News Usa Is Broke

[Sasha]

NJ, try not to be upset, ok? We are all frustrated. For those of us who have jobs, it's probably wise for us to try and be a little more frugal, if it's possible. Also, I'm a true believer in it is a personal and independent choice to help others. But, every little bit helps. Sometimes, if I know someone is out of work and sincerely having a hardship, I'll paypal them a few dollars, $20.00. Not much, it's all I can do. But, these days, I'm keeping my charity personal - to those who are struggling. It really blesses them and helps them not to feel so alone as well. It's kind of like 'random acts of kindness'. They go a long ways in moral - for the giver and the recipient.

We'll get through this, but it's important that the anger we may hold in our positions are not spearing our fellow citizens who are struggling along side of us.

 

[njray]

Not spearing at all, .... (If that was meant for me)..... All I am saying is a flat tax to which everyone and corporate entity paid equally It is my belief and mine only we would be in a better place in the USA. As far as you tithing I applaud you and you would still be able to perform those very noble acts of random kindness that I am sure is appreciated by those in need.

 

[Abbi]

IMHO, if America don't get out of Afghanistan near immediately, they will collapse in the next year or two. This money pit is not sustainable.

Cant say on a "budget" level I disagree with you Anthony, but honestly that only is the start. Ongoing military operations does NOT make up the majority of the National Defense budget.
We don't even want to "start" a conversation about the tough choices to get the Defense budget under control, doesn't take a genius to figure out the part of Nat. Defense budget that has exploded out of control and is only expected to increase further. Hint: issue central to this forum but try looking at the APA's estimates on overalll cost of combat related PTSD just in the Iraqi conflict, 5-6 trillion, yes trillion with a T.
Fact is more than 67% of the total national budget is used up by the Big 3: National Defense, Social Security, Health Care. (that was a quick calculation from the OMB Fact sheets as published by the White House for PFY 2012.

This thread like most discussion is of "sound bites". No one is really looking at what it would take to balance the budget. The President appointed a non-partisan panel headed by Alan Simpson (former R Sen WY) and Erskine Bowles (former Chair of UNC system, long-time Democratic mover and shaker)...just look up their results and the Presidents "horror" at it. Google either gentleman as co-chairs of President Obama's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.[I do wonder what was the cost of "commission" and its study, which other than one sound bite on National News we have heard nothing any further regarding their recommendations, cause WE DONT WANT TO, its painful]

We continue to talk in sound bites......from the TOP down. I don't have any true answers, and it appears neither does anyone else. I do know President of the USA would be the last job I would want, and I would hazard to guess no man that has not yet sat in the Office understands fully the enormity of it.

 

[allitherapy]

The problems are too longstanding; there is no simple fix. America is trillion of dollars in debt and balancing the budget is not going to fix that because there isn't enough revenue to make up for the debt. There needs to be a huge system overhaul and that takes time and unfortunately more money.

The biggest problem in this country, as evidenced by some of the responses to this thread, is that people want to believe only what they want and can't see the bigger picture.

Let's take healthcare for example. Yes, everyone should be entitled to healthcare. The plan as it stands though is going to leave this country in a worse off situation, at least for the first decade or so after it all takes effect in 2014. The plan is to add millions of new patients to caseloads, but there aren't millions of new doctors, nurses, therapists, etc. so who will take care of all of these people? Waiting times are going to get longer and it's going to be more difficult to get appointments. It will take decades to increase the number of healthcare professionals proportionately to the patient load. It takes a minimum of 7 years to churn out a new physician, and that's for primary care. Some specialties can take upwards of 10 years. So yes, healthcare for all, but it should be done in a manner that won't end up screwing us even more than we already are.

As for all the talk about richness and greed... I challenge you to think about it from another perspective. Whose tax dollars are paying for all of the people on unemployment, disability, etc? The "rich" you like to complain about. While there are some who abuse their wealth and in my opinion don't deserve it (read: reality tv stars), there are others who work their asses off every day to earn their "richness". I'm in school to become a doctor. Right now I am dirt poor and struggling, but one day I will be what most consider "rich". I think I earn that. I think that by studying every day round the clock, regardless of what else I am going through, and the fact that I will be saving lives means I deserve to be compensated accordingly. Does this mean I am going to be selfish with my money and not help those in need? Certainly not. I can't say the same for everyone else. I think it's time to stop complaining about the "rich" and how horrible they are because in reality, these are the people who are putting food on some of your tables, funding your healthcare, and putting a roof over your head. Yes there are greedy politicians, but that is not representative of the entire group of people being lumped into the "rich" category.

 

[Sasha]

Allitherapy, Bravo to your voice of reason. Your post was well written and agree with you as well. I wish you much success in your studies and in your career. There are many health professionals leaving the industry because of the new healtlh care laws going into place. Knowing the challenges of bureaucracy ahead of you, I admire your determination. It's also good that someone who understands our suffering will be there on the front lines to help identify other patients in similar type of pain that we struggle with here. Much success to you!

 

[anthony]

I very much agree with Alli and Sasha on the pay aspects... "The Rich" that I would refer too who have done indiscriminate damage, are the CEO's of American financial infrastructure. A doctor is poor in comparison to these people, who robbed the US blind, paid out massive bonuses from the stimulus funds, etc. These people, they should be made to pay every cent back, with interest.

As for those who work for their wealth... I think that is their money. As Alli stated, a doctor spends a lot of time poor in full-time study, and even still poor for the first several years, often paying back huge loans and such from their education. But they begin to makeup for it in the following years and become wealthy, especially towards the older years of life 40's - 50's is where most begin to really pickup in wealth creation.

I don't think their money should be shared, ie. everyone is the same.

My actual exact reasons for believing the US military should be pulled, is what has been stated, being that a) it is costing the US trillions to keep them deployed, bombs are a minimum $1 million a pop nearly from aircraft... let alone most aircraft usually equate around the $15k per hour mark to run. Many don't understand the costs associated in running an aircraft, both helo and fixed wing. Obviously the bigger the aircraft, the greater the hourly cost (mainly due to the servicing costs built-in).

The biggie... the mental health catastrophe that is occurring as a direct result of having a war. Once the US actually stop their involvement, this cost is going to devastate US budgets for years to come. This was one factor with Australia pulling troops so early and minimising numbers to pretty much bare support and special forces... because the aftermath cost to the Nation would be a massive burden upon the system.

This type of stuff isn't unique to the US only, every country is affected. This is why decisions to linger if involvement is needed is crucial... A constant numbers reduction should be made, not increasing numbers, until all troops are out and a country is right to sort itself out again.

People who think America got attacked first, you need to check your facts at the door, because that is not the truth at all, and again you have either obtained that reasoning yourself, or you have been bamboozled by your media. The very reason Bin-Laden caused his act of terrorism in the first place is because the US were continually running special ops within their country and killing people, all unbeknownst to the US public. Most in the military would know what goes on... and the US really had it coming considering their past acts in others countries, illegally. You can't just continue doing such things and expect to get away with it constantly.

As I have said before, was it right to kill innocent people? No. But terrorists wouldn't exactly do well trying to attack a military target, so they made their point nonetheless. Instead of the US backing down, the US Government admitting what atrocities they had done to cause this in the first place, they did the exact worse thing, being to stand proud, lie to their country citizens and invade... yet all it has achieved, is a massive number of US casualties, the aftermath of mental health will cripple the US for decades to come, and they got their end result, because they assisted to bankrupt the US as a result. Pride can be a dangerous thing all by itself.

The US have been a bully, now they are bankrupt... so how much further bullying can you do when now the International community has stopped funding you? Again, pride... had my own taste of that over the years, and it never did me any favours either; unsure why the US Government think it is helping them vs. hindering them.

Just my two cents... nothing more.

 

[Abbi]

Agreed Anthony...but as soon as we mention pulling out those that call us bullies are calling us in to another conflict. Ahhhh...France/England and Libya. For the US it is a proverbial double edge sword.

We are a bully once our immediate usefulness is over and others "cut and run" (no blame - hell I think they are smart). We are left with holding the bag....I for one American is ready to say "****bleep****" you to the international community when they come calling. Yet again Libya is the most recent example. I mean if France and England wanted to do something let them. ROFLMAO yea the first 24 hours France took the lead - ahhhh 2 air missions - one of which didn't happen. Oh when will we ever learn!

* ok I have promised myself that I'm not looking at the thread anymore, as it is entirely frustrating, just from a general sense, nothing to do with input here....nothing is going to change in the near future, I am one little person -lets be real- who that does control anything really gives a flying flip what I think anyway*:speechless:

ps. no shut down Anthony, told you in first post is was mere political posturing, everything is for the 30 second sound bite...debt ceiling already raised and oh well only thing that mattered was that peoples vacations to the Nat'l Parks wasn't disrupted and that all paychecks delivered on time. Yep the American way!

 

[anthony]

I don't understand why the US didn't tell the UK and France to bite their bum and deal with it themselves, as they are the closer to the issue. That is the whole idea of the UN... being that the closest countries deal with any issues in neighboring countries as the primary lead, and others may require a small, non-essental support role to fill a gap.

 

[Abbi]

Dangit Anthony you made me look again - all your fault. Just kidding with you. :mad: (I am seriously laughing at myself at this point)

 

[anni]

Once again back to public perception allowing this, once again back to the press. Yes a sweeping statement but how else does such an enourmous population become informed? They don't dig for news, they're merely repeating whatever some other Talking Head has decreed-pretty much making an oxymoron out of 'news reporter'.

You know, once we get on the whole 'who deserves to live well with their own money' subject we've played right into 'their' hands and start down the slippery slope of blaming the poor for being poor. That's not as convoluted as it sounds. It's impossible to compare a single person, however wealthy, with one of our corporations and ends up being unfair if the intent is a defense of why corporations should get to squirrel away their massive wealth while escaping responsibilities every individual assumes to support this country. Corporations have an obligation to pay their fair share of taxes because they exist by just plain being here in America. Our workers make it possible for them to function, our citizens buy their products, our military protects their interests on all fronts, bottom line. They need to contribute back to the country without which they would not exist the same way every single teeny citizen does, not hide behind special tax 'reform' mandates to protect their wealth.You just can't compare what they 'owe' in taxes to what even the wealthiest citizen owes. The doctor who works his backside off to earn his wealth has every right to enjoy his income, of course he/she does. The bus driver has less income, can reasonably be expected to pay less in taxes because with more of a burden his/her household ceases to exist-it's unworkable otherwise. These arguments of who pays what and how much exist at this level and have to be left there, not compared to the zillions in income generated by corporations.

Our taxes also pay for those less fortunate in every society.These citizens are inevitable in humanity as long as the world has existed. As admirable as donations are they do not cover the needs of the poor, sick, elderly and disenfranchised. We don't get to decide who 'deserves' our help, who hasn't been thrifty enough in their lives, who hasn't forseen disasaster, cancer, birth defect, maiming in war, or some banker ruining thousands of pension funds with a scum-bucket scheme. It's ideology, fine, but the ideology of 'I have mine, you better go get yours or you're outa luck' is scary, albeit rampant here. There are those who will always abuse every system set up to help those who need help. Those also are inevitable. There's not a lot you can do about them so I'm happy to continue to pay my taxes to at least ensure something is getting through to those who need it. The point is, that the uber-wealthy are not 'the enemy', however deplorable some of their lifestyles may be in this world where many children go to bed hungry every night. Neither are the poor the enemy however, nor anyone else who requires help making ends meet no matter what the reason may be. If there is an enemy, it's the unseen money and power-mongers who increasingly squeeze all of us for our last dime and nickle, making life tougher and tougher, less possible daily for those at the bottom end of the socio-economic ladder. Welfare and it's attendant programs, at their height of funding were 1/2 of ONE PERCENT of the national budget. That was decades ago, must be a fraction of that now. Yet we're constantly, constantly having THIS pointed to, and the poor recipients as THE 'problem' with all of America's financial woes, not the gazillions devoted to war.

They just cut another gazillion from the social welfare programs yesterday,God knows from where, and gave The Pentagon a massive boost. Let's see how much of that goes to our service men and women.

 

[njray]

Okay how sad is this... Why do we have so many servicemen and servicewoman that suffer from PTSD in the USA. Why do so many in the general public in the USA suffer from PTSD... Things like the the defense dept wanting to spend $600,000.00 on 3 pieces of art in a bus depot on a army base.That is why? The bus station is already costing 1billion dollars to build. That is right 1 BILLION And we wonder why we have suffering in the USA.... I am saddened but I still pray there will be adequate non wasteful funding for those with PTSD. I also hope those that really need help get it and those that may be abusing and manipulating a system are weeded out to help those really in need..I hope there are enough checks and balances in place...real checks and balances that allow for those in real need to get it. Not just the rich and privileged.....

God bless america

 

[anni]

I agree, but the weeded out thing they do just doesn't happen. What they do instead is create an enemy out of everybody in need of these programs by pointing their finger at the abusers of the programs, paint all the recipients with the same brush and use this as an excuse to simply get rid of the whole thing. It also gives G. Public an 'enemy' to point to, a reason to view perhaps all those in need as somehow suspect and having to 'prove' how they are so humiliatingly needy they might be. Plus, the whole 'weeding out' thing ( although am not arging the point, certainly it's infuriating these fraudulant schmucks obtain funds intended for those who are suffering ) requires even more paperwork and verifications, making the process of accesssing help so convoluted and extreme that it becomes almost insurrmountable. I actually think only the schmucks, with their health and mental processes intact would be the ones capable of navigating the system to the end, the way it's set up sometimes. I'm personally happy to pay my taxes in the full knowledge that certainly there are those who will abuse the system just to make sure those who need help can get it, you know?

Yes, in the all this stupid budget battle waging on Capitol Hill at the moment you do not get to hear the various idiocies like this bus station art purchase. I got to hear all about some celebrity's misdeed today on the national news but that abysmal story escaped the a.m. highlights.