I'd be glad to pound peanuts for 99 weeks of unemployment and do nothing else. There is no incentive for the welfare crowd to seek employment, ever.
I disagree on one point, I reduced my spending which EXACTLY what got me out of debt.
Now, to your point about raising revenues; I agree, ONCE spending is reduced to below our revenue level OR below our revenue level plus reasonable tax increases...
My point is that spending is always the last thing to be addressed. It's always... we must tax, Tax, TAX !!! not funny
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I'd be glad to pound peanuts for 99 weeks of unemployment and do nothing else. There is no incentive for the welfare crowd to seek employment, ever.
On a personal level it can be done. It just depends on how deep the debt is and how much time it will take.
From the government side I agree that tax, tax, tax is not the solution because if you do not reduce spending you get nowhere but deeper into debt. If you do both responsibly then it should work.
May the force be with us.
Just a little jump-in reallity check from the peanut-gallery...
I believe the record shows that we are at multi-generation LOWs on Federal tax rates across the board, for most if not all sectors (personal income-tax, Corporate, etc.). If, as posed, the 1st options are always tax-tax-tax, then rates would be way huge by now, especially with impactful events on the order of the way huge cost for Iraq-Conflict (about $1-trillion), and big hit in lost revenues for the near-depression, and big-bank bailouts due to weakening of related federal regulation for that industry & very little enforcement of same. Seems there's ample room & justification of some "revenue enhancement" along with spending-reductions -- in a balanced, coordinated solution.
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OK, this is one thing that continues to drive me batty . Running your personal budget is in no way analogous to running the budget of the entire United States. That is a GROSS simplification. How, for example, do you deal with the infrastructure spending required to keep an economy competitive OR defending the nation/providing local police service OR attempting to balance trade OR ensuring workers are paid a fair and livable wage etc. etc. etc.
It's a different ball game.
Question:
Who do we owe our debts to?
Answer:
Ourselves.
No, not China. China INVESTS in the US because they believe they will get a reliable consistent return. IF we fail to invest in our own country...why would anyone else invest in us. That, my friend, is the risk we run. Sure cutting spending in some areas may be very wise AND important. But cutting, just for the sake of cutting, can be very dangerous.
I'll say it again, See #1 Greece then IRELAND, Spain, Italy, Britain, Portugal. Compare, for example, to Iceland. You may say that those countries are NOT analogous to the US, but they are much more so than a personal budget.
Last edited by Mapper; 02-21-2012 at 02:40 PM.
2011: 12.73%; 2012: 16.44 %, 2013: 17.46%, 2014: 5.35 ; Past 12 months 6.81% as of 01/31/2015
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Screw it, raise taxes on everyone making over $250k (thats rich right?) to 90%
Good luck, I am buying gold
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It is a simplification but it still makes sense. If my personal goal is to reduce my own spending to take care of my debt, I still need shelter, I still need to eat, I still need to get to my place of employment and back, I need clean water, etc.
There are necessities and there are wants. Our society has made it impossible to differentiate or has reached a point where they allow wants to outweigh needs. Housing bubble? For God's sake, our society is a bubble.
Ok gents, we're gonna shift gears...
I have an investment idea that might be worth looking into (in your non TSP accounts). With the threat of war in the Middle East, oil prices are going through the roof. Meanwhile, the U.S. now has a GLUT of natural gas. How can we capitalize on this?
One idea that is taking shape is the fact that many large corporations and gov't entities are switching from diesel engines to natural gas engines. The cost savings are huge (around $40K a year for each heavy duty truck). For a large corp (i.e. Wal Mart), the cost savings could be hundreds of millions per year.
One company that is at the forefront of natural gas engines is Westport Innovations (WPRT). It has three major catalysts going for it: 1) Rising oil prices, 2) Glut of natural gas, and 3) Big corporations looking to trim costs.
Take a look at the chart below. Since the beginning of this year, the stock has grown from $33.24 to it's current price around $45.50. That's a solid 37% gain in a little over a month and a half.
Although it looks like it may be extended at this point, I may be looking for pullbacks to add some positions in the future. If GM, Ford, etc. start offering autos with natural gas engines in the near future, this stock could skyrocket.
wprt.png
CURRENT ALLOCATION: 100% I AS OF C.O.B. 5/22/2017
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