Congressional Spending in the US

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its rant time

So picture this... you're an average to slightly below average income earner in the US. You have no credit cards, nor do you have the ability to get credit because you dont have credit already (a catch-22 i have been facing for 7 years now, i cant finance a cheeseburger). Today is three days before payday and your gas tank is almost empty.

Assume you have no friends or family to help you out (not a ridiculous assumption for an aspie) and you have a whopping 41 cents in the bank. You cannot physically spend any more money because you do not physically have any money. The world basically says "sucks to be you".

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So why is it that congress can continue deficit spending with money that they dont have because they ran out of the money they stole from my last paycheck?

Why is this nation 14 trillion dollars in debt when its citizens cant even borrow 14 dollars?

As an American taxpayer, I demand answers to these questions. If i am giving up part of my paycheck I think i should have a say in how that money is used. I certainly dont want my hard earned money going to some guy who "doesnt feel like working", I dont want my hard earned money going to fund the president's re-election especially since i did not vote for him the first time.

Congress needs to start feeling the pain of the average American citizen who lives paycheck to paycheck. If the average person is less than two paychecks away from homelessness, then congress ought to be two paychecks away from joblessness.

If i am not allowed to spend money I dont have, then neither should the government that is supposed to be good stewards of the people.

The government create money as dept through your federal researve. Your social security is just a Ponzi sceme. Its like, America has a mortgage but not paying any of it but expects to some how continue, the way it always has.

How can Congress do it?

Because in times of trouble people still take refuge in the dollar. So long as the world is prepared to buy dollars, Congress can indulge in its political cowardice for another year and fail to tax the US economy at the level required to provide services.

Let's put some perspective on that rant:

You have a gas tank. That implies that you have a car. You clearly have a computer with an internet connection. You are not without luxuries, and though you are cash poor three days before payday, you still live in a country that enables you to have these things.

Why is your country $14 tillion in debt? Because people like you--who claim that taxes are "stolen" from their paycheques--refuse to pay what it costs to have a country like yours.

[quote="visagrunt"

Why is your country $14 tillion in debt? Because people like you--who claim that taxes are "stolen" from their paycheques--refuse to pay what it costs to have a country like yours.[/quote]

We went into hock for our goodies. Would we still want them if we had to pay for them out of pocket? Who knows maybe if we lived within our means we would have opted for a somewhat simpler life.

ruveyn

And that, of course, is an excellent point.

The economic growth of the OECD has been fuelled by credit--personal credit and government credit alike. "The same $5," are circulating faster and faster, and our prosperity grows from that.

Would we be as prosperous in a slow growing economy without debt to fuel it? In absolute terms, of course not. But in subjective terms, that is much harder to answer. And at the end of the day, rather pointless--because that genie is not going back into that bottle.

1)How can i "refuse" to pay when its taken by force?

2)How can i afford to pay even more?

I live within my means, i have no choice. All im asking is that congress do the same.

You can refuse to earn money and get rid of income and payroll taxes if you are as poor as you make out you are only paying the latter. You can stop buying things this should be easy when you are not working.

Or you can decide to be part of the economy in which case you are an informed participant and there is no theft there I solved it for you.

Neither party is willing to make the big cuts that are needed to balance the budget or at least stablize it. It is like a game of chicken. They are both waiting for the other one to make the first "real" move. The biggest expenses are medical care and defense. These are both protected by big lobby groups that give tons of money to both parties. I don't foresee any politicans getting in line to end their careers.

January 1, 2013 is going to be an interesting day if our two parties don't pull their heads out of their rear ends and start seriously working together instead of pointing fingers at each other.

Balancing the budget on a one year cycle may not be the best way of managing the money flow. In any case we have to stop accruing debt faster than our productivity rises. In that direction lies ruination regardless of what scheme we use to budget out national expenses.

ruveyn

Actually, this issue can primarily be chalked up to not having a budget, which the blame falls entirely on President Obama's lack of leadership, and Harry Reid blocking any attempt to work on a Senate version of a Federal Budget.

Republicans in the House have already passed a version of a budget, but are unable to do anything until Harry Reid and the Democrats in the senate stop flinging mud and start actually doing their job (they've been in violation of the law for 3 years going on 4).

As I understand it - and I could be wrong. It's happened - the US government's biggest expenditure is the military. What are the chances of significant cuts in that?

To Inuyasha-
Yes, the Republicans have a budget that they want to pass which intails knocking out parts of the budget that the Democrats see as important. The Democrats also have a budget and it intails knocking out the parts the Republicans see as important. Both parties need to make hard cuts. The fact is the revenue coming in from tax payers and goods sold overseas has dropped and is expected to stay low for awhile. The goverment must adjust its spending accordingly.

I do not think it is entirely fair to blame the President in general due to the fact that the position is not the role of a dictator. He must work with the other branches to get things done.

To Hopper-
Yes, my understanding is that the USA has the largest military budget in the world. There are many large and powerful corporations in the USA that contract to the US government to build ships, planes, tanks ect. There are also large powerful corporations that provide services to the military. These corporations have a vested interest to protect themselves and to grow. To do this they have formed large lobby groups and canidate champain funds to sway the politicians to make decisions that will benifit their industry.

In my opinion, due to the huge amounts of money that it now takes to run an effective champain, it is the super wealthy individuals and large corporations that choose who we the people get to choose from and they are not giving us much to choose from on either side.

Both visagrunt and ruveyn are right. The thing about credit is that using it wisely is a razor's edge. And it can easily become a crutch, or too easy. Decisions about using it, if it's used a lot, have to be a constant back and forth of reality checking, discerning what's really needed, and understanding how the minimum payments will be affected by each change in the balance. On a personal level, obviously that's tricky. With basically a committee (Congress) making every decision, it's even more tricky. The fact that members of Congress aren't held personally responsible for the debt makes it even more so. But consider the alternatives to a representative form of government.

To the OP, you do have some recourse, in how you vote and in writing to your elected representatives.

The biggest problem I see with this is that most of their major campaign contributions come from the same entities that profit from everyone else's debt, including the national debt: Banks. Campaign finance reform is needed.

Btw, the way to build personal credit is first in small steps. Small loans repaid on time. I seem to recall that I started with a gym membership and a set of dishes/kitchen utensils, both purchased on payment plans. My credit history built from there. But be careful what you wish for. Having credit available doesn't mean you're able to pay for whatever creditors will loan you. They have no responsibility to monitor your spending and ensure you're not getting in over your head.

Because you are helping to create a political environment in which candidates for Congress are compelled to commit themselves to the absurdly low rates of taxation



Perhaps you're not the one who should be paying more. Perhaps you should be promoting a political agenda of progressive taxation in which those who can afford to pay a greater proportion of their income than those who cannot.

In the United States, government spending represents about 38.9% of your GDP--federal spending is approximately half of this amount. Meanwhile, your overall tax burden is 26.9%, of which 15.4% is federal. This 15.4% barely covers mandatory spending--and until someone has the political courage to stand up and say, "we have to pay the taxes that support the programs we want from government" you are going to continue to breed a cohort of political cowards whose answer to the fiscal deficit is "no new taxes."

Only a moron believes that you can grow your way out of this fiscal mess. And that moron happens to be a candidate for Vice President. I weep for the nations that rely on you for trade. (namely us).

1. What you are stating is inaccurate, the Democrats in the Senate have not presented a budget, they haven't for over 3 years. The President's "budget" was such a joke that it didn't get a single vote from either party.

2. In case you didn't know one of the main responsibilities of Government is National Defense, it should be the bulk of our Federal Budget, while some things can be cut, Democrats are holding our troops hostage to try to ram through tax hikes on small business owners and retirees.

3. In case you hadn't noticed the President has been acting more and more like a dictator lately.

This is your personal opinion which you are entitled to.



Yes, National Defense it the job of the ferderal government, but at what cost. The USA currently outspends the rest of the world put together. When George Bush was president and even now with Obama president the Pentagon has not asked for all of this additional spending- It has been the politicians insisting on it. You many say "What, that doesn't make any sense" Yes it does if you follow the money. This gets back to another point I made earlier about defense contractors and their large lobby groups.



This again, is your opinion which you have right to. I can only express my disagreement.

I want what's in the best interest for the majority of American's. What I see are politicians from both parties in DC looking out for their own gains. For me personally, Obama is the best bet. If Romney gets in he will run this country the way he runs his corporate empire. I don't see a positive outcome for middle class Americans or forgien trade with that leadership plan but that is only my opinion.