November 10, 2005

Bush amazes the US by borrowing more from foreign nations than all other US Presidents combined Throughout the first 224 years (1776-2000) of our nation’s history, 42 U.S. presidents borrowed a combined $1.01 trillion from foreign governments and financial institutions according to the U.S. Treasury Department. In the past four years alone (2001-2005), the Bush Administration has borrowed a staggering $1.05 trillion.

Let's not forget either the Heritage foundation, "the biggest think tank period—in Washington. . . provides "talking points" to conservative Congressmen who don't have time to do their own research. . . and very actively helps direct U.S. politics. Heritage is very up-front about these goals. Paul Krugman and others have pointed out that the goal of the Bush administration seems to be to bankrupt the federal government; the Heritage Foundation indeed announces this vision up front: "Too many conservatives lose hope," writes Heritage president Edwin J. Feulner. "They doubt that the liberal welfare state can be brought to collapse.... In short, they doubt that The Heritage Foundation's Vision for America can be achieved." (emphasis added) Visit The Yes Men for more family fun! Go ShrubCo! Ruin that country! Yeee haw!

posted by petebest 18 years ago
  • Oswald.
  • Wot?
  • "Bush is number 1! Bush is number 1!"
  • On the real, the Blue Dog link is kind of weak, and I'm sure it can be picked apart appropriately. But, it looks like Grover Norquist is gettin' his dream. Does somebody recall the link posted earlier about yankin' student loans & federal housing subsidies to cover Katrina rebuilding?
  • It is kind of weak, granted. But this Business Week article by Comptroller General of the U.S. has plenty of teeth. You'll need a bugmenot to get in: businessweekletmein bugmenot Also The blue is on it for more yes-it-is/no-it-isnt debate. The upshot seems to be that while previous presidents (Clinton, natch example) borrowed, the interest wasn't eating us up so fast. $400bil/yr from 89-93, slowing to $250bil/yr from 93-01. And then up to $500bil/yr from 01 to present. and Less well known, the federal government's long-term liabilities and net commitments, such as those relating to Social Security and Medicare, have risen from just over $20 trillion in fiscal 2000 to more than $43 trillion in fiscal 2004, in large part because of the passage of the Medicare prescription drug bill in December, 2003. This translates into a burden of more than $150,000 per American and $350,000 per full-time worker, up from $72,000 and $165,000 in 2000, respectively. Those amounts are growing fast because of continuing deficits, our aging society's longer lifespans, slower workforce growth, and compounding interest costs.
  • 4 More years! Seriously, if things keep going this way the revolution will come and I will finally have my chance at ruling as a tribal lord.
  • Tribal Warlord?!
  • Sorry for the dumb question, but why can't the U.S. just print more money? Wouldn't the effect be the same? And no pesky interest payments.
  • rolypolyman: Short answer: no. The value of an American dollar is based on the total value of the United States divided by the number of US dollars in the world. Of course it's not quite as straight forward as this as there are markets and speculations and other forms of magic involved, but basically if the US printed printed twice as much money as exists currently, each US dollar would be worth half as much when compared to everyone else's currency. You can't get something for nothing, even if you're George W. Bush. ...unless you were being facetious (sp?).
  • No, no... serious question... I have always had difficulty understanding banking & economics. I have been trying to grasp the concepts for awhile. Thanks for the explanation; that makes sense.
  • ah yes i saw the florida reps making this point the other night on cpsan. kendrick meek, debbie wasserman schultz, et al. it's always great to hear real progressives dropping science on the house floor. sadly, that whore, katherine harris, was nowhere to be seen. (perhaps she was busy getting an extreme makeover with tammy faye baker in the powder room? or fixing election results? something important, i'm sure.)
  • And yet we do print more and more money every year, the rate of which is governed by the Federal Reserve's interest rate. It's called "growing the economy" (I'm being a tiny bit sardonic there). Here's a good Fed primer for you, if you're interest-ed.
  • Yesterday I tossed a penny in the trash. I wondered if the Fed was counting on that penny to remain in circulation. They're gonna be awfully upset when they find out.
  • rolypolyman: a bizarre coalition of the IRA and the North Koreans tried that recently, in part as a way to hurt the US economy: Superdollar, so you'd guess it is a bad thing.
  • Sean Garland wasn't IRA. He was a Labour activist.
  • Well, he definitely was a senior figure in the Official IRA back in the day if this this biography on the site campaigning against his extradition is to believed. It also mentions him building links with the DPRK. I'm no expert on the man or his history by any means, but what I've read makes him still having an active role with the OIRA seem a credible possibility. Are you saying it's a fit-up Livewire?
  • US Trade Deficit Hits New Record y'know . . just sayin'.
  • To put this into perspective, the 60 most in debt "third world" countries owe a combined total of just over $500 billion. We owe twice that, and we're a superpower? Right. Stupid asinine fuckwit, I hope there is a hell so this bastard idiot prince can rot in it.
  • Thanks for the superdollar link, Abiezer_Coppe. Very interesting.
  • Wish I could remember the site that I read that mentioned if all the money the Saudis have invested in the US banking system were pulled out, the country would go bankrupt within a month. Google-fu challenge!
  • To hear Walker, the nation's top auditor, tell it, the United States can be likened to Rome before the fall of the empire. Mmmmm. Yyyyyup.
  • CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- President Bush shrugged off a report showing weaker-than-expected job growth on Friday and declared that "the American economy heads into 2006 with a full head of steam." A full head of steam is an apt metaphor for something alright. Apt!
  • "By the way, we're going to win the war," he added as an aside
  • Democrats: GOP selling U.S. to 'highest bidder' Rep. Slaughter says corruption may be worst in Congressional history
  • But among the losers were 141 government programs that Bush sought to sharply reduce or eliminate entirely. Almost one-third of the targeted programs are in education including ones that provide money to support the arts, vocational education, parent resource centers and drug-free schools.
  • "My administration has focused the nation's resources on our highest priority -- protecting our citizens and our homeland," Did he really just say that the population can not receive good educational programs, well-funded public schools, and decent all-around public educations because to have those things would make us less safe? Is he mad? As someone who's going to have a kid in the public school system in about 5 years, this terrifies and enrages me.
  • No he's not mad - he's a neo-conservative evangelical Christian politician President. Y'know. a.k.a. mad. And corrupt. With his finger on the button. and a pretzel in his throat. Oy.
  • Teachers, doctors protest budget cuts "This budget represents the president's dedication to fiscal discipline . . ." Snow told the Senate Finance Committee. Wow.
  • Senate GOP Faces Vote to Increase National Debt Although Democrats recognize the need to avoid a default, they aren't likely to provide any votes to increase the borrowing limit. They are not responsible for the fiscal policies that produced it, Democrats argue, especially Bush's landmark $1.4 trillion 2001 tax cut bill. Doin' a heckuva job.
  • What would happen if they did not increase the budget, and the government had to be shut down? I'm kinda thinking we might just be better off that way.
  • Yeah but when Newtie & The Right Wing Boyz did that during Clinton a lot of people didn't get passports and unemployment and stuff that some people say they need. Not that we'll be able to do that if ShrubCo's wreakage isn't reversed asap.
  • True, true. It'll also be a black mark on the dems if that happened. Although.... it'd be awfully fun to watch Bush try to deliver speeches and answer questions with no help from his speechwriters & whoever else helps him with that stuff.
  • Actually I think they outsource to Hell's minions. But it would be fun if Clicky Dick Cheney had to rely on third-party pen-raised quailtards to kill instead of the government issued DNR ones.
  • Bush Plan Would Raise Deficit by $1.2 Trillion, Budget Office Says The nonpartisan budget office said that Mr. Bush's tax-cutting proposals would cost about $1.7 trillion over the next 10 years and that his proposals to partly privatize Social Security would cost about $312 billion during that period. Doin' a heckuva job, you crooked greedy bastards.
  • Mr. Bush's 2007 budget would cut $2.1 billion next year from education, which had been one of the president's areas for increased spending. It would also cut money for community development block grants, low-income housing, child-support enforcement against deadbeat fathers and scores of other programs with support in Congress.
  • U.S. Budget Deficit Hits Record in Feb. WASHINGTON - A record amount of spending in February pushed the government‘s budget deficit to the highest level ever for a single month, the Treasury Department Treasury Department reported Friday. You're wondering why I had to use a Canadian newspaper as a source for posting news of the highest monthly deficit in the history of the United States? Really?
  • Three major impediments to our ability to render an opinion on the consolidated financial statements continued to be (1) serious financial management problems at the Department of Defense, . . . Geeky economics blogger reviews the US Government’s consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2005. With link to 158-page pdf file. Most.corrupt incompetent.administration.ever.
  • With no fanfare, President Bush signed a bill Monday pushing the ceiling on the national debt to nearly $9 trillion. What th' . . NO fanfare?! Why the hell not?! OOOhhhh because his administration is completely incompetent with the economy. Riiiiight. I forgot. Why not just make it a made-up number? I mean, heck 9-trillion is close enough tooo . . . "whack-a-moleion"? Just make it that. That'll be good.
  • Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, the senior Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, said after seeing the new figures that "these tax cuts are beyond irresponsible" when "we're in a war; we haven't fixed Social Security or Medicare; we've got record deficits." No.Fucking.Shit.Filter.
  • Minimum Wage Hike Nixed "Ha ha ha!" lauged the pigs. "Ha ha ha *fart* *burp* ha ha!"
  • When he takes the House rostrum next week for the State of the Union address, President Bush will list among his goals a balanced federal budget, a shift for a president who has presided over record deficits while aggressively cutting taxes. Ha! Also, he'd like the sun painted blue and the day shortened to a more manageable 8 hours. And the Caligula award for logic and leadership goes to . . .
  • Yeah, that's what I thought. Define "balanced budget" anyway possible and proclaim it so. and loudly. How much longer now?