Galt's Gulch

Where's the debt ceiling now?

Posted by mminnick 10 years, 8 months ago to Economics
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  • Posted by Robbie53024 10 years, 8 months ago
    It really doesn't matter anymore. We're so far in the hole that we'll never be able to grow our way out. The best thing that we can do now is to convert as much as possible into stores of value (real estate is not the place to be, as the gov't will tax you out from it on the way down). Gold will likely be outlawed again, so not sure what will be a viable store of wealth.
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    • Posted by mminnick 10 years, 8 months ago
      We can at least stop going further into debt. At some point the lenders are going to start asking for more interest. That's the point at which it really gets interesting. When the interest payments bet to be $xxxB per month. In fact we don’t have to reach the triple digit billions to be in trouble. If the interest payments reach 83,333,333,333.33 per month we will be paying $1T per year in debt service (aka interest). Don't think we can afford that.
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      • Posted by rlewellen 10 years, 8 months ago
        It's important enough to keep track of the names of the Republicans that voted for the increase.
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        • Posted by mminnick 10 years, 8 months ago
          The names are:
          House Speaker John Boehner, Ohio.
          House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Va.
          House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, Calif.
          Chairman of House Ways and Means Committee, Dave Camp, Mich.
          Chairman of House Oversight Committee, Darrell Issa, Calif.
          Chairman of House Appropriations Committee, Hal Rogers, Ky.
          Chairman of House Armed Services Committee, Buck McKeon, Calif.
          Chairman of House Foreign Affairs Committee Ed Royce, Calif.
          Chairman of House Natural Resources Committee Doc Hastings, Wash.
          Rep. Ken Calvert, Calif.
          Rep. Howard Coble, N.C.
          Rep. Chris Collins, N.Y.
          Rep. Charlie Dent, Pa.
          Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick, Pa.
          Rep. Michael Grimm, N.Y.
          Rep. Richard Hanna, N.Y.
          Rep. Peter King, N.Y.
          Rep. Frank LoBiondo, N.J.
          Rep. Pat Meehan, Pa.
          Rep. Gary Miller, Calif.
          Rep. Devin Nunes, Calif.
          Rep. Dave Reichert, Wash.
          Rep. Peter Roskam, Ill.
          Rep. Jon Runyan, N.J. [Added by mminnick: My Representative. Not running for Re-election]
          Rep. John Shimkus, Ill.
          Rep. Chris Smith, N.J.
          Rep. David Valadao, Calif.
          Rep. Frank Wolf, Va.
          Link to story is:
          http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/list-Re...
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          • Posted by rlewellen 10 years, 8 months ago
            Here is a little song I wrote to remember the senators: Remember debt limts. Cornyn - it happens again and again- one too many Corkers.out you' are with Kirk, So take this list of Barrassos, we're also done with Flake, gettin no more Hatch'd plans with Senator John McCain, ya's think we're all McConnell'd - Rubio's just the same ! No Murkowski waters, the primary is soon with Thune .I've had enough with lawyers singin happy tunes.
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    • Posted by CircuitGuy 10 years, 8 months ago
      It would be EASY to solve the debt problem, very EASY. We would just cut gov't spending and enact modest tax increases. The cuts and taxes would be across-the-board, affecting everyone's favorite programs-- a vital jet fighter development program, programs for needy children and the elderly, scientific research, everything. The tax increase would be small, but would affect the rich and people who are living in poverty.

      The economy is in an expansion mode right now. Commodities like gold and silver will lose half their real value, so nothing like outlawing commodities, esp ones used in computer chip bonding wires, will happen.

      The thing is, the first thing to do when you're in a hole is STOP DIGGING. The economy is expanding. This is the time to retire debt. The politicians who don't want to raise the debt ceiling are right. Let's phase out the borrowing and then have an argument about how much to cut from catching evildoers and how much from helping the needy, but the debate about whether to cut would be settled.
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      • Posted by Robbie53024 10 years, 8 months ago
        Cut gov't spending. Tax increases would not be necessary. The additional economic activity would produce more tax revenue at the current rates - hell, lower the rates and we'll get even more economic activity. This is the problem with liberal/progressives. They don't actually care about solving the problem, they only want to punish the successful. Thus, we're unlikely to actually fix this.
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        • Posted by CircuitGuy 10 years, 8 months ago
          "- hell, lower the rates and we'll get even more economic activity."
          I believe this is false. With modest changes, i.e. not making the income tax rate 5% or 70%, tax policy has little effect on growth. You'll get a spike right after a law change as people push income into the year with lower taxes, but that's not sustainable production.

          Balancing the budget, though, means money that would be invested in gov't debt is invested in business projects, which would increase growth. Balancing the budget is key.

          I reject the stuff about liberals as being akin to "all conservatives care about is the rich".

          My point of all this is I think the problems are easily solvable, and political baloney gets in the way.
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        • Posted by CircuitGuy 10 years, 8 months ago
          What I'm saying is we _could_ solve this easily by doing a little bit of everything. Most politicians get sanctimonious about cutting programs they don't like anyways. Small changes that would hurt everyone's favorite cause (e.g. lower taxes, school lunches, stopping evildoers) would solve the problem.
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