A real spending crisis

Yeah, bg, we get that you want the term "welfare queens" to be pejorative. BTW, there isn't a state in the union that isn't getting fed money. Most of it is a result of federal mandates, to be aided with fed money and encumbered by fed strings.

But really, you should be a little more sensitive to people outside of ND, where the economy is not as robust. Your term might be offensive to some who are really struggling. Are you that unenlightened?

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Federal gov't needs tax reform, and close the corporate loop holes to stop all jobs from going overseas. ND needs to sever the federal gov't teat!

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Well, I see what you mean, Worried.

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loco Neither is running around screaming the "sky is falling the sky is falling!"

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Worried, that's one analyst's take on a big problem. One guy saying "the sky isn't falling" isn't enough to convince me that we don't have a spending problem.

Our government spends way more than it takes in. Fact. Yessir. Big Time.

So, your analyst implies don't worry, be happy? Not today, not for me...

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It is silly to obsess about near-term nominal budget deficits. What matters is the deficit as a share of GDP minus interest spending, which economists call the primary deficit. On that basis, we are much closer to fiscal sustainability than even most economists realize. Relatively small adjustments to the growth path of federal revenues and Medicare would be sufficient to eliminate the primary deficit. Taking a meat ax to every federal program, as Republicans demand, is neither necessary nor desirable. My point is that economists have long differentiated between non-interest spending and that for interest, which, as I said, is a pure transfer that has essentially benign economic effects. For this reason, they are mainly concerned about what is called the “primary deficit,” which is non-interest spending as compared to revenues. The primary deficit going forward is actually quite small – just 1.7 percent of GDP in the long run.

Read more at ***********thefiscaltimes****/Columns/2013

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Of course, we no longer owe the debt all to ourselves; about half of the publicly-held national debt is owned by foreigners, but most of that is held by central banks that will hold it pretty much forever. Nevertheless, there is still a fundamental economic difference between a debt arising from higher government spending on goods and services and one arising from higher interest expense.

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In fact, virtually all the growth in projected spending comes not from entitlements or giveaways to the poor and lazy, as Republicans would have us believe, but rather from interest on the debt. This is a problem, but not nearly to the extent that it appears.

The reason is that interest on the debt is what economists call a pure transfer. Economically, it is little different from taking money out of your right pocket and putting it into your left pocket. That is because the vast bulk of interest goes to people and institutions who simply use it to buy more Treasury securities.

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Republicans would have us believe that all of this resulted from Barack Obama’s policies, but this is simply a partisan lie. Fiscal year 2009 actually began on September 1, 2008, and was based on the budget that George W. Bush submitted in January 2008.

Moreover, if we look at projections from the Congressional Budget Office on January 7, 2009 – while Bush was still in office and which do not incorporate any Obama policies – we see that the deficit was projected to rise from $455 billion in 2008 to $1.2 trillion in 2009 under existing law.

The actual deficit for fiscal year 2009 was $1.55 trillion. But the difference was due entirely to lower revenues than expected, not higher spending. Outlays in fiscal year 2009 actually came in below CBO’s projection – $3,518 billion actual vs. a projection of $3,543 billion.

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"Who created this spending problem and this large debt.." The people who spend the money created it of course, could it be any other way? A big problem we have is people see those who choose not to work enjoy the same quality of life as those who do chose to work, so why work. Their kids will be fed and in school so they don't even have to get out of bed.

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They just keep following North Dakotas lead, only thing is North Dakota doesnt need the money but, just keep tax tax taxing.

Cannot figure out how so many can jump all over Federal government for taxing but are first in line for handouts?

Federal government is broke and raise taxes North Dakotans scream but we are need more employees to manage our gushing streams of money but RAISE our taxes and thats ok??

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Facts about "Bain owned voting machines and the usual Republican cheating ways" is what I'm really, really hoping you have, bill.

Remember, imagination don't count.

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billgarrdoesn'twannagetit

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That's your best voice, Jack!

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"We the people overwhelming re- elected President Obama..."

Overwhelmingly is not 51.1%

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This is a crisis!

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lorexxx Feb-10-13 2:35 PM

Wow....Good job namexxx...The fluidity..the punctuation,grammar & civility.......Definitley not lorexxx Not to mention the post did not contain "Obama".

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In total, how many hours did you spend online last week -- talking to yourself in different voices?

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You and the rightwingers comments should be in the funny papers.Bush and his side kick is the reason we are in this mess.Lets work on jobs and growth to get the debt under control.If raising the debt limit is a sign of failure then what do you call raising the debt limit under bush?We the people overwhelming re- elected President Obama becouse we the people saw the republican party torn apart and couldn't agree on anything.

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The crisis started in late september of 2008 after 8 years of the war criminal/chicken hawks were about to leave office...the economy is finally poised for a recovery this year almost 5 years late...thanks Dick and George for the SHOCK n AWE ! ! !

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It's a crisis!

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Tax loopholes that Romney and the über rich utilize are next on Obama's agenda to increase revenue.....he won't do any major spending cuts til the loopholes are closed

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avoir une bonne mémoire, loco...

On that Moses thingy....I suppose if I drove up in my F350 it would bring on a whole new meaning to;playing,golden calves and the spiritual hardship of walking up the mountain... When most of us consider Moses to be the architect of political dissent.. ..and the father of modern religion......Who could argue with your convictions.

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All thumbs up for Dr. Carson!

:-)

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namexxx, you're the only true multiple personality here...

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