We have gone from a deficit of about $600 billion/yr to a deficit of $1.7 Trillion/yr. The $600 billion was out of control and I’ve said that many times. But tripling that number didn’t help. There doesn’t seem to be any restraint on spending even though we have finished TARP and Stimulus and all the other supposedly one time shots in the arm. Yet the spending continues at a rate the exceeds revenues by $1.7 trillion every year.
Even if you assume Obama’s number is correct, the tax rates for those making $250K or more are only worth $42 billion/yr. Letting those expire does virtually nothing for the deficit and absolutely nothing for the debt. Most Democrats don’t like the Ryan Plan for reducing the deficit but offer nothing to counter it. Unless there is some plan to lower spending, we are at an impasse. Democrats want the debt ceiling raised but can’t seem to find anything in the budget to cut. That’s because they want to continue with this level of deficit spending.
Even the Ryan Plan doesn’t stop the growth of debt which will exceed $25 trillion over the next ten years even if it is passed. Come on guys, isn’t there some way to dig ourselves out of this hole? Simply passing another hike in the debt ceiling certainly doesn’t address the underlying problem.
@meiosis
China may lose a few hundred billion but they eliminate the US as a force in the world. It may very well be worth the price. How much was it worth to us to have the USSR collapse and end the cold war? It was significant.