Why We Will Never Pay Off Our National Debt

[Gravitymaster 0]

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/little_help_here_1kW6aQ8fElj4CKwbheEV0N

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WASHINGTON — President Obama’s $60.4 billion request for Hurricane Sandy relief has morphed into a huge Christmas stocking of goodies for federal agencies and even the state of Alaska, The Post has learned.

The pork-barrel feast includes more than $8 million to buy cars and equipment for the Homeland Security and Justice departments. It also includes a whopping $150 million for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to dole out to fisheries in Alaska and $2 million for the Smithsonian Institution to repair museum roofs in DC.

An eye-popping $13 billion would go to “mitigation” projects to prepare for future storms.

Other big-ticket items in the bill include $207 million for the VA Manhattan Medical Center; $41 million to fix up eight military bases along the storm’s path, including Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; $4 million for repairs at Kennedy Space Center in Florida; $3.3 million for the Plum Island Animal Disease Center and $1.1 million to repair national cemeteries.

Budget watchdogs have dubbed the 94-page emergency-spending bill “Sandy Scam.”

Matt Mayer of the conservative Heritage Foundation slammed the request as an “enormous Christmas gift worth of stuff.”

“The funding here should be focused on helping the community and the people, not replacing federal assets or federal items,” he said.

Republican lawmakers say the lack of details and justifications for the spending will delay approval until after Christmas, while they analyze and document what spending is “appropriate.”

“To throw out a number this large without in-depth analysis and formal request detailing the basis for it I think is premature and I wouldn’t support that,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.).

Gov. Cuomo yesterday warned Congress not to hold up the money.

“There is no Plan B,” declared Cuomo at a press conference at the governor’s office in Manhattan, where he was joined by business and union leaders.

Mayor Bloomberg, however, called for careful scrutiny of the federal spending.

“You would think they’d want to ask questions before they give away the public’s money,” the mayor said on his radio program.

This why I oppose any tax increases until government demonstrates a commitment to reducing spending.

[airdvr 210]

Exactly why there should be no tax increases without spending cuts.

Please don't dent the planet.

Destinations by Roxanne

[kelpdiver 2]

this is more a problem of pork projects and bill riders. A lot of it could be solved if the parties would agree to keep legislation singular in purpose.

That said - spending to prevent future damage is in scope. And why wouldn't you include spending to repair bases and hospitals damaged by the storm, in a funding bill aimed at fixing damage done by the storm?

Is your objection to the shameless pork (which add up to less than half a percentage point of the bill), or the sheer amount of money being spent to repair damage? Or the rush to pass it without sufficient debate, using the displaced people for political leverage? (somewhat akin to the debates in 2007 when the Democrats tried to force a deescalation in Iraq via the funding bills)

[ShcShc11 0]

See UK

[NewGuy2005 53]

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See UK

Please explain.

[kallend 2,026]

The national debt is not like a mortgage. Paying it off is not on the cards, nor even necessary.

What we really have to do is get the deficit under control and the national debt to a manageable, supportable level

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The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[billvon 2,989]

Because people like you want to increase spending on your special interests - and so we will compromise on "everybody gets to spend more."

[kelpdiver 2]

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The national debt is not like a mortgage. Paying it off is not on the cards, nor even necessary.

What we really have to do is get the deficit under control and the national debt to a manageable, supportable level

and we were so damn close to that point. 2000 was a bit of an aberration, fed by a bubble of capital gains, but we could have weathered the storm in just a few years, if not for the wars and the large tax cuts and the massive spending into the DHS.

But right now, it looks as bad as it did in 1994. Or worse.

[kallend 2,026]

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Quote

The national debt is not like a mortgage. Paying it off is not on the cards, nor even necessary.

What we really have to do is get the deficit under control and the national debt to a manageable, supportable level

and we were so damn close to that point. 2000 was a bit of an aberration, fed by a bubble of capital gains, but we could have weathered the storm in just a few years, if not for the wars and the large tax cuts and the massive spending into the DHS.

But right now, it looks as bad as it did in 1994. Or worse.

And the bulk of the National Debt is money the government owes us (as individuals, institutions or retirement funds). Only a small % is held overseas.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.