CommentsDisplaying better red than dead's 10 most recent comments.

• ‘Sen. Tea Party’: DeMint Drives Conservative Direction on Debt & Deficit

  July 30, 2011 at 3:29pm

  In reply to Classical Liberal.

  @2SMART

  The Chinese central bank owns about $1.2 trillion in US treasury bonds. The total US public debt is 14.3 trillion. Ironically, the US government itself is holding most of the debt. Here’s a good visualization. (You have to scroll down a bit).

  http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/07/28/us/charting-the-american-debt-crisis.html?ref=politics

  Really do try to educate yourselves on simple facts surrounding these issues, people.

• What’s Wrong With the New York Times Poll-Graph on the Debt Crisis?

  July 30, 2011 at 3:12pm

  In reply to Ghandi was a Republican.

  Reducing taxes increases revenues? What?

  And if you say “Laffer curve,” you should probably know that that only works on tax rates above ~75%. So…

• ‘Sen. Tea Party’: DeMint Drives Conservative Direction on Debt & Deficit

  July 30, 2011 at 2:01pm

  In reply to Classical Liberal.

  @EP46

  Honestly, China owns a relatively small portion of our debt. The government itself and the American public hold the majority.

  But the second point is the big one – the living within our means, tighten belts argument. Why is unemployment so high? It‘s because there isn’t enough demand for the goods and services that these jobs create, because everyone has “tightened their belts.” The only organization that CAN spend more than it takes in right now is the government. Ideally, it would invest in some major projects to employ thousands of Americans, who could then use their money to buy goods and services in the private sector. As soon as that was balanced again, the recession would be over and THEN the government could start looking at deficit reduction strategies.

  Otherwise, you’re just going to hurt the economy more.

• ‘Sen. Tea Party’: DeMint Drives Conservative Direction on Debt & Deficit

  July 30, 2011 at 1:58pm

  In reply to Look4DBigPicture.

  So I’m… addicted to socialism? Interesting.I thought of it as more of a economic political philosophy.

• ‘Sen. Tea Party’: DeMint Drives Conservative Direction on Debt & Deficit

  July 30, 2011 at 1:35pm

  In reply to Classical Liberal.

  The reason you wouldn’t want a balanced budget amendment is because it makes absolutely no economic sense and completely ties your hands during a recession/depression where tax revenues drop.

• ‘Sen. Tea Party’: DeMint Drives Conservative Direction on Debt & Deficit

  July 30, 2011 at 1:23pm

  In reply to better red than dead.

  Which part was false? To simplify;

  The deficit, status quo, is not of grave concern assuming we can recover from the recession.
  Drastic spending cuts stand to hurt the economy significantly through further loss of aggregate demand.
  Therefore, drastic spending cuts should not be sought at this time.

• ‘Sen. Tea Party’: DeMint Drives Conservative Direction on Debt & Deficit

  July 30, 2011 at 1:05pm

  What are the signs that the deficit is too big? Rapid inflation, skyrocketing bond yields, or a crowding out of the private sector. None of this is happening. In the near future, the deficit could be reduced by fixing the three lasting policies that caused it in the first place – the Bush tax cuts, the wars in the Middle East and Central Asia, and the general revenue loss from the recession.

  Severe spending cuts right now are only going to make the economy worse, not better. You say, “Americans are tightening their belts, so the government should to!” But guess what? Nobody buying goods and services (or making investments) is exactly why nobody has a job.

• The Numbers That Show How Bad the Economy Really Is

  July 29, 2011 at 10:42pm

  In reply to sWampy.

  I agree, the feeble amount of stimulus funds simply couldn’t match the need for the government to increase demand, and oncoming cuts are only going to make things worse. It’s really unfortunate.

• AT&T to Throttle Data Speeds for ‘Unlimited’ Hogs

  July 29, 2011 at 10:25pm

  Unsurprising.

• Report: Norway FM Called for Palestinian State At Youth Camp the Day Before Deadly Rampage

  July 23, 2011 at 10:36pm

  In reply to abbygirl1994.

  Should they stand by Israel by equaling moderate social democrats with hardcore Stalinists and then killing as many of them as possible?