Congress approves increasing debt limit by 1.9 trillion dollars.

This vote split among party lines, 60-40 to increase our federal debt limit to 14.3 trillion.  This really begs the question as to why something like this is split among party ideologies.   Regardless of whether you are a liberal or conservative, is it not obvious that the number one issue poised to destroy this country is our debt?  Is it not further obvious that decreasing this debt should be the most important agenda and spending cuts to neutralize the deficit is the only sensible thing to do?  

Sometimes I fail to see the difference between Republicans and Democrats, yet today the difference is quite profound.  When the GOP acts as a minority party they can really make a loud statement and the statement today is this:  Republicans are the only party of fiscal sanity.  Fundamentally this is not true as they spend and expand government as well as the Democrats, but today it is quite obvious and it should enrage all sensible liberal Americans out there.   

A solution to a debt problem is NEVER to take on more debt.  It is mathematically absurd. 
WASHINGTON, Jan 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted narrowly to increase the government's borrowing authority to $14.3 trillion, which would allow the Treasury Department to continue servicing the country's spiraling national debt through most of 2010. The 60 to 40 vote, along party lines, allows the Democratic-led chamber to avoid approving another unpopular increase before the November congressional elections. The House of Representatives must also approve the hike before President Barack Obama can sign it into law. Congress must periodically raise the legal limit for the government's borrowing, and the Treasury Department is expected within weeks to exceed the current $12.4 trillion limit set in December. Failure to raise the limit would roil financial markets, but lawmakers are never eager to sign off on a measure that allows the government to dig itself further into debt. Democrats who control both chambers of Congress face a growing public backlash over the aggressive spending measures they have taken to stimulate economic growth during the worst recession in 70 years. The government spent a record $1.4 trillion more than it collected in the past fiscal year, and the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office forecasts a similar $1.35 trillion deficit for the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.
Right now the Senate is discussing and planning to vote on the confirmation of Ben Bernanke.  Watch the debate on CSPAN-2.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The 2009 credit boom is coming to an end.

Image
The credit expansion boom of 2009 will eventually go down as yet another period of credit expansion promoted by the Fed that will have lead to another predictable bust.   Today, it will be interesting to examine how the various levels of production are behaving under years and years of artificial interest rate suppression.  It will also be helpful to look at charts and graphs examining the business cycle theory and the impact of time preference as taught by Mises. For starters, those new to the concept - a very brief paraphrasing of the general idea. Under a healthy functioning market people's consumer patterns impact their savings.  More consumption equals less saving and less consumption more saving.  In order to progress the society must save such that it can make investments in machinery, equipment, technology, etc if it hopes to increase the capacity of production.   Sure ,you can harvest 10 coconuts a day, consume them by night and repeat the process.  You can also defe
Read more

What is wrong with this country?

I was browsing the latest IBD poll and it finally struck me. I had this idea brewing for the past few weeks now and this particular poll hit a nerve. What jumped out was the age group and who they are likely voting for. Obama / McCain 18-24: 74% 21% The rest of the age groups are more or less even with ages 65+ leaning more for McCain. Those folks should probably avoid leaning - hazardous to their health. Now, if you are a member of this group and are part of the 74% you are probably feeling good about yourself. If you are in the 21% then you are probably used to feeling desperate and angry that your peers ostracize you as if you were the next coming of the bubonic plague. But this number is very telling. Showing to us that a large group of freshly minted liberals, on average still in college, is in a very good position to influence these elections. Enthralled by the concept of "what they want the world to be" and their utopian ideals they hammer their message to anyone willi
Read more

401k Takeover Proposal. IRAs in danger?

Just read a piece that made my blood boil. The story is from Carolina Journal, but I will paste the first paragraph below. Even if you currently do not have a 401k, this is the most dangerous proposal I have ever heard. The only similar example I can think of, would be the gold seizure under FDR. If this proposal becomes legitimate, you MUST write to your local representative, congressman, senator, etc. This will be absolutely crippling to our economy as investors will stage a mass exodus out of the market. If you want a demonstration of this in action, look at Argentina. They just did something very similar. I will keep my eyes on the story and will add further information to demonstrate just how dangerous this is. November 04, 2008 RALEIGH — Democrats in the U.S. House have been conducting hearings on proposals to confiscate workers’ personal retirement accounts — including 401(k)s and IRAs — and convert them to accounts managed by the Social Security Administration. Triggered by the
Read more