Not ridiculous at all, when you consider a trillion for the useless stimulus, even more for Obamacare, bailouts, etc.

The media is a willing stooge, but even they forget about the alternate media.  Check out the graphs here: http://chiefio.wordpress.com/2011/07/14/well-theres-your-problem-fed-spending-299-home-income-27/

They clearly show that while taxes have remained fairly constant (trend line flat at 18%), spending has skyrocketed.  No, it is purely a democrat spending problem (it was not helped by republicans failure to exercise some fiscal responsibility).

I was waiting for someone to bring up that NYT nonsense.  It's already been shown to be false, and their first notion that tax cuts caused the deficit is purely BS.  Common from the DNC/NYT (same thing really) who try to use class warfare.

I was talking about Obamacare, you know compassion oh, and I guess he did kick the money lenders out of the temple but...

heritage.org? this is just an arm of the republican party, not a very unbiased source. while the writers that I referenced may have their own agenda it was taken out of time magazine and not moveon.org (wikipedia, The Heritage Foundation is a conservative American think tank). With all of the divergent opinions out on the web it isn't difficult to find opposing views or methods to spin the same data to serve a purpose.

c'mon you guys aren't even being realistic. the big amount of spending in the first year had much to do about saving the economy. You think the economy tanked just because Obama got elected? well, in a sense it might have because of all the institutions that got caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

We (you and I) all got screwed, I'm at a loss how anyone can support/defend those institutions that screwed us or those politicians that are in their pockets.

raise the debt ceiling, let the tax cuts expire, cut the pork and don't mess with my social security benefits.

I think that this really deals with separation of church and state and why churches that get involved in politics need to pay taxes, but that's just my take on it.

I'm not disputing the numbers only why Obama spent the amount recorded. it wasn't that he woke up one morning and thought to himself, "wow, wouldn't it be great to spend trillions of dollars just because I can". He spent the money because he felt he needed to to keep the economy from going into a depression. He didn't bring on the recession, he inherited it.

you're funny.

with regards to what?

If I remember correctly we were attacked, emotions ran high at the time. there was no increase in revenue to pay for these wars and he lied about Iraq. Iraq had no WMD but Iran on the other hand...

It seems to me that you all are putting all of the blame on Obama and that just isn't the case. He did inherit a tanked economy and two wars. They did what they thought was necessary with the hopes that we wouldn't end up in a depression. The Bush tax cuts played a big part in this as well. how do you fund two wars without the necessary funding to do so. As with all executive decisions only time will tell.

in order to balance the budget we need to apply a balanced approach: raise the debt ceiling, let the Bush tax cuts expire and (good luck with this one) cut the pork.

I believe (conspiracy thoughts coming) that there is a effort by some to keep the people at odds with each other in order to push agendas that are not in our best interests. "our" being you and I. People seem to forget that we do have a ruling class in America, I'm not a part of it and I'm pretty sure that you aren't either.

Iraq was 2 years later.  Emotions still high then?  Bush did not lie about WMDs.  The intel was bad, but that was due to Saddam hiding the fact he had gotten rid of them from the Iranians (who he feared more than Bush).  And WMDs were but one of a litany of reasons given for finishing the war in Iraq (there was never a peace treaty from 91).  Again, Lie is a strong word.  You have to prove he KNEW the British and American Intel was wrong.  Your opinion does not count, except to bolster your argument that Bush was wrong, not that he lied.

Putting all of what on Obama?  The 4 trillion he has run up since becoming president?  That is his responsibility.  Bush was responsible for his own mess, but no one is saying that is Obama's fault.  Blame for Obamacare (which has nothing to do with care, but with insurance)?  Obama broke several promises to get that passed, and it is a bad bill (bad laws are worse than no laws).  Blamed Obama for "Fast and Furious"?  The program was ill conceived and badly executed, but since democrats have a solid lock on government, no one told Obama that - this one is going to cause a lot of sorrow in the White house.  Blame Obama for $800 billion stimulus that accomplished nothing?  That was all his bill (and also why his first budget deficit exceeded $1 trillion).  Blame Obama for one of the largest tax increases in history (you just have not seen most of it yet)?  Again, he lied.  The tax will affect everyone regardless of income.

So where are we falsely accusing obama of things he did not do?  Obama did inherit a bad economy and 2 wars - but the former he and the democrats helped to create with their insistence and laws that forced banks to make loans to people with no hope of repaying them (and yes, the banks were complicit - they could have refused to do so - and then been blackballed by the government). 

Eventually, you have to stop excusing the man.  No, he did not crucify Jesus (Bush did that), or start WWII (Bush did that too), or even cause the great flood (Bush again).  But he has a resume that shames even Carter.  And Bush did not do that.

 I thought this was about the budget crisis and I'm even sorry that I posted anything here. I have watched the postings here on the JoeUser blog and have noted those who attack anyone who disagrees with them of which you are one.

This is no way to have a real debate with you. You refuse to take responsibility for the actions of your party except as they suit you. I am unable to delve into the current administrations mistakes when we cannot even somewhat agree on how we got here.

No, Obama and his administration is not perfect and have made mistakes but I consider him a straight shooter with the interests of the American people in his heart and mind. I also think he will win in 2012 and that the republicans are shooting themselves in the foot with their no'ism attitudes.

Raise the debt ceiling, let the Bush tax cuts expire and cut the pork.

I do not agree at all with the constant raising of the debt. The grave is dug, why dig deeper? I like the one analogy of arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic after it has already struck the iceberg.

While I see DrGuy not agree on points many times, I don't agree with "attack". To have a conversation with all that agree with a point of view accomplishes nothing. The only way to learn and grow is to debate with people you do not agree with.

IMHO, it is also fairly useless to finger point at the 2 different parties. I would rather see different views and debate on what to do about the problem at hand.

Do not raise the debt, stop all the wars that are not wars LOL, close all the loopholes for the wealthy and corporations at least until the debt is paid. If the rich want their tax cuts back let them use all their lobby power to reduce the size of government and make sure there is a balanced budget. My 2 cents.

Heh, nothing like manipulating those who are ignorant of how fractional reserve banking works. These numbers might also be more frightening if the value of a dollar was not run into the ground.

Regardless, if you wanted to see how the neo-cons in charge of the Republican party talk the talk of the old conservatives, but do not walk the walk, here are the real numbers that matter.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_by_U.S._presidential_terms

So yep, Vodoo Reganomics and Laffer Curve Theory (failed spend and borrow stimulus theory), and 2 unpaid for wars.

The country was well on its way to a meltdown long before Obama came around (admittedly he isn't helping any)

GMC2 posts:

DRG posts:

Gmc2 posts:

Gmc2,

Instead of picking up your bat and ball and leaving why don't you do your homework and check out the simple facts.

DrG. is correct. What Obama inherited was Bush's 413 billion dollar Deficit that was 3.5 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). According to the NYTimes,  this "enormous" deficit was very bad and was condemned  as "unprecedented" and the biggest budget deficit in the history of the world" that will cause "a collapse of confidence" in the financial markets unless Bush got America's "financial house in order".

Well, fast forward to 2011 and note how the NYTimes tune changes ....Obama's 1.5 Trillion dollar deficit and 10 percent of the GDP is "good". Columnist Paul Krugman's in his column titled, "Fiscal Scare Tactics" said, "running big deficits in the face of the worst economic slump since the 1930's is actually the right thing to do".... 

When Obama took over the helm, Oil was 39 dollars a barrel and a gallon of gas was $1.84. The Unemployment rate was 7 something and we had a AAA rating. Not anymore.  Is Obama to blame? Yes, he owns this crisis. And while you are doing your homework, why don't you tell us what Obama's specific economic plan is to get us out of this mess? Oh wait a minute...don't waste your time, he doesn't have one.