150 Economists Back US Republicans in Debt Fight Published: Wednesday, 1 Jun 2011 | 6:26 AM ET Text Size By: Reuters
More than 150 economists back U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner's call to match any increase in the debt limit with spending cuts of equal size, according to a letter released by the Republican leader's office Wednesday.
Congressional Leaders Meet With Obama And Biden At White House Over Budget Getty Images U.S. President Barack Obama is struggling to raise US debt ceiling without attaching spending cuts to the bill.
The letter will give Boehner an important talking point as he and his fellow House Republicans meet with President Barack Obama at 10 a.m. to discuss the debt limit and other fiscal issues.
"An increase in the national debt limit that is not accompanied by significant spending cuts and budget reforms to address our government's spending addiction will harm private-sector job creation in America," the letter said.
Signatories include Nobel laureate Robert Mundell of Columbia University and economists from schools like New York University and Georgetown University, as well as conservative think tanks like the American Enterprise Institute.
The Treasury Department has warned that the country could face a default that could push it back into recession and roil markets across the globe if it does not raise the $14.3 trillion debt limit by Aug 2.
Treasury has been tapping federal employee pensions and other funds to pay the nation's bills since it reached the current debt limit on May 16.
Republicans say they will not back any increase that does not include steep spending cuts and other limits to ensure that debt stays at a manageable level.
The Republican-controlled HouseTuesday defeated a bill that called for a debt-limit increase without conditions.
In talks led by Vice President Joe Biden, Republicans and Democrats have identified hundreds of billions of dollars in possible spending cuts, and both sides say they could ultimately find more than a trillion dollars in deficit savings.
But they must resolve a dispute over the biggest-ticket items.
Democrats say they will not consider cuts to popular health benefits until Republicans consider tax increases.
150 Economists??? Sort of: These "economists" include right-wing ideologues, partisans, and individuals affiliated with institutions funded by the Koch Brothers. "24 of the "economists" who signed both letters also signed a 2003 letter endorsing the Bush tax cuts as a "fiscally responsible" path to "more employment, economic growth, and opportunities for all Americans." The Bush tax cuts were a fiscal nightmare that fueled massive deficits, a decline in average household incomes, and the slowest period of economic growth since World War II.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
Signatories include Nobel laureate Robert Mundell of Columbia University and economists from schools like New York University and Georgetown University, as well as conservative think tanks like the American Enterprise Institute. Since when is Columbia U, Georgetown U and NYU right wing.
150 Economists??? Sort of: These "economists" include right-wing ideologues, partisans, and individuals affiliated with institutions funded by the Koch Brothers. "24 of the "economists" who signed both letters also signed a 2003 letter endorsing the Bush tax cuts as a "fiscally responsible" path to "more employment, economic growth, and opportunities for all Americans." The Bush tax cuts were a fiscal nightmare that fueled massive deficits, a decline in average household incomes, and the slowest period of economic growth since World War II. http://politicalcorrection.org/blog/201106010003
Do you even understand basic economics? The tax cuts had nothing to do with this "economic nightmare". You can confiscate all the money in America IT STILL DOESN'T COVER THE DEBT!! America doesn't produce anything!!! We are spending money we NEVER HAD!!! We have trillions of unfunded liabilities in Social Security and Medicaid, and our nation is 75% consumer based. We spent money where there was no real demand, using money that was never there. The Federal Reserve is printing and lending money at practically 0% interest encouraging production for products that people don't have the means to purchase(unless you lend them the cheap money to buy it) creating inflation. The American economy is coming to an ugly end. This has been a slow progression that began in 1913 when the Federal Reserve was created and put in high gear in 1971 when the dollar was taken off of the gold standard. This conversation of Bush vs. Obama vs. Bush is a joke, it is a senseless argument and never addresses the cause of this "economic nightmare". Our presidents and most of our congressmen and women are bought and paid for by bankers, and America is directed by the central bank, our elected officials just do as they're told.
Take a good look at this and pay close attention to what every citizen would owe to break even. $46,000 for every citizen but if you are a tax payer it raises to close to $130,000. This does not even touch the promises debt we would owe if we don't stop this madness. The game is over and the only way we could ever repay that amount is to start making those trillion dollar bills that Zimbabwe had by killing their currency.
"In the beginning of a change, the Patriot is a scarce man, brave, hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a Patriot."
U.S. funding for future promises lags by trillions By Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAY
The federal government's financial condition deteriorated rapidly last year, far beyond the $1.5 trillion in new debt taken on to finance the budget deficit, a USA TODAY analysis shows.
The government added $5.3 trillion in new financial obligations in 2010, largely for retirement programs such as Medicare and Social Security. That brings to a record $61.6 trillion the total of financial promises not paid for.
This gap between spending commitments and revenue last year equals more than one-third of the nation's gross domestic product.
Medicare alone took on $1.8 trillion in new liabilities, more than the record deficit prompting heated debate between Congress and the White House over lifting the debt ceiling.
Social Security added $1.4 trillion in obligations, partly reflecting longer life expectancies. Federal and military retirement programs added more to the financial hole, too.
Corporations would be required to count these new liabilities when they are taken on — and report a big loss to shareholders. Unlike businesses, however, Congress postpones recording spending commitments until it writes a check.
The $61.6 trillion in unfunded obligations amounts to $534,000 per household. That's more than five times what Americans have borrowed for everything else — mortgages, car loans and other debt. It reflects the challenge as the number of retirees soars over the next 20 years and seniors try to collect on those spending promises. "The (federal) debt only tells us what the government owes to the public. It doesn't take into account what's owed to seniors, veterans and retired employees," says accountant Sheila Weinberg, founder of the Institute for Truth in Accounting, a Chicago-based group that advocates better financial reporting. "Without accurate accounting, we can't make good decisions."
Michael Lind, policy director at the liberal New America Foundation's economic growth program, says there is no near-term crisis for federal retirement programs and that economic growth will make these programs more affordable.
"The false claim that Social Security and Medicare are about to bankrupt the United States has been repeated for decades by conservatives and libertarians who pretend that their ideological opposition to these successful and cost-effective programs is based on worries about the deficit," he says.
USA TODAY has calculated federal finances based on standard accounting rules since 2004 using data from the Medicare and Social Security annual reports and the little-known audited financial report of the federal government.
The government has promised pension and health benefits worth more than $700,000 per retired civil servant. The pension fund's key asset: federal IOUs.
I read this article today. It is frightening. When the USA Today starts reporting the dire trouble we are in, you know the party is winding down and reality is undeniable. Americans can't even wrap their heads around how HUGE this crisis is. It was 100 years in the making.
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