This is a trick question right? 44 doubled what 43 previous had accrued and I don’t think 44 was conservative. I have come to understand the left can create the worst of problems and then take credit for “trying” to fix it….seldom if ever have I seen “this” occur (ref. fixing part) but, I sure have seen them cross thread many a light bulb. Only the worst of the worst speaker in History would make a public statement “We have to pass it to see what is in it” . Now there is a severely mentally challenged human.
The founding documents of the United States do not provide support for most federal control we have today. The purpose of the US Constitution, as stated in the Preamble, is to "promote the general welfare," not to provide it. The Bill of Rights lists a number of personal freedoms that the government cannot infringe upon, not material goods or services that the government must provide. According to former Congressman Ron Paul, "you have a right to your life and you have a right to your liberty and you have a right to keep what you earn in a free country... You do not have the right to services or things."
What are the conservative and liberal approaches to the national debt?
Since Reagan they have been the same. We shall see if the Tea Party can make Republicans spend less. Other than that Republicans tend to borrow it, while Democrats tend to pay for more of it with taxes. So Republicans tend to have bigger deficits. What 166 said was true too. Deficit By President as % of GDP PresidentPercent Increase Obama Numbers are not avail yet. His first year 14% more than Bush last year George W. BushR20.00% George W. BushR7.10% Bill ClintonD-9.00% Bill ClintonD-0.70% George H. W. BushR15.00% Ronald ReaganR9.30% Ronald ReaganR11.30% Jimmy CarterD-3.30% Nixon/FordR0.20% Richard NixonR-3.00% Lyndon JohnsonD-8.30% Kennedy/JohnsonD-8.30% Dwight EisenhowerR-5.20% Dwight EisenhowerR-11.00% Harry TrumanD-21.70% Roosevelt/TrumanD-24.40% http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_by_U.S._presidential_terms
What do "liberal" and "conservative" mean?
"Who is left today to represent those of us who want less government interference in our lives? Haven't both the liberals and the conservatives abandoned us?" Simple answer to your question. Vote Libertarian. They are social liberals (keep the government out of my bedroom, and out of my private affairs period) and fiscal conservatives (smaller government, fewer taxes, armed forces only for self defense). They are for the 2nd amendment, which I support for the reason that the founding fathers originally put it in place, to defend ourselves against tyranny. I disagree with them only on a few things like I think we should pay taxes for education (though I think it should be controlled by the states) and provide assistance to those who really need it, like the elderly and seriously ill, and we should take care of the environment. In an ideal society, all of us would take care of the less fortunate, and protect the environment without government interference. Anyway the Libertarian party is the best system out there. Republicans today are NOT conservatives. They are fascist (meaning controlled by the corporations) neocons. They don't REALLY care about the religious right's crazy s*** but suck up to them to get votes. Besides, for them it's nice to have a theocratic state because it keeps the SHEEPLE under control.
How will cutting taxes pay off the national debt?
Theoretically. Lower taxes mean more money in people's pockets, which means more spending, which means more demand for goods and services--thus more jobs. In practice, since 1980, the new jobs have been created in other countries, which does us no good in the US. Cutbacks in Federal grants and services have led to higher State and Local Taxes. Wages have stagnated, which means less money available for spending. And predatory marketing practiices have smothered the small businesses that generate the most tax revenue and jobs. This has resulted in a "Booming Economy," where the formerly secure are now poor, bankruptcies and foreclosures have reached record levels and are still climbing and the dollar has lost half it's value thanks to 6 years of Republicans writing bad checks. The problem is that 90% of Tax "Relief" has gone to the 10% richest Americans, whose tax burden as a percentage of income is now roughly 54 times less than that of the Middle Class and poor, (the other 90%.) Ever since the minting of the first coins, observers have noted that money moves toward the rich. The mistake the communists made was in thinking that the process could be halted. It can't. It's a force of Nature. What we call The Economy is really all of the effects, the jobs, the goods, the services, the tax revenues that support maintaining Civilization--that are what money does on its way to the Rich. The more hands that money passes through on its way up, the higher the level of General Prosperity. Thus, sending money directly to the rich through tax cuts is like saying you'll get more electricity by blowing a hole in the bottom of the dam. Conservatives don't have a plan for paying off the National Debt. They don't care about the National Debt. As long as they get their share of the loot, it's somebody else's problem. Edit I've no sympathy for the Commies, Justanot. Unlike Neocons who just LOVE that Chinese slave labor. All communism does is change which fatcats get a bigger slice of what becomes a smaller pie. REALLY Free Markets work, but we don't have one anymore.
Clinton handed a growing economy, a tax surplus, and a projected full PAYOFF of the National Debt to “W”…Since which “Conservatives™” have fairly continually kept lowering the top marginal income tax rate and other taxes, WHILE every year spending more and more and more money. Mostly on war, weapons, and income transfers to “the 1%.”As well as, rescinding the regulations that had prevented the conservative elites in banking and finance from gambling with the American People’s money and property to the point that they have repeatedly provoked wide-spread Risk Collapses in the US economy.Of course, these tax cuts, mostly for the very very very rich, together with the deregulation did what they have done every time since 1890… precipitated a “Panic,” or recession or depression.All of this together, resulted in the National Debt that we now face.Liberals may or may not be “tax and spend,” but “Conservatives™” have been the “refuse to tax and continue to spend even more” folks for going on 120 years now.
What is the amount of interest owed on the current national debt figure of 9.4 trillion?
Hazey, the interest on the federal debt from the most recent (FY 2007) year was a staggering $429,977,998,108.20!!! That huge expenditure buys no services, infrastructure or protection. That tragedy is compounded by the fact that much of it goes directly to foreign governments and investors. In general, the interest is paid via Treasury Issues (Bills, Notes and Bonds) that mature from a few days out to thirty years. We have forced that debt service onto our children and grandchildren, probably throughout the rest of this Century. Thomas Jefferson failed in his attempt to prevent one generation from paying back the previous generation's debts, showing his amazing foresight. The reality is that such debt-service represents the largest tax-increase in US history, but not elected official has the courage to acknowledge such. However, there is some light at the end of this tunnel, if only more folks like you would pose your question whenever possible.
Deficits generally increase because tax receipts are down, not because of increases in spending. Government spending is a (big) part of GDP, so when your economy’s biggest customer cuts their spending and stops investing in the country, the economy suffers.Austerity is a misguided idea to begin with. Governments do not borrow private sector assets in order to spend, they create their own. They issue a bond, exchange it for pounds from the private sector, then spend that money right back into the economy. The net result is an increase in net financial assets in the private sector, plus an increase in aggregate demand from the spending. Most governments should be deficit spending more, not less.Pensions are not the problem. Pensioners spend that money. The problem is saved income, and that problem gets worse as unemployment rises and labor loses leverage to demand more of the pie. That is exactly when more government spending is called for.The EU was built on faulty monetarist notions of limited government spending, and austerity is baked right into the Maastricht Treaty. Plus, there is no mechanism for aiding or even redistributing money to weak economies, as euro using nations ceded control of their currencies. Governments need to be able to spend countercyclically in down times, and euro governments are very limited in that regard. The U.K. was right to keep control of their own currency.