Reality will hit the US just like Greece - Money doesn't grow on trees!

[Christians4LessGvt]

U.S. debt headed toward Greek levels

BY JASON RUSSELL

JUNE 30, 2015

United States' projected debt over the next 25 years looks a lot like Greece's over the past 25.



With all the chaos unravelling in Greece, Congress would be wise to do what it takes to avoid reaching Greek debt levels. But it's not a matter of sticking to the status quo and avoiding bad decisions that would put the budget on a Greek-like path, because the budget is on that path already.

A quarter-century ago, Greek debt levels were roughly 75 percent of Greece's economy, about equal to what the U.S. has now. As of 2014, Greek debt levels are about 177 percent of national GDP. Now, the country is considering defaulting on its loans and uncertainty is gripping the economy.

In 25 years, U.S. debt levels are projected to reach 156 percent of the economy, which Greece had in 2012. That projection comes from the Congressional Budget Office's alternative scenario, which is more realistic than its standard fiscal projection about which spending programs Congress will extend into the future.

If Congress leaves the federal budget on autopilot, debt levels will soar. Instead, spending must be reined in to avoid a Greek-style meltdown.

"Spending in all areas of government should be considered on the table, without any sacred cows," Jonathan Bydlak, president of the Coalition to Reduce Spending, told the Washington Examiner. "If we're going to reap the really big savings, we have to look at fundamental reform of entitlement programs and eliminate wasteful spending at the Pentagon and in other discretionary programs."

"The United States may not be facing full-scale financial insolvency at the levels Greece is experiencing, but with the Social Security Disability program facing bankruptcy within a year and the Highway Trust Fund expected to be insolvent by the end of the summer, it's obvious we have to be wiser with the federal pocketbook if we want to have any hope of getting the budget under control."

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/article/2567326

[sirs]

I think, the overall effort, by the country has a certain tiered approach

General hard core liberals/socialists/marxists/fascists wimply have an agenda of More Government control = good.  Anything else = bad/evil.  The bigger the better.  This is what pushes the hardcore mainstream liberal Democrat across the country, the thoughtless notion that the bigger Government is the better they can "help" everying that they deem need helped

Then you have the upper level crust.  The top 1% of the 1%, that see the need for control.  To them, it's not about bigger is better.  Its more along the lines that the poorer the better....as in the more people that are saddled with Government intervention & need, they more they stay in power.  The more programs, the more people that are entwined with Government.  It's why there's such an effort to obliterate the middle class.  The more you have hooked in, the more that the uber rich Democrats can maintain and increase their control

[Xavier_Onassis]

This is nonsense. The US is nothing at all like Greece.
Stupid rightwing rubbish.
When it is a dumbass war they are selling you which benefits not one American, you are all gaga over it.
Congress needs to RAISE TAXES if it needs money. Hello?

[Plane]

This is nonsense. The US is nothing at all like Greece.

In which direction is the difference?

Better<> Worse?
Responsible <> Irresponsible?
Broke<>Flush?


The best difference I know about is that Americans tend to actually pay their taxes, Greeks really don't.

[Xavier_Onassis]

The US is much better off than Greece
It is much more responsible than Greece
It is much less broke than Greece.

All the righties that swear that the Market is infinitely wise and always gets it right, seem to ignore the FACT that the US is everyone's favorite place to invest, and has been for the past three years. This scaremongering is nothing more than Porter Stansbury nonsense.

[Christians4LessGvt]

This is nonsense. The US is nothing at all like Greece.

Study: True size of federal government debt is $210 trillion
BY JASON RUSSELL

JUNE 3, 2015

U.S. government debt stands at $210 trillion, not the official $13.1 trillion, according to a new working paper published by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. That's equivalent to $654,205 per person in the United States, 16 times higher than the current official level.

The paper was authored by Laurence Kotlikoff, an economics professor at Boston University, and Adam Michel with the Mercatus Center. Rather than examine how much debt the government has now, they included how much debt the government will take on in the future.

Fixing the problem will be an enormous undertaking. "No adjustment that sufficiently addresses the US government's enormous fiscal gap will be small," Kotlikoff and Michel wrote. "To eliminate the shortfall solely through tax increases, the government would have to immediately and permanently raise all federal taxes, personal and corporate income taxes, excise taxes, and Social Security taxes, by 58 percent."

They modeled how much it would cost families if that happened. A 30-year-old married couple earning $50,000 a year would see their tax burden rise 15 percentage points over the course of their lifetime. An entire year of their salary would go to the federal government instead of personal spending, under that scenario.

A 30-year-old couple earning $250,000 a year would see a 19 percentage point tax increase, costing them almost $700,000 over their lifetime, nearly three years of work income.

Waiting only makes the situation worse. Doing nothing until 2023 would require a permanent 63 percent tax hike to eliminate the debt, while waiting until 2043 would require a 77 percent hike.

One alternative to relying solely on tax hikes to eliminate the debt is to rely solely on spending cuts instead. That would require a 40 percent permanent, noninterest spending cut starting in 2023. By 2043, it would require a 46 percent cut.

The true level of government debt is 12 times larger than the entire U.S. economy, compared to the 74 percent of the economy calculated by the government.

Kotlikoff and Michel put it bluntly, writing, "The United States is in horrific fiscal shape. Taxes are not the only way to close the fiscal gap. In reality, it will take some combination of both tax increases and spending cuts to address the burgeoning debt."

It may seem as if government debt is an unimportant issue that doesn't affect everyday life, but nothing could be further from the truth. As House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price, R-Ga., said in February, "Every dollar that's taxed, and every dollar that's borrowed, isn't just a number on a page. It's a dollar that can't be used to buy a home, to pay your rent, to buy a car, to pay education fees. All of the things the American people want to do are harmed by an increasing federal debt."

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/study-true-size-of-federal-government-debt-is-210-trillion/article/2565559

[Xavier_Onassis]

 Rather than examine how much debt the government has now, they included how much debt the government will take on in the future.

==========================================
Rather than discuss reality, they decided to imagine a scenario based on their imaginations, and predicted disaster.

Which is no doubt what the Mercatus Center paid them to do.

[sirs]

Rather than examine how much debt the government has now, they included how much debt the government will take on in the future.
==========================================
Rather than discuss reality, they decided to imagine a scenario based on their imaginations, and predicted disaster.

You mean, like they do with Global Warming....oops, I mean Climate Change....ooops, I mean Climate Chaos?

[Xavier_Onassis]

Continue to show your ignorance. It is fun to watch.

[sirs]

Highlighting the left's frequent double standards & hypocrisy entertains me, as much as your knee jerk snarks and derrogatories obviously entertains yourself

[Plane]

Can crowdfunding do something better than make a beer cooler with a built-in Bluetooth speaker? That's what Thom Feeney believes after setting up an Indiegogo campaign to pay Greece's $1.7 billion loan fee that it owes to the International Monetary Fund. The project is hoping to raise the cash by encouraging all of Europe's 503 million citizens to kick in a few bucks for a postcard, a Greek salad or vouchers for a bottle of Ouzo. The page has been up for just over two days and already the figure stands at €200,000 ($223,000), although that's still less than a tenth of a percent towards the final figure.
If we're all being honest with ourselves, there's almost no way that the campaign can succeed, given the sheer size of the figure that needs to be raised.

http://www.engadget.com/2015/06/30/greek-debt-indiegogo/


If you send 3 euro  (About $3.50) you get a thank you card.

[Xavier_Onassis]

I find it amusing when spending money on Americans and their needs is a terrible thing, but pissing it away on military adventures is seen as keeping us safe.
Invading Iraq, it is clear, has NOT made anyone safer, anywhere.

[sirs]

Not any more

[Xavier_Onassis]

Not now, nor ever.

The Iraq invasion was a horrible, expensive mistake. If the same money had been spent on Americans in America, the multiplier effect would have made it a far better country. But, of course, arms suppliers and profiteers like Dick Cheney would be only minor millionaires.

Those who lead the Republicans do not give one shit about the people of this country; they only care about getting richer and richer.

[sirs]

Not now, nor ever.

Of course there was.  Putting aside your nothing-more-than-an-opinion of the Iraq war, Obama even declared so.  Or are you calling him a liar as well?

Those who lead the Republicans do not give one shit about the people of this country; they only care about getting richer and richer.

Yet, while under all these Democrat led policies, that's exactly what's occurring as a result.  You see, when Republicans lead, EVERYONE generally gets richer.  Funny thing, when its Democrats, it appears the poor get poorer, while the rich still get richer.  Especially the uber-rich folk, like the Clintons