise taxes and hurt the economic recovery, take careful note. This should help make the debt ceiling debate vigorous.

irwpue_dn0sqyyrlmieeia.gif

Sorry, but this is a bit silly. First off, the poll makes zero sense as it poses a binary question asking which item is the bigger contributor rather than seek to partition the blame. Then, you take this binary poll to imply that we take a binary view of the solution: we fix the budget by only cutting expenses or only increasing taxes. Sorry, but most economists and people not running for office would tell you the the cause and solution are a blended problem, not a binary one.

Americans do generally favor a roll-back on tax reductions for high income individuals (though they are generally not in favor of an across the board increase). This will have to happen, as Americans are also not in favor of sweeping changes to social programs called for by the Republican budget.

From a Washington Post / ABC poll (Washington Post-ABC News Poll (washingtonpost.com))

17. In order to reduce the national debt, would you support or oppose [ITEM]? Do you feel that way STRONGLY or SOMEWHAT?
4/17/11 – Summary Table

------ Support ------ ------- Oppose ----- No
NET Strngly Smwht NET Smwht Strngly

a. Cutting spending on Medicaid,
which is the government health
insurance program for the poor 30 14 16 69 17 52

b. Cutting spending on Medicare,
which is the government health
insurance program for the elderly 21 8 13 78 13 65

c. Cutting military spending 42 22 20 56 15 41

d. Raising taxes on Americans
with incomes over 250-thousand
dollars a year 72 54 18 27 10 17


That all said, the idea of not raising the debt ceiling is complete silliness (except the consequences of mis-playing with this bomb could be grave). In ALL budget scenarios proposed, including that of the Republicans, the deficit will increase for the forseeable future. Even to implement the Ryan budget with zero changes you must increase the debt ceiling.
 

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