Obama’s infantile pronouncements on our economy and the oncoming “fiscal cliff” would be laughable if they were not so terrifying.
Tuesday, November 27, in the Wall Street Journal, Chris Cox and Bill Archer reported that the official national debt of $16 trillion only hints at the size of our problem.
The net present value of the unfunded liabilities of just Social Security, Medicare, and federal employees’ retirement benefits exceed $86 trillion. To realize how insoluble this is, Cox and Archer report that in order for us to avoid adding more to the debt, further bankrupting the country and further impoverishing our children, it would require $8 trillion in annual tax collections. (The US annual collections are approximately $2.2 trillion now).
The authors go on to point out that there is no conceivable way the US could raise $8 trillion annually. All Americans who earn over $66,000 generate a gross adjusted income of $5.1 trillion. The taxable income of all US corporations is only $1.6 trillion. This means that if we confiscated all the gross income of all Americans who earn over $66K and all the net income from all US corporations, we would not balance our budget.
This fiscal train wreck cannot be averted by merely taxing the top 2% of Americans.
After Weimar Germany, we are arguably the most bankrupt nation to have ever existed. Obama’s petty demagoguery will not avert collapse. As Paul Ryan aptly points out, what is coming is the most predicable calamity ever to befall a once-great nation.
Either blind or disinformation agent, not sure which one! Where were YOU when banks were borrowing money in the middle of the night without collateral? Also, when NAFTA was drafted, then signed? When pallets of tax dollars in CASH got lost? Pls be fact honest!
Interesting comment on a summary of an WSJ article. Could any snippet be written with enough info to please you? Would you care to provide us with ALL the facts and figures yourself? Methinks you assume too much re the intent of the author. There is fault to be found with every administration. That does not lessen the impact of the current one.
Btw, did you get the point of the peice? If you have a rebuttal of such I would be most interested in hearing it.
Republicans AND democrats in Washington will kick the can down the road as the economy (and the country) go down the toilet. “What is coming is the most predicable calamity ever to befall a once-great nation.” So sad, and so true. Everyone is so wrapped up in left / right, democrat / republican, that they cant step back and see the bigger picture. The result will not be good.
Well said, Rusty, but “everyone” is not so wrapped up. The question is, how many?
True, its not everyone, more accurately, too many. How many are too many? Enough to elect a socialist president.
I won’t question the validity of the results, though perhaps there has been much to question for a very long time. When parties are prepared with batteries of attys to verify results we are already past the pale. The question is, are there enough to prevent collapse? And further, should they?
I think the only hope to avoid a collapse is to change hearts and minds of those who are not too far gone. I try to focus on those who I believe can be saved, in hopes of tipping the scales the other way. If not, a collapse will not work out well, in fact, the result will be far worse than most realize. I’m hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst.
Absolutely! I don’t relish the thought nor the reality of collapse and will avoid if possible. But some will refuse to see the truth until it is too late. Not a pleasant come-uppance. Then all would be equally oppressed, outside the elite taskmasters. It isn’t rocket science, so must question the integrity and true purpose of the “ignorant.” When one grows up one should learn personal responsibility. IF one EVER grows up and desires to be FREE to make one’s own choices!
Perhaps my question would better be stated, “will they”? However, just can’t seem to escape the moral imperative. The “enabling” has gone too far for too long. At that point, history typically applies a hard yet instructive slap – -If we’ll ever choose to learn. Nice chatting with you.