Economic Downturn
On Yahoo! News the question was posed "Did the war cause economic downturn?"
It's amazing how badly Americans can be duped as soon as the media or a politician or a big fat recovering alcholic/sex fiend/prescription drug addict points their finger in a direction, or how forgetful they are of facts and statistics.
OF COURSE the war caused the economic downturn! The war costs how much per minute? Print more money-- drive the dollar down. Borrow even more money through foreign securities-- drive the dollar down. Who wants to invest in us? No one, and big companies outsource to retain profits, and the laid off worker is effed.
If that doesn't work for you, you can look at the fact that we invaded the number two producer of crude oil, completely bumble-fucked the entire operation, destroyed the infrastructure, and made it 20000 zillion times harder to get that oil revenue generating again...the result? $3.50 a gallon for gas, and approx the same for heating oil.
Jeez Louise.
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tvsgweblog on
I only had 2 Econ' courses in college and even this dumb hillbilly can figure this one out!
OF COURSE! TheJoeD is dead on the money, as usual!
OF COURSE! TheJoeD is dead on the money, as usual!
Cavutto on
From one of my forum buddies (reputable dude - works in DC)
Just got this in email - interesting stuff! I sorted the table they sent so it would descend from highest to lowest. Also, their table doesn't add up to $13,000, but I used $13,000 to divide for percentages, assuming the rest is in other areas or the CIA or whatever.
So close to a quarter of our money goes to paying for ways to control internal or external populations, a third to entitlements, and over 8 percent on just paying interest on what we owe (note the lack of a PRINCIPAL line item!).
This breakdown look ok to you guys?
If you wrote a check for more than $13,000, you would want to know exactly
what you were buying. As is it turns out, $13,000 is about what the typical working
age taxpayer paid to the federal government in 2007. That’s a lot of money for
anyone, but for a taxpayer earning about $64,000, that’s one-fifth of all earnings.
Yet nearly all taxpayers have absolutely no idea how that money is spent. At best,
they may see a pie chart which shows in broad categories how the federal
government spends its $2.9 trillion budget.
This document—essentially a receipt—shows exactly what the typical working
age taxpaying household gets for their money in dollars and cents. The question
taxpayers and policy makers should ask is “Are you satisfied?” Do you think
spending priorities should change or stay the same? Do you think you’re getting
what you and the country deserve for your payment?
What You Paid For
An Itemized Receipt for the Typical Taxpayer
The typical working age household (a household led by a person between the
ages of 25 and 59) earned approximately $63,960 and paid $13,112 in federal
income and payroll taxes in 2007.* Below is a sample of exactly what that $13,112
paid for. See www.thirdway.org for far greater detail.
Line Item Cost Percent
Social Security $2,662.94 ---- 20.48%
All other Defense $2,008.01 ---- 15.45%
Medicare $1,697.96 ---- 13.06%
Interest Payment on National Debt $1,085.29 ---- 8.35%
Health Care of Low Income Families (Medicaid) $872.92 ---- 6.71%
War in Iraq $593.48 ---- 4.57%
Veterans Benefits and Health Care $355.03 ---- 2.73%
Income Assistance for the Disabled (SSI) $164.95 ---- 1.27%
War in Afghanistan $159.82 ---- 1.23%
Health care research (NIH) $132.70 ---- 1.02%
Aid to the public schools (No Child Left Behind) $107.55 ---- 0.83%
Agriculture Subsidies $98.80 ---- 0.76%
Roads and Bridges $77.15 ---- 0.59%
The Space Program (NASA) $74.53 ---- 0.57%
Pell Grants for Low Income College Students $62.55 ---- 0.48%
Pork Barrel Projects $60.45 ---- 0.47%
The IRS $48.53 ---- 0.37%
School Lunch/Breakfast Program $46.09 ---- 0.35%
FBI, DEA, and ATF $41.46 ---- 0.32%
Environmental Protection (EPA) $34.50 ---- 0.27%
International AIDS prevention $14.87 ---- 0.11%
National Parks $12.25 ---- 0.09%
Heating Assistance for Low Income Families $9.90 ---- 0.08%
Members of Congress and Staff $8.44 ---- 0.06%
Renewable Energy Research $6.67 ---- 0.05%
The Post Office $2.95 ---- 0.02%
Consumer Product Safety Commission $0.29 ---- 0.00%
The President and White House Staff $0.18 ---- 0.00%
Border Security Fencing $0.13 ---- 0.00%
CIA: $ ???.??+ ? ?
+ If we told you; we’d have to kill you. All sources for program spending come from the agency budgets submitted to the Office of Management and Budget for Fiscal Year 2009 with the exception of the following: War in Iraq and Afghanistan spending comes from the Congressional Research Service earmarks/pork projects comes from Citizens Against Government Waste. All figures relate to fiscal year 2007 spending.
Just got this in email - interesting stuff! I sorted the table they sent so it would descend from highest to lowest. Also, their table doesn't add up to $13,000, but I used $13,000 to divide for percentages, assuming the rest is in other areas or the CIA or whatever.
So close to a quarter of our money goes to paying for ways to control internal or external populations, a third to entitlements, and over 8 percent on just paying interest on what we owe (note the lack of a PRINCIPAL line item!).
This breakdown look ok to you guys?
If you wrote a check for more than $13,000, you would want to know exactly
what you were buying. As is it turns out, $13,000 is about what the typical working
age taxpayer paid to the federal government in 2007. That’s a lot of money for
anyone, but for a taxpayer earning about $64,000, that’s one-fifth of all earnings.
Yet nearly all taxpayers have absolutely no idea how that money is spent. At best,
they may see a pie chart which shows in broad categories how the federal
government spends its $2.9 trillion budget.
This document—essentially a receipt—shows exactly what the typical working
age taxpaying household gets for their money in dollars and cents. The question
taxpayers and policy makers should ask is “Are you satisfied?” Do you think
spending priorities should change or stay the same? Do you think you’re getting
what you and the country deserve for your payment?
What You Paid For
An Itemized Receipt for the Typical Taxpayer
The typical working age household (a household led by a person between the
ages of 25 and 59) earned approximately $63,960 and paid $13,112 in federal
income and payroll taxes in 2007.* Below is a sample of exactly what that $13,112
paid for. See www.thirdway.org for far greater detail.
Line Item Cost Percent
Social Security $2,662.94 ---- 20.48%
All other Defense $2,008.01 ---- 15.45%
Medicare $1,697.96 ---- 13.06%
Interest Payment on National Debt $1,085.29 ---- 8.35%
Health Care of Low Income Families (Medicaid) $872.92 ---- 6.71%
War in Iraq $593.48 ---- 4.57%
Veterans Benefits and Health Care $355.03 ---- 2.73%
Income Assistance for the Disabled (SSI) $164.95 ---- 1.27%
War in Afghanistan $159.82 ---- 1.23%
Health care research (NIH) $132.70 ---- 1.02%
Aid to the public schools (No Child Left Behind) $107.55 ---- 0.83%
Agriculture Subsidies $98.80 ---- 0.76%
Roads and Bridges $77.15 ---- 0.59%
The Space Program (NASA) $74.53 ---- 0.57%
Pell Grants for Low Income College Students $62.55 ---- 0.48%
Pork Barrel Projects $60.45 ---- 0.47%
The IRS $48.53 ---- 0.37%
School Lunch/Breakfast Program $46.09 ---- 0.35%
FBI, DEA, and ATF $41.46 ---- 0.32%
Environmental Protection (EPA) $34.50 ---- 0.27%
International AIDS prevention $14.87 ---- 0.11%
National Parks $12.25 ---- 0.09%
Heating Assistance for Low Income Families $9.90 ---- 0.08%
Members of Congress and Staff $8.44 ---- 0.06%
Renewable Energy Research $6.67 ---- 0.05%
The Post Office $2.95 ---- 0.02%
Consumer Product Safety Commission $0.29 ---- 0.00%
The President and White House Staff $0.18 ---- 0.00%
Border Security Fencing $0.13 ---- 0.00%
CIA: $ ???.??+ ? ?
+ If we told you; we’d have to kill you. All sources for program spending come from the agency budgets submitted to the Office of Management and Budget for Fiscal Year 2009 with the exception of the following: War in Iraq and Afghanistan spending comes from the Congressional Research Service earmarks/pork projects comes from Citizens Against Government Waste. All figures relate to fiscal year 2007 spending.
TheJoeD on
And you know they like to blame this on the "lending practices" of late.
The only reason for the lending practices was due to 9/11 and peoples' reluctancy to invest. If you look back at the historical prices, the economy was already self-correcting, and by this self-correction, interest rates would have made the shift back to a normal level. Since the war screwed with the economy, the ARMs jumped too fast, and yada yada yada.
The only reason for the lending practices was due to 9/11 and peoples' reluctancy to invest. If you look back at the historical prices, the economy was already self-correcting, and by this self-correction, interest rates would have made the shift back to a normal level. Since the war screwed with the economy, the ARMs jumped too fast, and yada yada yada.
BLSalerno711 on
and what the hell...we invaded the second most oil-rich nation in the world...and yet we have the highest crude oil and gas prices on record...
...so now we're in the business of "spreading democracy" and with no return on investment?
