The Cliff of DOOM

[J.K. Gregg]

Tackling the national debt is exactly what we need to do. There are many serious problems with a raising national debt, as outlined here by the CBO:

"A growing portion of peoples savings would go to purchase government debt rather than toward investments in productive capital goods such as factories and computers; that crowding out of investment would lead to lower output and incomes than would otherwise occur. In addition, if the payment of interest on the extra debt was financed by imposing higher marginal tax rates, those rates would discourage work and saving and further reduce output. Rising interest costs might also force reductions in spending on important government programs. Moreover, rising debt would increasingly restrict the ability of policymakers to use fiscal policy to respond to unexpected challenges, such as economic downturns or international crises."

http://www.cbo.gov/publication/21625

[Indy]

Long-term.

The short-term answer to a stubborn recession is not to... start tackling the debt.

Question: where were all these debt Hawks the eight years before Obama was president?

[J.K. Gregg]

[spacemonkey]

Kicking the can down the road by raising the debt limit solves nothing.The funny part is the so called educated elite don't seem to understand that. Could be the Mayans were right, the world is changing. The days of business as usual are over. To many people, to much automation, finite world markets and rescources. The future goal should shift to what is sustainable and away from the illusion of perpetual growth.

[Indy]

[J.K. Gregg]

If by "sustainable" you mean using less, I disagree. Resources are for all practical purposes infinite considering continually improving technology, futures markets, and discoveries of new types of resources. But I digress.

What needs to be done is a return to the proper moral role of government. If government did only what it's supposed to do, it wouldn't cost nearly as much as it does today.

[J.K. Gregg]

[The Comrade]

[J.K. Gregg]

[The Comrade]