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...and you can thank George Bush's implemented policies that Obama inherited for 5.07 trillion of that amount.
Here's the breakdown courtesy of the New York Times:
Priceless-
Obama has been in office for over FIVE YEARS. The 'blame Bush" mantra has worn a little thin and weak. This "blame Bush" assertion assumes that Obama is helpless as an infant- unable to do anything or create policy to change the trajectory of ANY political or economic issue. If we are to "blame Bush", we must at the same time "blame Obama" for his incompetence and ineptitude in making any meaningful policy change that he can call his own.
I wonder, if Hillary is elected, whether she will also be blaming Bush in her second term?
Obama has been in office for over FIVE YEARS. The 'blame Bush" mantra has worn a little thin and weak. This "blame Bush" assertion assumes that Obama is helpless as an infant- unable to do anything or create policy to change the trajectory of ANY political or economic issue. If we are to "blame Bush", we must at the same time "blame Obama" for his incompetence and ineptitude in making any meaningful policy change that he can call his own.
I wonder, if Hillary is elected, whether she will also be blaming Bush in her second term?
As long as a legacy of Bush's policies are evident in the economy, he can continue to be blamed.
This thread is about the deficit being out of control. The only way to reduce the deficit is to increase taxes, decrease spending, or increase the number of people employed.
Well, Obama was facing a recession, so he couldn't rely upon more worker to lower the deficit. And decreasing the amount of government spending or increasing taxes would have been similar to kicking a man in the face while he is on the ground beaten already (talking about our economy here).
The damage that Bush caused our economy was impossible to fix over night. And for the record the deficit is finally starting to come down.
The only way to reduce the deficit is to increase taxes,
You obviously have no clue regarding economics 101. As business owner myself go ahead and raise my taxes. That'll definitely help the bottom line for hiring and investing in equipment. I know I'll just raise my prices and magically all my customers will more than happy to pay. Boy you libs are just economic geniuses!
You obviously have no clue regarding economics 101. As business owner myself go ahead and raise my taxes. That'll definitely help the bottom line for hiring and investing in equipment. I know I'll just raise my prices and magically all my customers will more than happy to pay. Boy you libs are just economic geniuses!
Taxes weren't raised on you unless you are rich. Feel free to raise your prices. Other competitors in the market may not do the same though so your competition might weed you out.
In the perfect world we would have zero taxes and all the necessary social programs funded. Unfortunately that isn't the case. And as for your economics 101, this nation had the lowest taxes since the 1930s and that still didn't prevent our economy from collapsing. Those taxes became ever LOWER when Obama first took office and it didn't speed up our recovery.
Your personal definition of economics 101 has some serious flaws in it bud. Serious flaws.
You obviously have no clue regarding economics 101. As business owner myself go ahead and raise my taxes. That'll definitely help the bottom line for hiring and investing in equipment. I know I'll just raise my prices and magically all my customers will more than happy to pay. Boy you libs are just economic geniuses!
Your personal definition of economics 101 has some serious flaws in it bud. Serious flaws
Is that a fact Craving Mountains go ahead raise my taxes. I'm sure the country will flourish with all those hard working efficient government employees in charge of my tax dollars.
The following from not all but "typical" government employee. BTW.. I personally saw those hard working employees last week at the department of motor vehicle registry---what a nightmare.
Undoubtedly, all of the hostility directed towards government employees is deserved. The majority of people who serve their federal, state, or local town government have a sole purpose in life to **** people off. Meter maids give you parking tickets. Cops, well… cops can be pleasant if you give them a doughnut or even a donut, but most are not like Chief Wiggum and usually are present only to lecture you about doing something bad or illegal. Then, majority of politicians are government employees because they get elected to a public office they are not exactly well liked.
Secondly, it is assumed that the government employee is lazy. This is a fairly accurate assumption. While not true for each and every employee, it is correct for most. When you become employed by the government, what usually happens is you become part of a union. This is a good thing for the employee, because from this point on, he or she has job security. As long as you do not do something enormously stupid, chances are you will never be fired. Lectured, yes. A bad mark on your permanent record, maybe. Pressured to quit, certainly. But if you have stamina and balls, then you have a job for the rest of your life. As soon as you get comfy, the slack begins. Hour lunches turn into hour and a half lunches. Work starts at 9:00 AM, but if you get here 9:30 AM, you’re still on time. Go figure. And best of all, you get “wash up time” which means that at 4:50 PM every day you are excused to go “wash up”, which means you get to bail and get on the T early, as opposed to the rest of the other poor schmucks working around Government Center who get out at 5:00 PM. You would think that the government employees are leaving early as you see them running out of City Hall at this time, but in fact, the people who are leaving early are already home because they left anywhere around 4:30 PM. So counting smoking breaks (which you learn to take even if you don’t smoke), regularly scheduled 15-minute breaks, getting in late, leaving early, extended lunch, and of course social gatherings around the water cooler… the average employee may work approximately four hours, while being paid for seven. This is the epitome of being lazy
Lastly, resentment. I do believe some people are jealous of the so called high life that the government employees take advantage of. Plenty of people try to acquire one of these positions, but usually people get promoted from within. Unless you are related to someone, or sleep with someone, your chances of getting a job here are slim to none. And no… I didn’t sleep with anyone (this time) to get my job. I took a co-op position which most any loser can acquire for a small fee. Close enough for government work is so true. Half assed is standard around here. You get a small amount of power to bully the average citizens. As they say, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. This all contributes to the bitter and pompous attitude of the government employee.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I dread being a government employee. It is not the ideal work environment. We get 13 paid holidays, the internet connection is pretty fast, and you can slack consistently, but there’s no free snacks, no fooseball and there is the fear of being a government employee for the rest of your life. I want out. But I am also perplexed, because I don’t actively pursue another job. I just sit and gripe and node on the taxpayer’s buck. I think I am on my way to being a really great government employee. So if you run into me, ask me how the job search goes. In the meantime, I am a government employee. Hear me snore…. ROAR. I mean roar.
Last edited by gretsky99; 02-05-2014 at 01:05 PM..
Obama has been in office for over FIVE YEARS. The 'blame Bush" mantra has worn a little thin and weak. This "blame Bush" assertion assumes that Obama is helpless as an infant- unable to do anything or create policy to change the trajectory of ANY political or economic issue. If we are to "blame Bush", we must at the same time "blame Obama" for his incompetence and ineptitude in making any meaningful policy change that he can call his own.
I wonder, if Hillary is elected, whether she will also be blaming Bush in her second term?
Will you blame her for making interest payments on Bush's debt too? Or her great-grandaughter when she becomes President? It certainly won't be paid off by then.
Obama was staring down the barrel of roughly half a trillion dollar per year interest payment in 2008. Bush's tax cuts were locked in so there was no chance of the principal coming down. He did extend the cuts though which has proven once and for all that trickle down economics have zero chance of working. The sooner that moronic theory is out of this country's system the better.
If you want to blame Obama for anything involving the national debt you must first acknowledge that his Republican-like decisions would be the cause.
You have to consider not only the President but also the House & Senate makeup as well as outside circumstances in evaluating a President as well. When Bush ran the largest deficits of his Presidency, the Dems controlled the House & Senate and had 2 horrible leaders in Pelosi & Reid that have to be held equally responsible for the debt issues along with Bush. Bush also had to deal with the 911 attacks and his responses were a mixed bag and I think the Iraq invasion was unjustified, but he was supported by both the Dems and repubs so he's responsible for bad decisions as well as many Congress & Senators on both sides.
During Obama's Presidency, our nation's largest deficits occurred with the Dems controlling both Houses and the Presidency...so I blame Obama as well as Reid & Pelosi for the huge debts. Obama hasn't had to deal with a 911 type attack but he has had to deal with a slowed world economy. He has done a little better than I anticipated but Boehner has put a bit of a plug in the leaking debt dyke to make him look better just as Gingrich fixed the debt and Clinton took the credit.
I know libs point to the military and want to make big cuts and I agree significant cuts can be made. However, the defense budget is just of 4% of total spending. You could cut that down to zero and it would hardly dent the problem. We have to bring out spending under control...we are being severely irresponsible, a drunken sailor on shore leave at a whorehouse makes sounder spending decision!
It would be $600 Trillion if a Republican were in office
Another deceptive right-wing thread title. With a Republican in office after Dubya, the deficit now would be $600 Trillion. Pubs only care about the deficit when a Democrat is in the White House.
The Pubs in Congress want the deficit to go UP because they think this will deceive people into thinking that it's President Obama's fault. Bush turned a SURPLUS into a record deficit. He decimated the hell out of every domestic category, each requiring that money be spent to repair the damage after he left office. The damage Bush did may take decades, DECADES, to undo, especially with Congressional Republicans perpetuating the Bush nonsense. Bush also started two wars, which represented a continuing black hole of spending until President Obama took over. Thanks to today's Congressional Republicans still representing Dubya, WE STILL HAVE A DEFICIT.
President Obama inherited this mess, worst in history. Were he to have his way, we'd be in a SURPLUS now. Kudos to President Obama for making sure the deficit does not climb to $600 Trillion, like it would if a clueless Pub were at the helm, ruining the economy as they typically do.
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It would be $600 Trillion if a Republican were in office
Pubs only care about the deficit when a Democrat is in the White House.
