In a few hours it won't matter anyway.

Where's Ben?

I think the trolls have a videoconference every night at 11.

Yes, Ben, please post that link you so dearly love. If you post it enough it will come true.

In a few hours it won't matter anyway.

Actually, the world won't end until they actually start colliding stuff, which won't happen right away.

8c)

OnlineJournal.com: The worsening debt crisis: An interview with economist Michael Hudson

God's Will? Again? Here is one reasoned way to deal with that issue:
volokh.com:Ilya Somin: Should We Hold Belief in Creationism Against Candidates for Political Office?

Let's all play the capital gains tax cut game, where we turn dollars into trash and end the Evil of "inflation" caused by wage inflation, both at the same time. Asset price inflation is wealth. It must be God's will.

Jack,

Here is an interesting number to compute. What percentage of the US national debt has been run up by Bush the Younger, Bush the Elder, and Reagan. I think the figure may be well over half.

Here's another one: what's the debt's percentage of total national income.

Now, compare your personal debt versus your annual income.

Is everything Bush's fault? Doesn't congress have a roll in this? I was unaware that the President could pass spending measures all by himself.

Jack

At our 11pm videoconference last night we decided to cease commenting for a while. The great thing about the liberal left is that if you stop bickering with them they will eventually start to go after each other. Better sport than watching their faces after a republican VP announcement

The "debt to the penny" calculator at the treasury web site says Bush the younger alone grew the debt from $5.7 trillion to $9.7 trillion, but I have a feeling the that figure is low if you were to add in lost assets (tanks and planes) and added obligations.

I'm here!

But come on we're all friends.

I'm not sure what link I am supposed to post but riddle me this.

If only the country was run like the CoP we'd have surplus just like them?

For some reason I wasn't invited to the video conference but now I'm thinking about having my own conference.

Over in NE Portland at a local finer establishment where we all get together. Left and right and have some good laughs.

What percentage of that debt is directly attributed to Barak and Joe's earmarks? ;-)

Simpleton that I am, I think a modest 10% increase in long-term capital gains on sales of investments, like stocks and investment properties (rentals) is reasonable, and wont bankrupt the wealthy, but only reduce the number of toys in their driveways.

What % is attributable to conservative leadership?

Despite the left's BS Bush is not a conservative on fiscal matters. If he was he would have vetoed at least one spending bill.
Yet locally all of the leadership is liberal demomcrat and they claim a surplus when 100s of millions in growing deferred maintenence goes unfunded and basic service budgets are pilfered by PDC schemes.

Getting back to Bush and the defitcit, MANY genuine conservative Republicans have criticized Bush and his spending. Even om the war and spending Bush has been criticized for earlier handling and not surging earlier to advance the ultimate vistory.
100 years in Iraq? Oh please try and freshen up that staleness.

And when did Democrats call for bringing home our troops from Germany and other locales like they have with Iraq?
We could save billions that way too.

And so we go on towards November.

MANY genuine conservative Republicans have criticized Bush and his spending.

Sure thing.

I seem to recall a comparable sort of line from democratic leftists once upon a time, criticizing the Soviet Union for corrupting socialism. The right wouldn't let that slide by then, so why should they get a pass now by pawning off some nonsense about "genuine conservative Republicans"?

A far more rational interpretation is that Bush and Co. have been doing precisely what the Grover Norquists of the world, the American Enterprise Institute, and other right-wing think-tanks have always wanted: manufacture fiscal crisis by slashing revenue, then use the crisis as an excuse to cut ideologically undesirable programs.

Wall Street Journal's comments:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122100742173517529.html?mod=opinion_main_review_and_outlooks

Democratic Party is founded, the majority faction proponents of democracy, splintered away from the Republican-Democratic Party, elects first Democratic President Andrew Jackson and the accumulated debt, of deficits starting from 1776, is retired.
Jackson
1836 cum.Debt $0
successors
1980 cum.Debt $1 Trillion
Reagan
1988 cum.Debt $4+ Trillion
Bush
1992 cum.Debt $7- Trillion
Clinton
2000 cum.Debt $5+ Trillion
Bush
2008 cum.Debt $10- Trillion

The failing in America is the vacuous folks and vulnerable victims of LIARS who do not know this Debt Table from memory.

Feds have no problem borrowing $$$. If I try to borrow like they do, fat chances.