The shrinking (?) still stinking (!) Federal deficit

 

This morning, I read an article, “Everybody Listen Up! The Deficit Is Actually Shrinking, Despite Beltway Propaganda, 94 percent of Americans don't know the deficit is falling,” on Alternet.org to see what the other side (Left-wing) is saying about the economy, the deficit, etc.

Below is my response to that very leftward slanted article. It is interesting that the article mentions nothing about the deficits prior to 2009.  Prior to that year deficits were much smaller. The article talks about “beltway propaganda,” when the article itself is deceitful socialist, Keynesian propaganda.

The trillion-dollar deficit may be shrinking, but we still have a major spending problem, which you, Mr. Johnson (the article’s author), seem to overlook!

NYT, 10/12/2012 : "The federal deficit fell to $1.1 trillion in the 2012 fiscal year, down from about $1.3 trillion a year earlier...That is the smallest deficit since 2008 but represents the fourth year in a row that the deficit has exceeded $1 trillion."

The Federal Debt, the accumulation of all those “shrinking Deficits” total to the tune of nearly $17 TRILLION DOLLARS and growing... Now that is just the tip of the iceberg. Medicare and Medicaid entitlements are adding to the future economic catastrophe.

We are borrowing more than $.40 on the dollar from China and others to feed our spending addiction. Houston, we have a problem if we think we can live with trillion dollar deficits.

We need to get to a balanced budget sooner, rather than later. But Obama and the Democrats and many Republicans won't even consider that. We need to live within our means, beginning NOW. Any talk of acceptable deficit levels is pure bunk. Washington, GOP and Dems refuse to deal with reality and refuse to acknowledge their spending ADDICTION, which as bad as that of any heroin or cocaine addict.

What you write, Mr. Johnson, is Leftist, keep the status quo, keep-kicking-the-can-down-the-road PROPAGANDA, which you accuse others of doing...

Finally, the sequester must happen. It is not really a spending cut; it is merely a reduction in the rate of spending.

The solution is simple. Demand Congress and the President come up with a BUDGET (which Harry Reid and the Democrat-controlled Congress have refused to do for the past four years) where expenditures equal or are less than revenues. That is what households must do. That is what businesses must do... That is what Americans (with the exception of the many low information voters) expect their government to do, live within its means. Is that so radical?

One poster replied to what I had written:

“Far too many who remain deficit hawks despite the evidence that proves their position false have absolutely no clue how macro-economics works. Everything they understand is based on their perceptions of their own household economics and totally not applicable to a large central federal government…”

I offered in part, the following rebuttal:

…I disagree with your premise that "Our national debt is NOT the same as your household debt..." A budget is a spending plan that you decide upon. It is based on how much you make in income and what your monthly expenses are. And Debt is an amount owed to a person or organization for funds borrowed.

Households, businesses, governments to be successful must create and be guided by a sound financial guideline, which a budget is. Without a clear budget,  households, businesses, governments would flounder, which many do. Simply no entity will long survive if it continues to spend more than its income, revenue, taxes (Deficits, Debt) ... It is basic accounting or economics for all entities.

I like the following explanation found at http://www.politifact.com/trut...

"It's like a family that earns $60,000 per year, but is spending $100,000. How are they doing it? By getting a new $40,000 loan every year to cover the difference," said Brian Riedl, a budget expert with the conservative Heritage Foundation." Just add 10 zeros after those numbers and you have a idea of the size of our government... We must stop this insane level of spending and borrowing or we will face real economic collapse...