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| Post Number: 21
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jimhanson 
Group: Moderator
Posts: 8491
Joined: Aug. 2003
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Posted on: Sep. 12 2010,3:53 pm |
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Irish QUOTE I've looked at both discretionary and total budgets. Look at your graph again, defense is still the LARGEST part. A fraction, and yet, the LARGEST fraction.
Here are the originial statements:
Irish QUOTE Cut social programs just as much as defense if you like, but the math has to add up. You can't advocate HUGE increases to defense spending (already the biggest cost of government), wars, and nation building and then say we want low taxes.
Jim QUOTE Once again, liberals attacking defense as the boogeyman in Federal spending. It is large, but it is a FRACTION of the spending for "entitlements." If you eliminated defense spending in its entirety, it STILL wouldn't balance the budget.
What part of that statement don't you understand? LOOK at the huge spending for social programs--the so-called "entitlements". Do they NOT dwarf defense spending? 
Would the budget BALANCE if defense spending was eliminated in its entirety?
You say to "Look at the Graph"--let's LOOK at it. Defense spending was 23% of the budget. Compare that with the "entitlements"--Social security at 20%, Medicare at 19%, other MANDATES at 17%. That's 56% of the Federal Budget--TWICE Defense spending--and we haven't even gotten to Obamacare yet!
Reality check--cutting defense alone won't balance the budget. Cuts must be made in the "entitlements". At SOME point, libbies will have to face reality and admit that these programs are as ineffective as MOST Federal programs. We've come to the point where you can't raise taxes any more.
That's the libbie whine--"If ONLY we could eliminate defense spending, we could do SO MUCH MORE!" 
REALITY CHECK for liberals--there isn't enough money in the COUNTRY to enact the social spending they want to implement. Have you EVER heard a libbie say "That's enough spending"? 
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"If you want to anger a Conservative, tell him a lie. If you want to anger a LIBERAL, tell him the TRUTH!"
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| Post Number: 22
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irisheyes
Group: Super Administrators
Posts: 3040
Joined: Oct. 2003
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Posted on: Sep. 13 2010,2:50 pm |
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(jimhanson @ Sep. 12 2010,3:53 pm)
QUOTE Would the budget BALANCE if defense spending was eliminated in its entirety?
Hard to balance a budget when the economy is in the tank. Only one balanced budget in my lifetime, and that was under a democrat with a thriving economy (and no wars).
QUOTE Reality check--cutting defense alone won't balance the budget. Cuts must be made in the "entitlements". At SOME point, libbies will have to face reality and admit that these programs are as ineffective as MOST Federal programs.
This post had me thinking about something I remember reading last year after you reached retirement age... So I did a quick search for it, and voila!
QUOTE QUOTE Social Security just kicked in, huh? You bet! At 11:15 local time (12:15 Eastern) on January 20, I punched the "send" button to file-- just as Obama was taking the oath of office. I'm convinced that he will "means test" or otherwise cut benefits--so I want to be "grandfathered" to TRY to get some of my own money back!
Why is it last year you were worried about Obama cutting entitlements, and yet you are now strongly encouraging cuts to entitlements? 
The democrats drastically cut spending for Medicare in the healthcare reform bill. A move that republicans would normally love, except it was money that went into the pocket of insurance companies.
I guess the donks can't please the conservatives no matter which way they go. If they don't cut entitlements, people are upset. If they DO cut entitlements, people are even more upset.
QUOTE We've come to the point where you can't raise taxes any more.
Have you seen the IRS tax rates for the last century? In 1917 the top tax rate was 67%. In 1936 it was 79%, and the end of WWII it was 94% for top earners.
Now... It's 33%. That's quite a stark contrast, but conservatives and their media friends continue to say that they're higher than ever. The result: Tax burdens are shifted to other means. Property taxes, sales taxes, fees, and "sin" taxes all skyrocket. We shift the burden to the people who are least able to pay for it. Retired people and what's left of the middle class.
QUOTE REALITY CHECK for liberals--there isn't enough money in the COUNTRY to enact the social spending they want to implement. Have you EVER heard a libbie say "That's enough spending"?
That's a great question, Jim. How about we forget about what the politicians say, and focus on what they DO. 
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You know it's going to be a bad day when you cross thread the cap on the toothpaste.
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