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Will no one ever refute this stupidity?

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ktlyon Donating Member (733 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Feb-07-07 10:33 AM
Original message
Will no one ever refute this stupidity?
The voices of the right (George Will and others) continue to say that something is small in comparison to GDP, Gross Domestic Production. George Will says on George Stephenopolis’s show almost every week that the deficit or the Trade Deficit(Imbalance or Inequality but not deficit)is some small percentage of the total production of our country therefore no big deal. Well today on Washington Journal a Republic congressman compared the defense budget to GDP (4%) so no big deal. That is like me saying I can afford a 30,000 car because the city in which I live has 15 million dollars in total sales and earning. It is not a helpful comparison. If I want to know if I can afford that car I need to look at my income and my expenses and see if there is enough left to pay for the car. That is the comparison that government needs to make. Tax revenue and government expenses should be what we should compare if we want a realistic comparison that something meaningful could be derived from. If the congressman compared tax revenue to GDP (8%) or interest on the debt 4% or expenses for welfare at .2% then we might get the idea that the defense spending is almost 50% of budget or that interest payments were almost 50 % or that what spend on welfare is insignificant. But making that comparison all by itself is meaningless. I just wish someone on TV would call them out on this sometime.
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Olney Blue Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Feb-07-07 10:35 AM
Response to Original message
1. Good question. K and R.
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donco6 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Feb-07-07 10:44 AM
Response to Original message
2. Exactly - you have to look at the net.
It's like looking at your gross sales and thinking you're awash in cash - without considering you have to pay for the product, employees, rent, utilities . . . etc. It's pretty stupid.
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redqueen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Feb-07-07 10:48 AM
Response to Original message
3. They've been doing it for years now,
and sometimes they're called on it, but not *nearly* often enough.

LTTEs, calls to talk shows, talk to friends & neighbors (anyone who will listen)...
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jobycom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Feb-07-07 11:00 AM
Response to Original message
4. Might also ask the Congressman how high he plans to raise taxes
to convert that GDP produced by the labor and capital of Americans into revenues owned by the government. That 5% of the GDP means 5% of an individual's income (using an even distribution of taxes, just for the sake of argument). If you had the opportunity to reduce your monthly bills by 5%, would you seriously consider it, or just say "No big. Spend it." It depends on what you get for it, obviously. You earn 30K a year, let's say (a decent but not outrageous income). Would you mind keeping an extra $1500 of it?

Social spending programs that put money into the poorest of pockets is immediately spent back into the economy, thus stimulating the income of even the wealthiest. Money wisely spent. But pumping it into warfare that nets us little and creates conditions (ie, anger at us in other nations) that require us to spend increasing amounts on more warfare, that's not so wisely spent.

I could launch into my speech on how if we paid more for gasoline here and more for our oil abroad, while tying those funds to conditions requiring improving the life and poverty level in the nations we buy our oil from, we'd be spending a lot less money and winning more security than our current failing policies are doing. Sure, we need a military for national defense, but we use it more now for capitalist exploitation than for any legitimate defensive endeavors.
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wtmusic Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Feb-07-07 11:29 AM
Response to Original message
5. $406B in interest payments every year
and they want to borrow more. That, IMO, is the real crime.
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ktlyon Donating Member (733 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Feb-07-07 02:21 PM
Original message
25 years of borrowing with no plan to begin repayment
interest will be the complete budget except for military soon
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ktlyon Donating Member (733 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Feb-07-07 02:21 PM
Response to Reply #5
7. 25 years of borrowing with no plan to begin repayment
interest will be the complete budget except for military soon
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krispos42 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Feb-08-07 05:52 AM
Response to Reply #5
10. And half goes to the top 1%
After all, they own most of the Treasury bonds. That's $67,000 per person. Not per family, per person. Taxed at 15%.
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Mr_Jefferson_24 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Feb-07-07 12:23 PM
Response to Original message
6. Common sense and reasoned, objective analysis...
...have no place in the neocon bizarro world that is AmeriKa.
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ktlyon Donating Member (733 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Feb-07-07 06:13 PM
Response to Reply #6
8. so true
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Egalitarian Donating Member (379 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Feb-08-07 05:14 AM
Response to Original message
9. Is this right?
military spending = 4% of GDP
interst payments on current debt = 4% of GDP

Tax revenue = 8% of GDP

4 + 4 = 8. There's no money left! It's taxation without representation!


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ktlyon Donating Member (733 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Feb-08-07 09:06 AM
Response to Reply #9
11. It is close
I have now heard two people use the 4% number for for defense spending, Gates said it yesterday in the hearings, and interest is approaching 4%.
I am not sure of total budget, since we have no budget for the year we are in and the next budget is starting to be discussed but I think it will be a little over 8% of GDP
and incoming revenue is about 7% of GDP. Yes, there is no money left, that is the Republic plan.
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