Doug Winterburn wrote in news:5048ece0$0$1527$c3e8da3$ snipped-for-privacy@news.astraweb.com:
Despite all that, please read (as I just said elsewhere) this from Vanguard:
I am NOT an economist.
But taken your view a bit further (back actually), spending more than we take in has been a hobby of every administration, in particular some recent ones, where taxes were cut, wars waged, medicare expanded, etc, etc, and NONE of those EXTRA EXPENSES were compensated for by extra revenues.
It is my opinion, and you are free to disagree, that the financial collapse of 2008 forced the administrations of Bush and Obama to spend vast sums of money to "rescue the economy". Hopefully we'll eventually dig out from under that particular mountain of debt (the one caused by the collapse).
Under what definition to you include the constitutional requirement for the federal government to provide for the national defense in the category of entitlement programs?
Because we spend a lot more than is required for defense. Even more than the Pentagon wants. A lot of it is pure pork barrel - local jobs get politicians re-elected even if the rest of the country is paying for something not needed.
Hmmm. Maybe there have been more Republican presidents than Democratic ones who have increased the amount of overspending, but in dollars? I'd go with the reverse.
It will take a set of deficits from Republican administrations to approach the $6 trillion debt from just the current president.
I believe in the coming election there is one big factor that has been missed.
That factor can be summed up in Michelle's response when obama was elected. She said that that was the first time in her life when she was proud of America. (You can check this statement in the news archives)
The whole Republican convention was; we are proud of America, We know We are capable of great things, and We can make it better. ( Notice there was no mention of establishing more government for the purpose.)
It is my believe that people will respond more to a positive attitude than the negative attitude expressed by the social democrats.
People will respond to a person who says that in America you can go as far as your capabilities will carry you, and believe the American dream is not, as obama said a few weeks ago, to get a job that will support your family with out the fear of loosing that job and putting you and your family in poverty. It is human nature to want the best not something that is adequate to keep you out of poverty.
Who would you vote for someone who said your success is dependent on your abilities and you can go as far as you are willing to work for, or one that say there is nothing you can do about present state, and the reason you are suffering is the government has not done enough for you.
: Entitlement program: The kind of government program that provides individuals with personal financial benefits (or sometimes special government-provided goods or services) to which an indefinite (but usually rather large) number of potential beneficiaries have a legal right (enforceable in court, if necessary) whenever they meet eligibility conditions that are specified by the standing law that authorizes the program. The beneficiaries of entitlement programs are normally individual citizens or residents, but sometimes organizations such as business corporations, local governments, or even political parties may have similar special "entitlements" under certain programs. The most important examples of entitlement programs at the federal level in the United States would include Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, most Veterans' Administration programs, federal employee and military retirement plans, unemployment compensation, food stamps, and agricultural price support programs.
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: An entitlement program can be defined as a governmental mechanism where public funds are given to people because they meet some kind of requirement. One commonly known American example of an entitlement program would be the federal food stamp program, which allows people without sufficient funds to buy food. Another well-known entitlement program is Medicare, although only certain parts of that program actually qualify as entitlements.
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: Government program that requires payment to anyone who meets specific qualifications; those who qualify are thus ?entitled? to the payments. Social Security, Medicare, food stamps, etc. are entitlement programs.
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: What is an entitlement program? It is a program that establishes certain eligibility criteria and anyone fitting that criteria may receive its benefits.
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: United States Government Entitlement Programs:
529 or Coverdell Home Mortgage Interest Deduction Hope or Lifetime Learning Tax Credit Student Loans Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit Earned Income Tax Credit Social Security--Retirement & Survivors Pell Grants Unemployment Insurance Veterans Benefits G.I. Bill Medicare Head Start Social Security Disability SSI--Supplemental Security Income Medicaid Welfare/Public Assistance Government Subsidized Housing Food Stamps
Providing for the national defense through a standing military is not an entitlement program.
Let's follow up on your train of thought. Suppose that no federal entitlement programs are cut. Suppose that beginning today, the federal government spends only what come in. Suppose that beginning today that the economy began to grow by a robust 4% per year, and that is the means relied on to cure all federal budget problems. How long would it take before the federal deficit is reduced to zero? What would the federal debt be at that time? How long would it take to reduce the federal debt to its present $16 trillion? How long until interest on the federal debt become less than 10% of total federal spending? How long until the federal debt is reduced to below five trillion dollars?
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