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Originally Posted by GRH
I obviously don't think endlessly adding debt is a sustainable fiscal strategy. But where I seem to differ from some of the Tea Partiers is that I also don't think defaulting on the debt is a viable option.
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Correction. That's where you differ from 100% of the republicans in the House, and 43% of the democrats in the House. They just had a vote to raise the debt ceiling. No strings attached - yes or no. It failed 318 to 97 with 82 of the democrats voting against it. Do 318 republicans and democrats really want the country to default on their debt? Of course not. But what they're saying is that they aren't going to raise the debt ceiling unless something is put in place to bring the debt down in a substatial way.
Question for you: 236 republicans (not just Tea Party, but republicans) and 82 democrats voted not to raise the debt ceiling in a no-strings attached vote. Why is it the general perception that only the Tea Partiers want us to default on our debt? Left wing media does not jive with reality.
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Originally Posted by GRH
Want to hurt the economy? Try not paying seniors their social security checks for a few months.
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uh, not sure who's proposing that one.
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Originally Posted by GRH
Unfortunately, the policies that are likely to rectify the debt situation (cutting spending and raising taxes) are also the same policies that are likely to stifle growth and potentially lead us back into a recession. History bares this fact out. In an ideal world, we'd be able to grow our way out of the debt...And some Republican plans (Pawlenty) insinuate that spending $11.6 trillion on tax cuts for the wealthy will somehow stimulate GDP growth on par with China's GDP growth. Pretty much every economist admits that this notion is absurd. Similarly, the idea that you finance your way out of debt by adding more debt (without addressing structural problems) is not sustainable.
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Yes, there are many ways to start shrinking our debt. And probably all of them will hurt. The differences is some will hurt for a relatively short while leaving us stronger because responsible decisions have been made and some will hurt for a decade or more leaving the US weaker in the end because irresponsible decisions were made. Spending more and growing the government would be the latter. It's a cancer we will have to deal with, perhaps forever.
Cutting spending is the right thing to do. Like in Canada & Puerto Rico.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/...n-from-canada/
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Originally Posted by GRH
I think none of our current crop of politicians have the political wherewithal to stand up and do what needs to be done. To be sure...They are one-sided in their approach. Republicans will talk about privatizing Medicare but don't want to touch taxes. Democrats will talk about raising taxes but don't want to touch entitlements. In the end, I'm sure that we'll end up with a bland compromise that is underwhelming...And which ultimately does very little to address our larger issues.
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I agree with you there....