House GOP still demanding its budgetary pound of flesh
“The pound of flesh, which I demand of him,
Is dearly bought; ’tis mine and I will have it.”
– Shylock
“The Merchant of Venice”
Is the goal to do what’s best for the country?
Or do Republicans in Washington simply want their promised pound of flesh from the government, regardless of the consequences?
Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics and a former economics adviser to John McCain, reports that passage of the budget cuts demanded by House Republicans “would reduce 2011 real GDP growth by 0.5% and 2012 growth by 0.2%. This would mean some 400,000 fewer jobs created by the end of 2011 and 700,000 fewer jobs by the end of 2012…. Significant government spending restraint is vital, but given the economy’s halting recovery, it would be counterproductive for that restraint to begin until the U.S. is creating enough jobs to lower the unemployment rate.”
Last week, a private study by Goldman Sachs produced for its investor clients estimated that passage of the GOP budget cuts would reduce US economic growth by 1.5 to 2 percentage points in the second and third quarters of the year. As Zandi points out, spending does have to be cut over the long term, just as over the long term, taxes have to go up. Addressing our long-term fiscal situation will require that we take both steps.
But neither step is a good idea at the moment for the same reason: It would withdraw money and demand out of an economy already starving for demand.
“This is particularly true given the added threat presented by rising oil prices,” Zandi writes. “Unrest in the Middle East has pushed up the price of crude oil by about $10 per barrel; West Texas Intermediate is selling for almost $100 per barrel, and a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline has risen to about $3.25 nationwide. If sustained, these prices will shave about 0.2% from real GDP growth in 2011, a disappointing but manageable outcome. If oil prices approach $125 barrel, and gasoline reaches $4 per gallon, growth will slow sharply and unemployment will begin rising again. Should fuel prices return to their all-time high near $150 per barrel for oil and $4.50 per gallon for gasoline, the economy would sink back into recession.”
Nonetheless, House Speaker John Boehner and his colleagues continue to rail against what they call President Obama’s “job-crushing spending binge;” they continue to demand the spending cuts that they believe they have coming to them as a result of the midterm elections. The spectre of a forced government shutdown looms. According to Zandi, a short, symbolic shutdown wouldn’t have much impact, but the longer it goes, the more damage it will do:
“A shutdown that lasted into April would be a problem, however. Not only would this disrupt a wide range of government operations and significantly cut the output of government workers, but the hit to confidence could be serious. Consumer, business and investor sentiment is much improved from the depths of the recession, but it remains extraordinarily fragile. A government shutdown lasting more than a week or two could easily undermine confidence as questions grow about policymakers’ ability to govern. This would be fodder for a new recession.”
I don’t believe that House Republicans are willfully, knowingly steering us toward that outcome. But I do believe that through years of rhetoric and rigid ideological discipline, they have convinced themselves that no other course is possible.
– Jay Bookman
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414 comments Add your comment
jm
February 28th, 2011
8:55 pm
-$44 Trillion =
$142,999 per Person in USA
$370,961 per Household
0.9x Global Stock Market Capitalization
3.8x S&P500 Total Market Capitalization
0.8x Total USA Household Wealth
3.0x USA Annual GDP
20x Federal Government Annual Revenue
So if we stopped spending a single nickel on government, it would still take us 20 YEARS to pay back all the debt….
AmVet
February 28th, 2011
8:56 pm
Anatomy?
That wasn’t even the epidermis.
jm
February 28th, 2011
8:56 pm
Mick 8:55 http://images.businessweek.com/mz/11/10/1110_mz_49meekerusainc.pdf
page 211
Mick
February 28th, 2011
8:58 pm
jm
There is a flaw, what about assets? Gov’t property, buildings, vehicles, hardware, weapons, jets, tanks, subs, carriers etc…
Jack
February 28th, 2011
8:58 pm
Bookman needs to start a business and hire some workers: that would lower the jobless rate and would be best for the country.
Misty Fyed
February 28th, 2011
8:59 pm
It’s not about a pound of flesh. It’s not about jobs. It about the $1,500,000,000,000 we are spending over and above what we make. People like you who continue to pardon this irresponsible behavior are bankrupting this country.
josef nix
February 28th, 2011
9:00 pm
g’night…
Dusty
February 28th, 2011
9:00 pm
Jean Paul,
I don’t know about any purges in the Republcian Party. I think there was shock over the total ugliness displayed at President Bush from the beginning of his administration to the end. It went from pure fabrication to total hate. Even in wartime, many liberals could not support the military on the basis that it was Bush’fault. They forgot 9/11. Right here at AJC Luckovich drew members of the military being roasted on a spit. He drew Uncle Sam in prison. Bush was disfigured in cartoons, day after day. Democrats used every venue to smear Bush & the Iraq war. Don’t bother to tell me how centrist were the Democrats.
. If you are referring to the Tea Party, they are conservatives but not the main party. They are outspoken and mainly patriotic. They protest without violence.
So take your changes and enjoy them. You can do that in America. I have found the place in politics that suits me best. You can do the same but I may not agree with you.
jm
February 28th, 2011
9:01 pm
Mick 8:58 – they’re not idiots. They count those. Look at page 209 in detail.
A Conversation with Charles and David
February 28th, 2011
9:03 pm
He who controls the world’s paper controls the world’s supply of money.
But what about the ink.
Oh. All right then. He who controls the paper and ink…
But what about the printing presses…
Oh Brother! We’re going to need more money.
Of course.
getalife
February 28th, 2011
9:05 pm
Dusty,
Stop whining and pay attention to your failed party trying to govern.
Epic failures again.
It is a joke.
Hilarious.
jm
February 28th, 2011
9:06 pm
Unfunded Liabilities:
Medicaid $35.3 Trillion
Medicare $22.8 Trillion
Social Security $7.9 Trillion
Mick
February 28th, 2011
9:06 pm
**They protest without violence.**
So who is dusty? Remember, bush lost the popular vote and was declared the winner by fox news. After all we know about fox news now, who would believe them this go round? Why did the supreme court intervene and overturn the florida supreme court to stop the counting? These are things that riled the opposition but did anyone have rallies showing up with guns? No, we were very critical and look what happened to this country, by sept 08 we were in ruins, not a good legacy and we are still trying to dig out…
jm
February 28th, 2011
9:07 pm
A famous economist once said anything that can’t go on forever will eventually stop, and this [government liabilities from entitlement programs] will stop, but it might stop in a very unpleasant way in terms of sharp cuts, a financial crisis, high interest rates that stop growth, continued borrowing from abroad. So, clearly we need to get control of this over the medium term, and specifically we’re going to have to look at entitlements because that’s a very big part of the
obligations of the federal government going forward.
— Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve in Testimony before House Budget Committee, June 9, 2010
Lil' Barry Bailout
February 28th, 2011
9:08 pm
What is the Idiot Messiah doing about exploding, obscene entitlement spending?
Expanding it.
Heckuva job, Idiot!
jm
February 28th, 2011
9:08 pm
The Court has made clear in subsequent decisions that the payment of Social Security taxes conveys
no contractual rights to Social Security benefits.
Congress’s authority to modify provisions of the Social Security program was affirmed in the 1960 Supreme Court decision in Flemming v. Nestor, wherein the Court held that an individual does not have an accrued “property right” in Social Security benefits.
A Conversation with Charles and David
February 28th, 2011
9:09 pm
jm,
You left out the 14 trillion dollar debt from your list of unfunded liabilities. You see, it’s even worse than your 266 page business model predicted. You’re doomed! Not to worry. 2012 is just around the corner. You do know why the Bush tax cuts were only extended until 2012, DON’T YOU!
jm
February 28th, 2011
9:09 pm
LBB – first rule when in a hole…. stop digging…. second rule, find a way, every way available, to get out
Lil' Barry Bailout
February 28th, 2011
9:10 pm
Mick
Why did the supreme court intervene and overturn the florida supreme court to stop the counting?
—————
A little thing we Americans call the “equal protection clause”.
jm
February 28th, 2011
9:11 pm
Conversation – the 2012 tax increases won’t fix a thing. They’re taken into account for in the projections. If you want to fix the deficit, tax RATES half to be doubled. If you pay 25%, you need to pay 50%. If you pay 35%, you need to pay 70%. To balance the budget.
Got it?
Talking HeadLines
February 28th, 2011
9:11 pm
I see Lil Barry is back to worshipping an idiot that he call his messiah or is it his messiah that he calls an idiot. Whatever.
Lil' Barry Bailout
February 28th, 2011
9:11 pm
I’m getting out before the bill comes due. It isn’t my bill. Let the parasites and maggots fight over what’s left behind.
Dusty
February 28th, 2011
9:11 pm
getalife,
U R the joke.
Totally lost in lib land
The laugh is on U
U just don’t know it.
Pitiful!
Mick
February 28th, 2011
9:13 pm
jm
All I can say is where was all this doomsday analysis during the first eight years of this millenium?
jm
February 28th, 2011
9:14 pm
Mick 9:13 – hidden and unrevealed.
Mick
February 28th, 2011
9:15 pm
lbb
You guys are only for states rights when it suits your cause….
Lil' Barry Bailout
February 28th, 2011
9:15 pm
Yes, the first eight years of the millenium, with their outrageous $300 billion deficits!
Talking HeadLines
February 28th, 2011
9:16 pm
jm. 2012. December. Mayans. Got it. Don’t believe those quacks that try to tell you that its just the beginning of the next level on the great odometer of time.
Mick
February 28th, 2011
9:16 pm
jm
Why now? Obama & dems? I’m shocked…..
Lil' Barry Bailout
February 28th, 2011
9:16 pm
The first eight years of the millenium when we had 5% unemployment?
@@
February 28th, 2011
9:17 pm
Mick:
Can I afford it? No!
But were I a resident of CA, MD, OR, NY, etc., I wouldn’t want my husband’s employer to take their marbles and leave said states for one that didn’t punish them for being successful.
I might have to live where it’s cold. I don’t like cold.
jm
February 28th, 2011
9:17 pm
An estimated 7% of $2.1 trillion healthcare costs (including those linked to diabetes, cancer, heart /
respiratory / joint diseases) were related to obesity in 2008. By comparison, that’s more than all corporate income tax revenue that year.
Fat people. Get on a treadmill.
Lil' Barry Bailout
February 28th, 2011
9:17 pm
The first eight years of the millenium, when Gitmo was open for business?
Talking HeadLines
February 28th, 2011
9:18 pm
If you want to fix the deficit, tax RATES half to be doubled.
Now there’s a Laffer if I ever read one.
Mick
February 28th, 2011
9:18 pm
Gee little one, leave out anything like wars, prescription drug bill, tax cuts for billionaires? Play fair now or didn’t mama teach you that?
jm
February 28th, 2011
9:19 pm
zee crux of zee problem
Out-of-Pocket Spending Accounted for Just 12% of Healthcare Spending in 2009, down from 48% in 1960
Talking HeadLines
February 28th, 2011
9:19 pm
By comparison, that’s more than all corporate income tax revenue that year.
Corporations, get off you diet and go back to paying in taxes what you did back in 1945.
Mick
February 28th, 2011
9:20 pm
lbb
Don’t forget how the story ends, this sukker could go down in 08, remember?
Lil' Barry Bailout
February 28th, 2011
9:20 pm
You know your Idiot Messiah INCREASED spending on the prescription drug bill, right?
jm
February 28th, 2011
9:20 pm
Medicaid: 47 million (24MM children / 12MM low-income adults / 7MM disabled / 4MM elderly) Americans (15% of population) each received $6,872 in taxpayer funds, on average, for healthcare in 2008 through Medicaid. That $6,872 equals ~19% of annual per-capita income for Americans.
@@
February 28th, 2011
9:20 pm
Getalife:
Other than agitating, what’cha been up to? Gearing up for Mardi Gras?
jm
February 28th, 2011
9:21 pm
We’re in a health care bubble as bad as the real estate bubble. Created by the Federal Government. Again.
Lil' Barry Bailout
February 28th, 2011
9:21 pm
Wars? Like the ones we’re involved in in 2011 in Iraq and Afghanistan?
Tax cuts for billionaires? Like the ones your Idiot Messiah fought to extend last year?
jm
February 28th, 2011
9:22 pm
Private health care purchasers (workers getting insurance) are subsidizing retirees and Medicaid recipients.
Over the last few decades, private payors (employer-sponsored health insurance plans) have consistently paid more than government payors (Medicare / Medicaid) and have, in effect, subsidized government reimbursement.
Talking HeadLines
February 28th, 2011
9:23 pm
Darn those poor people on Medicaid, jm. What shall you do — grind them all up and turn them into cheap dog food or just let them die and rot on the streets.
Mick
February 28th, 2011
9:23 pm
jm
I’ll tell you what, save my social security and take away the medicare. If I can stay healthy – great. If I get sick just let me die, don’t want to burden your generation…
Lil' Barry Bailout
February 28th, 2011
9:24 pm
Hmm… a healthcare bubble. Interesting thought. How does such a bubble shake out, jm? I suppose if Americans force the government to reduce spending on healthcare for parasites, we could see hospitals go broke and shut down, and other health care prices drop. The whole supply/demand thing…
Dusty
February 28th, 2011
9:24 pm
Goodnight, JOSEF. Don’t forget your rose colored glasses when you come here tomorrow. But I will still be a Republican.
———————
MICK,
If you think Fox News made Bush president, then there is no need for further discussion. That is too rediculous to even consider.
jm
February 28th, 2011
9:24 pm
Medicare and Medicaid have destroyed the health care system. When people get products for free, they have unlimited demand, but the Federal Government is not willing to pay market price, so the costs get pushed out to private insurance customers (workers), who subsidize those living off the federal government.
The system is in a death spiral, courtesy of the Federal Government’s policies.
Talking HeadLines
February 28th, 2011
9:25 pm
Lil Barry. Quit trying to pass off YOUR so-called idiot messiah to others.
Mick
February 28th, 2011
9:26 pm
lbb
I saw a bum on the street the other day and he asked if I could help him out. I had five bucks in my pocket and gave it to him….he looked at me and said thank you and god bless..
jm
February 28th, 2011
9:26 pm
LBB – when we spend 16% of GDP on Healthcare, versus 8% or less in most other industrialized countries, you know our system is in bubble mode.
How it plays out, I don’t know. I wouldn’t want to own medical device stocks, or drug stocks. And I wouldn’t want to work in the healthcare industry….. as a nurse, doc, or anything else.
Talking HeadLines
February 28th, 2011
9:27 pm
The system is in a death spiral
Is that the GOP’s name for their proposed healthcare plan — Death Spiral. It does have a nice cost-effective, tax cutting ring to it.
Lil' Barry Bailout
February 28th, 2011
9:28 pm
Mick, the bum was patronizing you. You got played.
jm
February 28th, 2011
9:28 pm
LBB – my guess is Medicaid rolls will be cut way back. And Medicare will get dialed back at some point. Which means anyone serving those markets will end up shrinking.
If that doesn’t happen, that means reform hasn’t happened, and that means the whole ship is going down. Which means job hunt in Asia, Canada, etc.
Disgusted
February 28th, 2011
9:29 pm
Medicare and Medicaid have destroyed the health care system. When people get products for free, they have unlimited demand, but the Federal Government is not willing to pay market price, so the costs get pushed out to private insurance customers (workers), who subsidize those living off the federal government.
The system is in a death spiral, courtesy of the Federal Government’s policies.
Are there no workhouses? Are there no prisons?
jm
February 28th, 2011
9:30 pm
Private medical enrollees (workers), not only provide all the profit to the health care industry, the subsidize a 9% Medicare loss and a 12% Medicaid loss. Net industry profit is 4%.
Evil health care grafters….
Mick
February 28th, 2011
9:30 pm
lbb
Well maybe I did but it was my choice and I rarely miss my chance to be a good samaritan because he needed it more than I.
B. Morris
February 28th, 2011
9:31 pm
Claiming they are “have nots” dems take full advantage of the Citizens United ruling.
Democrats Line Up Outside Money for 2012
Hypocrites.
jm
February 28th, 2011
9:31 pm
Patients are at a healthcare information disadvantage in two respects1:
• Lack of transparency:
It’s harder for consumers to compare prices of healthcare services from
different healthcare providers than in other consumer markets given the
complexity of healthcare market.
With employer- / government-subsidized insurance, many patients are
‘locked in’ with their insurance plans that do not incentivize “shopping
around.”
• Knowledge gap:
Unlike other markets where consumers tend to use their own information and
preferences, consumers depend more on the advice and guidance of
physicians or other healthcare suppliers.
Unlike other “merchandise,” healthcare is literally of life-and-death
importance to consumers, making risk aversion – and price
insensitivity – higher. This price insensitivity is exacerbated because the
consumer, in effect, gets it at a discounted price anyway.
Mick
February 28th, 2011
9:32 pm
jm
What are you made out nuts and bolts instead of heart and soul? There’s more to life than numbers, deficits and trillions…
Mick
February 28th, 2011
9:33 pm
b. morris
I believe you have to fight fire with fire…
getalife
February 28th, 2011
9:33 pm
Thanks Dusty.
All is well here in la la land.
@@,
Tossing out beads to the ladies.
How are you doing?
jm
February 28th, 2011
9:33 pm
The practice is prevalent among US physicians and is contributing
factor to healthcare spending. According to a survey of 824
physicians in 20051:
• 93% said they had engaged in the practice of Defensive Medicine
• 59% said they often ordered more diagnostic tests than medically
necessary
• 52% said they referred patients to other specialists in unnecessary
circumstances
• 33% said they often prescribed more medications than medically
necessary
jm
February 28th, 2011
9:35 pm
We’re a big poor country. Spending like we’re a big rich country.
jm
February 28th, 2011
9:36 pm
“There’s more to life than numbers, deficits and trillions…”
There won’t be “life” as we know it if the federal government goes bankrupt / prints away all the debt (achieves the same thing).. See Zimbabwe.
So you’re wrong. This is all about numbers. And if the numbers aren’t fixed, there won’t be anything (social safety nets) for anyone. Period.
jm
February 28th, 2011
9:37 pm
Mick. Facts suck don’t they?
Government (federal + state + local, including military)
spending per household has steadily risen to 82% of
median post-tax household income, up from 51% in 1967.
@@
February 28th, 2011
9:37 pm
Getalife:
I’m good.
Don’t overindulge. I don’t wanna have to track you down again.
(IW&SH)
Mick
February 28th, 2011
9:38 pm
jm
Could this be a problem? Taxes paid in 10-11
Boeing $0
Citibank $0
Exxon mobil $0
Bank of America $0
Wells Fargo $0
G.E. $0
You and I? Go ahead defend it-
jm
February 28th, 2011
9:38 pm
We’re eating our seed corn. We’ve stopped increasing education expenditures (in aggregate) in favor of taking care of all the old people even when nothing will work (12% of medicare expenditures occur in the last 2 months of life and a third in the last year of life)
jm
February 28th, 2011
9:39 pm
USA Today and the Cato Institute examined simple averages of federal (excluding military)
wages & benefits vs. private sector using Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) data and
concluded that federal wages & benefits are ~100% higher than private industry – wages
are 58% higher while benefits are 3x higher.1 (March 2010, updated in August 2010)
The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the U.S. Office of
Personnel Management (OPM) responded that gross average comparisons are ‘unfair and
untrue.’ And when one holds education and age constant, federal employees earn slightly
less than those in the private sector on average, although the difference is not statistically
significant.2 (March 2010)
The Heritage Foundation, in response to OPM and OMB’s comments, released a statistical
analysis based on BEA data, and claimed that adjusting for variables such as age,
education, marital status, race, gender, size of the metropolitan area, and several others,
federal wages & benefits are 31% higher than private industry for occupations in both
government and private sector.3 (July 2010)
jm
February 28th, 2011
9:40 pm
Mick 9:38 – your facts are wrong. Go bring me a source, but I already know you’re full of BS.
jm
February 28th, 2011
9:41 pm
70% of Federal Government Employees Still Enjoy
“Guaranteed” Pensions, While Such Defined-Benefit Pension Plans Are
Increasingly Rare in Private Sector (now at 32% vs. 84% in 1980)
jm
February 28th, 2011
9:42 pm
Federal government headcount (ex. military) grew by
56,000 (or 2%) in 2008 and another 107,000 (or 3%) in
2009, while private sector unemployment rose to 10%
from 5% in 2007 and private sector headcount fell 1% in
2008 and 6% in 2009.
Mick
February 28th, 2011
9:42 pm
jm
You can’t handle the truth..its out there but your synaptic connections are synapting at the thought of the truth..
Oh well, there’s always subsistence farming. I mean that’s what’s left after making sure our millionaires and billionaires stay protected…
@@
February 28th, 2011
9:43 pm
Mick:
Most of us give money to panhandlers.
Although I don’t smoke, I buy cigarettes and lighters to pass out. They LOVE those!
I’m most impressed by the panhandlers that offer a product or service for their pay.
There was this one guy who made little doodads out of wire. He, at least, put forth some effort. That little doodad sits on my kitchen sill. It reminds me that not everyone wants something for nothing.
jm
February 28th, 2011
9:43 pm
Mick. The facts suck don’t they….
To bring its income statement mechanically to break-even for 2009 (excluding onetime
charges), USA Inc. would have needed to raise individual income tax rates by
~2x across-the-board to an average of ~26-30% (from ~13%) of gross income.1 This
certainly seems draconian. And a tax increase of this nature would surely have a
significant negative impact on USA’s GDP growth as consumers would have far less
disposable income to buy goods and services.
Mick
February 28th, 2011
9:45 pm
@@
Great, very cool..a little humanity is very humane..keep on
Mick
February 28th, 2011
9:47 pm
jm
Actually, your facts are arbitrary and always point to gloom and doom…so be it..life’s a beotch and then you die and all that…
Disgusted
February 28th, 2011
9:54 pm
Federal government headcount (ex. military) grew by
56,000 (or 2%) in 2008 and another 107,000 (or 3%) in
2009
Keep falling for the shell game, jm. The bottom line is that contracting employees who do the same work as (but get paid more than) federal civil service employees DON’T COUNT as part of the federal work force. Clinton, and later the Bush administration, claimed to “cut the federal work force,” but all they did was replace civil service employees with contracting employees. Now, the Obama administration is replacing many of the contracting employees with lower-cost contracting employees–that’s why you see the percentage of “federal government headcount” going up in 2009, and you’ll see it going up further in 2010.
All these years, the American taxpayer has been played for a sucker, as workforce suppliers like Boeing, Perot Systems, Lockheed, GE, etc. got fat by supplying contracting employees to the federal government.
And many of the federal big shots loved the system too. Who wouldn’t? If you could keep adding employees without having them count against your budget or even as employees, wouldn’t you do it?
And do you think the number of contracting employees is insignificant? Think again. They make up 40% of the work force of agencies like CDC.
So keep falling for the smoke and mirrors, jm. The truth is that the number of federal workers hasn’t changed at all. But since civil service workers actually count as members of the federal workforce, it looks like there’s a big increase in that workforce. And you fell for it—hook, line, and sinker.
0311/0317 - 1811/1801
February 28th, 2011
9:56 pm
Burp ! Excuse me.
Mick
February 28th, 2011
9:57 pm
Scout – where is the sanity????
Talking HeadLines
February 28th, 2011
9:59 pm
jm has found his 266-page holy grail. It says what he wants to hear — kill off the poor and impoverished. They’re such a burden. Never mind the DoD’s out of control growth. And don’t forget to give the billionaires another tax cut for good measure. Those Republicans do love their trickle down.
Talking HeadLines
February 28th, 2011
10:00 pm
@@ is doing her part to kill off the panhandlers. Philip Morris loves you.
Joe the Plutocrat
February 28th, 2011
10:09 pm
@@, stop – you’re killing me. cigarettes and lighters? if a person provides a good or service, he she is not a panhandler; he/she is an entrepreneur – and I’m not talking about some guy who gives you directions to Philips Arena from Centennial Park, I’m talking about salesmen. we could debate the business license/no business license and the over-reaching authority of the state, but there’s a big difference between the hustling kids who sold me a “recycled” bottle of water at the I-20/Lee Street exit for $1 (the seal had been broken, I suspect he simply re-filled empty Aquafina bootles), and some smelly, homeless, degenerate junkie who simply asks for my spare change. here’s what I do. when I see some loser approach me with his hand out, I ask him for $20. it really messes with him. see, any professional beggar has a script or a story; “I just got out of jail” (then you ate last night) or “my car ran out of gas” (so, I guess there is “homeless” and “homeless, but not carless”). if you get the drop on the dude and say; “… I just got divorced and it cost me like $75,000.00… do you have any spare $20’s or $50’s…” it f**ks with his head.
BADA BING
February 28th, 2011
10:10 pm
Del, sorry off for a bit. They are cleaning up Rio slowly in preparation for the Olympics, but it can be dangerous. Gangs are robbing people in taxis, even whole buses are being robbed. If you stayed at the better hotels on the best beaches, it is fairly safe. When I stayed for 2 weeks in 2006, I could hear automatic gunfire every night from my hotel in the Copacabana, Ipanima area. The police were fighting the drug gangs that control the slums. I fear that Rio is going to have trouble during the Olympics.
Joe the Plutocrat
February 28th, 2011
10:25 pm
Disgusted, you want to talk about disgusted, check out the report on “private contractors” in Iraq and AfPak. I think we’ve doled out close to $200 BILLION to pay mercenaries from Blackwater, DynCorp and the like $200,000/year+ to do what a NCO does for $25,000. youl folks really don’t get it; it all starts with the banks. ‘deficits don’t matter’ to the banks because interest is how they make their money. “deficits” are how we fund wars (terrorism, drugs, poverty, global warming, etc.). pick whatever cause (or boogeyman) you like. if you follow the money, you’ll end up with some “Shylock” on Wall Street doing quite well. as I said earlier, do the matth. consider “a pound of flesh” from an average human (165lbs.) vis a vis $14.5 trillion.
Midori
February 28th, 2011
10:26 pm
The system is in a death spiral
Is that the GOP’s name for their proposed healthcare plan — Death Spiral. It does have a nice cost-effective, tax cutting ring to it.
getalife
February 28th, 2011
10:32 pm
“Sen. Tom Coburn issued a cryptic warning about a Government Accountability Office report that will be released Tuesday morning, saying it will make “all of us look like jackas ses.” The Hill.
It just keeps getting better.
Midori
February 28th, 2011
10:34 pm
lol – getalife
yes, it does, doesn’t it?
which makes several here lash out all the more.
this is like a drive in movie
Jean-Paul Marat
February 28th, 2011
10:37 pm
Dusty: “I don’t know about any purges in the Republcian Party. I think there was shock over the total ugliness displayed at President Bush from the beginning of his administration to the end. It went from pure fabrication to total hate. Even in wartime, many liberals could not support the military on the basis that it was Bush’fault. They forgot 9/11. Right here at AJC Luckovich drew members of the military being roasted on a spit. He drew Uncle Sam in prison. Bush was disfigured in cartoons, day after day. Democrats used every venue to smear Bush & the Iraq war. Don’t bother to tell me how centrist were the Democrats.”
C’mon now, Dusty. You know what I’m talking about by purges. Bob Bennett of Utah, Charlie Christ in Fla, Arlen Specter in Pa, Scozzafava in NY. They were all either voted out by insurgent Tea Partiers or were compelled to change party for their allegedly too ‘centrist’ views. By the way, how do we get the whole term RINO if there’s no move to purge the GOP of centrists? Tell me, what’s the Democrat equivalent for RINO? Answer: there is none.
What is the Tea Party if not one big purge movement in the Republican party. The Tea Partiers are the Bolsheviks of the Republican Party.
getalife
February 28th, 2011
10:38 pm
Hi Midori.
Yeah, I don’t watch them on C-Span this time because I know they will fail horribly.
Worse than last time.
0311/0317 - 1811/1801
February 28th, 2011
10:45 pm
Mick Buddy :
Long gone …………. I think it’s got the whole country.
The Original Get Real
February 28th, 2011
10:52 pm
Does any liberal out there have an extra pair of rose colored glasses. I would love to see the unicorns and magic bunnies too…
jm
February 28th, 2011
11:00 pm
American Society of Civil Engineers’ Report Card Grades for America’s
Infrastructure, 1988 vs. 2009
1988 2009
Aviation B- D
Bridges — C
Dams — D
Drinking Water B- DEnergy
– D+
Hazardous Waste D D
Inland Waterways B DLevees
– DRail
– CRoads
C+ DSchool
Buildings D D
Solid Waste C- C+
Transit C- D
Wastewater C DOverall
USA Infrastructure G.P.A. C D
Cost to Improve — $2.2T
jm
February 28th, 2011
11:01 pm
Education = High Long-Term ROI* Investment
Each $1 of Government Spending Could Generate Up to $3 of Incremental Tax Return
But no money for education if Entitlements keep going up up up
jm
February 28th, 2011
11:02 pm
USA 25th in Math, 17th in Science
jm
February 28th, 2011
11:04 pm
Math Rankings
2000 2009
1 Japan S. Korea
2 S. Korea Finland
3 New Zealand Switzerland
4 Finland Japan
5 Australia Canada
6 Canada Netherlands
7 Switzerland New Zealand
8 UK Belgium
9 Belgium Australia
10 France Germany
11 Austria Estonia
12 Denmark Iceland
13 Iceland Denmark
14 Sweden Slovenia
15 Ireland Norway
16 Norway France
17 Czech Republic Slovakia
18 USA Austria
19 Germany Poland
20 Hungary Sweden
21 Spain Czech Republic
22 Poland UK
23 Italy Hungary
24 Portugal Luxembourg
25 Greece USA
26 Luxembourg Ireland
27 Mexico Portugal
(2009 only)
28 Spain
29 Italy
30 Greece
31 Israel
32 Turkey
33 Chile
34 Mexico
jm
February 28th, 2011
11:06 pm
McKinsey conducted a study in 2010 that compares the USA with other
countries on 20 attributes related to economic fundamentals, business
climate, human capital and infrastructure. McKinsey compared current
status vs. status in 2000.
We augmented the McKinsey study with 9 additional attributes across those
aforementioned areas as well as government spending metrics.
Through this study, we found that America, relative to other countries, improved
on none of the 29 attributes, remained the same on 9 attributes (including
GDP per capita, public debt as % of GDP, public spending on healthcare, public
spending on education, growth in local innovation clusters, population &
demographic profile, retention of foreign-born talents, total healthcare spending
and cost-adjusted labor productivity) and deteriorated on 20 (including trade
surplus, national spending on R&D, industrial production, corporate tax rate,
business environment, FDI, tax incentives for R&D, number of patent
applications, availability of high-quality labor, higher education penetration,
telecom & transportation infrastructure, etc.).
jm
February 28th, 2011
11:06 pm
USA’s Share of Global GDP Has Declined from 33% in 1985 to 24% in 2010,
While China / Brazil / Korea’s Shares Have Risen