I don't understand how we have gone so long without even attempting to have a balanced budget. Besides SS and Medicare, interest payments on our debt - which continues to climb (especially at this current interest rates) - is the highest spending item in the US budget. We can't run a household or business with the "just keep spending" model. Why is that OK for a government? It's a combination of overspending and under taxing. The ship has been taking on water for decades. If we don't right the ship soon, it's just a matter of time before the ship goes under. And how can you force a worker to work but not pay them? Another head scratcher for me. I'm anti-party. Just a bunch of overpaid, look at me people that never outgrew the junior high school cliches. I have no respect for the majority of them. This is not what the founding fathers had in mind.
I understand them caving. There are people that can't survive missing even one paycheck or benefit check and Thanksgiving is coming. Everyone that is isn't dumb blames this shutdown on the Republicans. People whose ACA premiums are going will blame the Republicans.
Because we have a business/money culture where debt is good. If you borrow $100 at 5% interest and invest that at a %10 return, you are making a profit. Further, there are tax shelters like a 1031 exchange that encourage kicking the debt can down the road. So our representatives are going to use the same philosophy (incorrectly) with government spending.
Blame the shutdown on Republicans when a bi-partisan consensus is voting to get us out of shutdown? Blaming Republicans is illogical. Democrats shut down the government for political purposes (No Kings rally + off-year election cycle) -- and had no problem not paying our troops or government employees for months. Democrats hungry for power are nasty and dishonest people. Hopefully that's apparent to all by now. But here they took another L. GOOD DAY
I just want to point out that this looks like a Scooby Doo character who may or may not be wearing a mask and is the villain of the episode.
Democratic voters and Democratic leadership: (And yes, I know the history of "stab in the back," but sometimes a stab in the back is just a stab in the back.)
Unfortunately, several of those that voted yes are bot running for office again.... Dems are so freaking weak and the GOP knows this.. T_Man
I hate to say this but @El_Conquistador and all his friends are Laughing their ASSES OFF!!!! They knew the Dems would cave and now this gives the GOP more power.. T_Man
people are livid the message voters game Democrats during the recent elections was to fight, not roll over they always do this, and I have to believe it’s done on purpose controlled opposition or whatever you want to call it, but they go out of their way to be weak and fumble everything
I don't think the voters "sent a message" -- what we saw last week was Democrats winning in blue areas. NYC, Virginia, New Jersey. This shouldn't be surprising... and it's cause for concern for Democrats when they are spending heavy dollars in these places. The real question is how hot is the CIVIL WAR that is being waged within the Democrat party. Lunatic fringe extremists versus slightly more sane left-of-center Democrats. Mamdani/AOC/Bernie/Ilhan/Jasmine are all anathema to independent voters. Give them the megaphone at your own peril! GOOD DAY
You're 100% right. When I was young, I thought Republicans cared, but realized over the years, they don't. They want to give people the best of both worlds. High spending with low taxes. And the worst part is, the economy is going to go back into recession, and they are going to accelerate the problem again with government stimulus. We will hit $50T in 2030.
You already know the answer. We have two political parties and one of them has spent the last 40 years saying it is unethical to consider raising taxes or keep them stable. Slashing tax revenue is the only thing the GOP has been consistent about from Reagan through Trump. However, they cannot touch the true third-rails in American politics: Social Security and Medicare. That chart is reality. Society has decided that 58% of it cannot be cut (and I agree with that). We cannot have our cake and eat it, too. Either we maintain the spending on social services through increased taxation or we go bust so that people who have gotten extremely rich over the last 40 years can keep avoiding taxes.
Oh I know the facts. What I don't understand is how all these elected people who are to put the country 1st are just kicking the can down the road with lazy work. If we ran a business or a household like this, how long would it be before we file bankruptcy? And again I'm against the whole 2+ party system. It's gotten completely out of hand. Bipartisanship is super rare. And if you do help find a solution you get exiled by your own party. HS cliches at it's finest. Get elected on what you believe for 1 term - then get back to work. This is a job, not a glorified lifestyle to make your family rich for generations. No lobbying for re-election money. All officials are given the same small budget. If you can't manage an election with a small budget then I doubt you can handle the insane amounts of money it takes to run a government. Media will give all candidates the same amount of air time with televised debates.. ie - Term limits and get rid of lobbying (its just legalized bribery). We have a few major problems in this country that's coming to a head. Healthcare costs that's out of control (you can't just keep throwing money at it and call it done because it's raising far far faster than inflation) and this 2 party cliche system that needs to be overhauled because really...is anyone happy with this setup?
All that spending on healthcare, and yet we still pay so much out of pocket on top of it. And government healthcare spending is even more when you factor in what is spent on employee healthcare within those other departments. And to add icing to the problem, when the Supreme Court ruled the ACA penalties were unconstitutional, it led to the removal of a funding mechanism to help offset the costs, plus led to fewer healthy enrollees, which lead to higher average premiums which lead to higher government tax credits as well as what will now be fewer enrollees again as fewer Americans can afford the premiums. To be honest, neither party is actually working to fix healthcare. Democrats are working to keep it affordable for individuals, but not for the government. Republicans are just happy to watch people die or go to prison.
I knew the Democrats would try to hurt the Trump Golden Age economy somehow... and the shutdown was their play. If you recall, shutting down the economy was also their play in 2020 during COVID. These are not creative people -- they'll go to the same playbook over and over again. You've got the shutdowns, falsely accusing Republicans of Russian collusion, falsely accusing Trump, Kavanaugh, Hegseth and others of sexual acts. They want to inflict political damage on Republicans and they simply do not care at all about the high cost that is inflicted on the American people. These nasty people will do anything to grab power -- they cannot be trusted. And the stock market is soaring today now that Republicans have skillfully negotiated a bi-partisan solution to reopen government and begin to pay the troops and other federal employees. GOOD DAY
