America (U.S.A.) not going broke
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I knew there was destined to be another Bush bashin' message soon, that part is easily predictable. The only question was the exact topic.
Well, the topic du jour is whether or not America (U.S.A.) is going broke.
First, lets be clear. I'm sure that that other thread starter is talking about the U.S.A., though he could just as easily be talking about any country in either North or South America. Assuming we are talking about the U.S.A., there's some quite interesting info that disputes any mis-information that might have been tossed into this latest attempt at the use of a blog style IED (improvised explosive device) aimed at the Bush admin and it's policies.
Check out (linked) Table 2.1—RECEIPTS BY SOURCE: 1934–2009 from the U.S. Government sight here: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy05/hist.html
Scroll down through the table a bit and see the nice numbers for tax year 2004.
Compared to tax year 1999 (fiscal year 2000), those numbers are low, but that ignores the fact that 1999 was a complete anomaly in the fiscal history of the U.S. Because of all of the chicken-littles that were worried that the IT (Information Technology) sky was falling, people spent money in IT like it was, well literally 1999. Companies spent money they didn't have, from profits that didn't exist, for companies like Enron, Worldcom, Sprint, PSI, and a host of companies that have since gone broke, to buy more "stuff", employ more people that didn't have a clue how to do a job and weren't monitored to see if they actually did one.
Since that time, we have had a recession, the bursting of the internet bubble, and several other "corrections" in our economy. We've had tax cuts that were designed to spur growth in the economy and get citizens back to work. And in the end, the numbers (revenue coming into the government) have remained at levels that should easily fund the needs of the citizens of this country. Of course, we also have had politicians (both Democrat and Republican) that can't stop spending more money they don't have for more things we don't need, or for things only a few need (tunnels under Boston as an example). Instead of common sense cutting of spending, we've left spending to grow at a much faster rate than it should, partly because our economy can't take the hit of a massive cut in spending, and partly because no one has the guts to make the tough cuts that would be required to bring spending back under control.
Well that gravy train must end. President Bush has proposed flat spending for most agencies, or cuts -- in relation to inflation -- for others. Congress of course isn't bound to those guidlines though, and they can and do "bust the budget" so they can keep loading up pork back home.
In anycase, check out a few of the numbers in the materials (Excel spreadsheet by the way) that I referenced. When you do, think of just how much money we are seeing documented there, and then tell that tax raise demanding nameless individual that deserves to be ignored that his premise is ignorant and false. I'd encourage you to do that here, rather than letting the individual continue spreading his own FUD in his own thread, but either way, the numbers don't lie. The revenue that is coming in the next few years is enough for even a liberal to choke on -- without new taxes, and without going back to the economy killing higher tax rates of old.
Well, the topic du jour is whether or not America (U.S.A.) is going broke.
First, lets be clear. I'm sure that that other thread starter is talking about the U.S.A., though he could just as easily be talking about any country in either North or South America. Assuming we are talking about the U.S.A., there's some quite interesting info that disputes any mis-information that might have been tossed into this latest attempt at the use of a blog style IED (improvised explosive device) aimed at the Bush admin and it's policies.
Check out (linked) Table 2.1—RECEIPTS BY SOURCE: 1934–2009 from the U.S. Government sight here: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy05/hist.html
Scroll down through the table a bit and see the nice numbers for tax year 2004.
Compared to tax year 1999 (fiscal year 2000), those numbers are low, but that ignores the fact that 1999 was a complete anomaly in the fiscal history of the U.S. Because of all of the chicken-littles that were worried that the IT (Information Technology) sky was falling, people spent money in IT like it was, well literally 1999. Companies spent money they didn't have, from profits that didn't exist, for companies like Enron, Worldcom, Sprint, PSI, and a host of companies that have since gone broke, to buy more "stuff", employ more people that didn't have a clue how to do a job and weren't monitored to see if they actually did one.
Since that time, we have had a recession, the bursting of the internet bubble, and several other "corrections" in our economy. We've had tax cuts that were designed to spur growth in the economy and get citizens back to work. And in the end, the numbers (revenue coming into the government) have remained at levels that should easily fund the needs of the citizens of this country. Of course, we also have had politicians (both Democrat and Republican) that can't stop spending more money they don't have for more things we don't need, or for things only a few need (tunnels under Boston as an example). Instead of common sense cutting of spending, we've left spending to grow at a much faster rate than it should, partly because our economy can't take the hit of a massive cut in spending, and partly because no one has the guts to make the tough cuts that would be required to bring spending back under control.
Well that gravy train must end. President Bush has proposed flat spending for most agencies, or cuts -- in relation to inflation -- for others. Congress of course isn't bound to those guidlines though, and they can and do "bust the budget" so they can keep loading up pork back home.
In anycase, check out a few of the numbers in the materials (Excel spreadsheet by the way) that I referenced. When you do, think of just how much money we are seeing documented there, and then tell that tax raise demanding nameless individual that deserves to be ignored that his premise is ignorant and false. I'd encourage you to do that here, rather than letting the individual continue spreading his own FUD in his own thread, but either way, the numbers don't lie. The revenue that is coming in the next few years is enough for even a liberal to choke on -- without new taxes, and without going back to the economy killing higher tax rates of old.
