What The U.S. Deficit Means For Us

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

What The U.S. Deficit Means For Us
(posted with permission from: http://sane-ramblings.blogspot.com/2011/02/what-us-deficit-means-for-us.html)

Our nation is on the brink of financial disaster. For every dollar our government spends, it brings in just 60 cents! The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office last month said the U.S. deficit will hit $1.5 trillion this year, and there is no end in sight to these deficits. Already, every man, woman and child in America owes $45,300 and that number is growing fast. Just to pay the interest on our nation's current debt takes $200 billion a year and that's at all-time low, near-zero interest rates.

Why should you care? Because as an American you will pay it through much higher taxes and cuts in essential programs such as Social Security, Medicare and education. The alternative to higher taxes and slashed spending is for the U.S. government to keep printing money out of thin air, which will lead to rampant inflation and will wipe out the value of your savings.

Politicians are talking about "freezing" some costs and even cutting as much as $100 billion in spending. But don't be fooled. Our debts are now so big, even cutting $100 billion amounts to just a half-cent on the dollar. Although we are going broke, politicians don't even talk about the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan or the massive weapons programs because weapons and wars mean jobs and corporate profits.

Meanwhile, our job market is a disaster. Small businesses, which are our nation's job engine, are sputtering and real estate foreclosures are rapidly rising. States, counties and cities are wallowing in debt with no idea how they will continue some essential services or how to pay pensions promised to their employees, even with massive potential layoffs.

What can you do to protect yourself? If you haven't done so already, slash your overhead. Pay off or pay down your credit cards and if you can't afford them, negotiate a settlement and lower payments from your credit suppliers. Sell any toys you don't need such as an extra car or an unused boat or motorcycle. If you are planning to sell your home, do it now. Don't wait for prices to fall further. And make yourself more valuable at work by cross-training and by finding ways to help your company make more money. Whatever happens, you need your job.

But if you are well off financially and can afford your home, then lock in today's record-low interest rates with a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage. And if you have other investment financings, ock them in as well, at long-term fixed rates.

America is in unchartered waters.

[aquart]

1. It means death. Suicides, early death due to increased stress.

Suicide/murders as the despairing take their families with them. Medical deaths of people who would have lived had they been rich or living in another country. Death.

[damntexdem]

2. Primarily, the deficit means for us: talking points for the GOP.

Yes, there are limits to how far the deficit could or should be pushed -- but NEITHER party is dealing with that.

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

5. Bush pushed us off a cliff with his wars and tax breaks...

and when we hit the ground, it will be more than just GOP talking points.

[Hello_Kitty]

3. Where was all this concern when the Bush tax cuts were extended? eom

[xchrom]

4. now, now -- you know it was the only thing he could do.

the republicans were going to be mean to him if didn't.

[fasttense]

6. 3 things have caused this federal budget deficit.

1. Tax cuts for the wealthy. Didn't Obama just extend them? You can't have the richest people in the country paying minuscule amounts in taxes, allowing them to hide their income in off-shore accounts, allowing them to use accounting tricks called write offs that hide their money, and expect to be able to balance a government's budget. It ain't going to happen. Until the rich start paying their fair share, we will always have a federal budget deficit.

2. The wars. Until we stop paying defense contractors money for not doing anything, until we stop paying out bribes to warlords, until we stop wasting billions on useless wars we will have a federal budget deficit.

3. The 2nd RepubliCON Great Depression. Despite increasing taxes on the Middle Class and poor, the deficit keeps getting wider. Those Middle Class and poor people keep losing their jobs and getting poorly paying crap jobs. When the Middle Class and poor have declining wages, their tax payments decline too. Simple math.

So now we have the rich dodging their taxes and conning the government into reducing their taxes. We have the poor and Middle Class losing their jobs and getting crappy little jobs, that pay crappy little wages, so they pay crappy little taxes. Who is left to pay taxes??

Add to that a huge whole in the budget called war that is siphoning off our tax dollars to warlords and defense contractors and you have a recipe for disaster.

The federal government will never balance the budget unless they cut off all pay to Congress critters, the Executive branch, Judges and the judiciary and all their retirements. That's the ONLY thing that will balance the budget.

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

7. I think you nailed it!

Great summarization.