Captain Obvious Moment of the Day: Debt Unsustainable, We Must Stop Borrowing From China
Thank you Captain Obvious… err… I mean Obama!
Ironically enough the debt and the borrowing that Obama is concerned about will mostly come from his irresponsible spending habits within his first 100 days. When Dick Morris mentioned that Obama’s first 100 days would come back to haunt him, he was right!
President Barack Obama, calling current deficit spending “unsustainable,” warned of skyrocketing interest rates for consumers if the U.S. continues to finance government by borrowing from other countries.
“We can’t keep on just borrowing from China,” Obama said at a town-hall meeting in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, outside Albuquerque. “We have to pay interest on that debt, and that means we are mortgaging our children’s future with more and more debt.”
Holders of U.S. debt will eventually “get tired” of buying it, causing interest rates on everything from auto loans to home mortgages to increase, Obama said. “It will have a dampening effect on our economy.”
That calls for a big “DUH!” but that is simple common sense, something that is much like an endangered species in the halls of D.C.
The amusing part of all of this is the fact that Obama is just simply unwilling to look in the mirror and realize that he has quadrupled the debt and increased our deficit more than any other president in history. He has spent more in his first 100 days than all presidents throughout history combined – and that includes Bush to all you liberals.
Obama continuously uses the blame Bush rhetoric for having to take “drastic” measures, but as any intelligent human being should realize, when the government and politicians make things out to be a crisis, yet you don’t really feel that way (unlike a physical attack against your country), you should be incredibly wary. Politicians lie, they lie to pass an agenda, and Obama is a genius when it comes to manipulation, deceit, and drama.
Earlier this week, the Obama administration revised its own budget estimates and raised the projected deficit for this year to a record $1.84 trillion, up 5 percent from the February estimate. The revision for the 2010 fiscal year estimated the deficit at $1.26 trillion, up 7.4 percent from the February figure. The White House Office of Management and Budget also projected next year’s budget will end up at $3.59 trillion, compared with the $3.55 trillion it estimated previously.
Two weeks ago, the president proposed $17 billion in budget cuts, with plans to eliminate or reduce 121 federal programs. Republicans ridiculed the amount, saying that it represented one-half of 1 percent of the entire budget. They noted that Obama is seeking an $81 billion increase in other spending.
We are now learning that the supplemental spending for war funding and emergency funding that is sitting in the House and Senate are both over $90 billion at this point. There will most likely be a compromise of some sort between the House and Senate but I believe that the real amount of additional appropriations will most likely stay above the $90 billion threshold.
Let’s not forget that under the Obama administration and this radical left Congress that government is growing and the private sector is shrinking. Entitlement programs are growing because liberals know that the more you can put your thumb over people and oppress them by getting them “hooked” on entitlements and the government, the more they will win votes… that’s just cruel.
The issue is that we are going to go bankrupt quicker by upping the ante on entitlements. Entitlements themselves are already unsustainable.
Baby boomers — that 70-million-strong population lump — begin officially retiring this year. That means the government’s bill for retirees’ pensions and health care has no where to go but up, for decades to come.
Everyone knew this day would come. And virtually every economist and actuary who had run the numbers could tell you, within a few years’ certainty, the system was going bankrupt.
But all this seemed to happen in the distant future. Last year, both political parties virtually ignored the topic during their presidential campaigns. It became a non-issue issue.
Well, thanks to a profligate federal government, which will double the national debt to $11.5 trillion in just four years, and a recession that has weakened federal tax revenues, we can no longer ignore the problem. The day of reckoning is at hand.
The Social Security Board of Trustees reported Tuesday that costs will exceed revenues in 2016 — a full year sooner than expected just last year. And total assets — including more than 70 years of “surpluses” built up in the “trust fund” — will be completely gone by 2037 — four years earlier than in last year’s report.
The deficit over the next 50 years is expected to be about 2% of taxable payrolls — up from 1.7% last year. By the way, changes in the last year alone have added $5.3 trillion in costs to the program.
Long-term, unfunded liabilities for Social Security and Medicare top $53 trillion — about four times the size of current GDP. Taxes must either rise or benefits shrink by that amount to close that gap.
Maybe we could try to work on some issues that really matter, those that could possibly destroy people’s lives? Instead of criticizing private social security accounts, maybe we should revisit the idea and work from there. Many economists argue that private accounts of some sort would be more cost effective and better for everyone.
We also cannot forget that Obama and his lefty contemporaries want to reform health care and create a possible single payer system. Many do not believe that the single payer legislation will get passed, but something that makes the private sector compete with the public sector by providing a choice. The issue that I have/see with this “competition” is how the government can become so forceful and, as it has done in the past, force out of business anything competing with it. Either way, any additional programs provided by the government must come out of taxpayers’ pockets, so medical care will never technically be free – it will only be free to those who don’t work or pay taxes. This is the crux of the problem. Health care provided by the government will just increase our debt to China even more…
Obama is concerned with China? He’s concerned with owing the Chinese more and more? Well, maybe if we took a look at the recent auto industry news regarding GM it would be evident that all we do is take China’s money, give China jobs, and all in all are in the pocket of China.
As thousands of General Motors workers await word on more U.S. plant closures, reports that the company plans to import Chinese-made vehicles to the U.S. have created a political problem for the automaker and the White House.
The reports, which GM will neither confirm nor deny, could mean trouble because GM is supported by $15.4 billion in U.S. government loans, largely due to the Obama administration’s desire to preserve the company’s 90,000 U.S. jobs.
The United Auto Workers charged last week that the Detroit automaker intends to almost double over the next five years the number of vehicles it imports to the U.S. from Mexico, South Korea, China and Japan.
“GM should not be taking taxpayers’ money simply to finance the outsourcing of jobs to other countries,” Alan Reuther, the union’s Washington lobbyist, wrote in a letter to U.S. lawmakers.
Maybe if the Unions were not allowed to lobby on Capitol Hill to force the hands of Democrats and completely crush the auto industry, this would not have been a problem and the outsourcing of jobs would not have been so enticing to the ailing auto giants. But why would Democrats ever put the good of the country or an industry over that of a big donor?
I have an idea for all who read this – let’s attempt to elect someone who is for the people, by the people – not bought and paid for. Let’s elect somebody who is honest and integrity means more to them than politics and agenda… Stop electing these corrupt, pathological liars and maybe we can get our country back on track.
With Massive Spending and Pundits Loving the “Rally,” Remain Wary
The Treasury Department said Friday that the budget deficit increased by $192.3 billion in March, and is near $1 trillion just halfway through the budget year, as costs of the financial bailout and recession mount.
Last month’s deficit, a record for March, was significantly higher than the $150 billion that economists expected.
The deficit already totals $956.8 billion for the first six months of the budget year, also a record for that period. The Obama administration projects the deficit for the entire year will hit $1.75 trillion.
A deficit at that level would nearly quadruple the previous annual record of $454.8 billion set last year. The March deficit was nearly four times the size of the imbalance in the same month last year.
Nearly $300 billion provided to the nation’s banks and other companies to cope with the most severe financial crisis in seven decades has pushed government spending higher.
This massive amount of spending was not required and it didn’t HAVE to be done. It was fear based and to some extent still is by administrations, congress, the media, you name it. Read more
Russia Launches Missile and a Missile Arsenal that is 80% New by 2016
Russia successfully test-fired a Topol intercontinental ballistic missile on Friday as part of checks needed to extend its service life for up to 22 years, Russian media reported.
The Topol was fired from the Plesetsk cosmodrome, nestled among the forests of northern Russia, and successfully hit the test site on Russia’s Pacific peninsula of Kamchatka, 6,000 km (3,700 miles) to the east.
Russia plans on spending as much, if not more, money on defense, with or without an economic crisis. The Topol group of missiles has been around since 1985 and are said to be designed to pierce anti-missile defense systems such as the shield being proposed in Poland.
Russia’s missile arsenal, based on their current defense spending, will be 80% new by 2016.
Meanwhile, our President has cut missile defense in the upcoming defense budget. Although it appears that the defense budget has increased by 4% it’s not the overall increase, it’s where the cuts took place and on what programs. Our military supplies for specific integral projects will be cut and we will be behind the times compared to other countries – we will be left in a situation much like Carter and Clinton after they were done cutting defense programs.
New rockets will by 2016 account for at least 80% of the strategic missile forces in Russia as it replaces its Soviet-era arsenal with new nuclear-capable missiles, the military said Friday.
“Plans for the development of the Russian strategic rocket forces through 2016 foresee a decrease in quantity and a transformation in quality at the same time, ” Nikolai Solovstov, the commander of Russia’s strategic missile forces, told reporters.
“Rocket systems with an extended shelf life will account for roughly 20%, while new rocket systems for at least 80% of the forces,” said Colonel-General Solovtsov, quoted by the Russian news agencies.
In December, he announced that Russia would by 2020 replace its Soviet-era arsenal with new nuclear-capable intercontinental missiles capable of overcoming anti-missile defense measures by enemy states.
The costly overhaul of the missile forces comes as Russia is locked in a bitter dispute with the U.S. over its plans to install anti-missile defense facilities in central Europe.
Russia has urged Barack Obama to drop the plans, which were devised by his predecessor George W. Bush but the new U.S. president has said he would move forward with the missile defense shield.
I thought that Obama was Medved’s new comrade? Apparently, the fawning media was over exaggerating the success of Obama’s introduction to the international stage – what’s new though right? Many of us who read into things a little more and search for news all over the place knew that it was nothing near a success.
I also thought that Obama was going to implement “change” from the Bush era, however, he is doing many similar things that Bush did. Bush may have had some Intel in regards to Russia, China, etc.? What do you think?
Solovtsov added it was important for Russia to continue to upgrade its strategic missiles to ensure stability in the world.
“Quality enhancement of the components of Russia’s strategic nuclear forces will be required to maintain the necessary balance of forces in solving the task of nuclear containment,” he said.
Stability and nuclear containment could be code words for trying to become more of a world power and it’s my assumption that Russia has wanted to become a world superpower again, ever since it lost that title a couple decades ago.
In the last few days we have learned that both the Chicoms and Russia have been working overtime to plant hidden malware in the US electrical grid and that they have also been working with Iran, North Korea, Venezuela and Cuba (since former and current communist country do have a kindred spirit).
The Russians actually have more than just a small number of intercontinental missiles – many of which have multiple targeted warheads – as well as many nuclear missiles situated on submarines cruising the oceans.
It is still questionable to know at this time, whether or not statements out of Russia or any other country for that matter can be trusted, on what they pronounce to own as weapons. And without having inside information in the missile community of the defense industry, it is difficult to gather whether or not we have advanced enough systems to counter these types of weapons. I do know that we still outspend our counterparts for missiles and air defense, but as we have seen in cases of war, sometimes the most primitive of weapons and warfare are the toughest to defeat.
We have anti-missile systems, based in Alaska, and other places in the United States,(that obama is now in the process of cutting funding for or in some circumstances just keeping funding flat). These anti-missile systems and counter measures are designed to at best to intercept (there are 3 stages of missile interception) a small handful of missiles that North Korea or Iran might one day possess and choose to launch, or Russia and China who may and probably do, already have these types of weapons.
It’s no wonder why I felt that Sarah Palin, even as a VP, could have out done Obama on foreign policy and national defense. She is the commander in chief of the only National Guard that is on duty 24/7 and contains our best anti-missile systems. With recent news of the North Korean rocket launch Sarah Palin has been incredibly outspoken on the issue of missile defense spending and has written letters to Obama which we have also posted on here.
