The Numbers Are Staggering

On Sunday The Washington Times reported that with the signing of the new budget deal reached with Congress, by the time he leaves office President Obama will have increased to national debt to $20 trillion.

The article reports:

Mr. Obama’s spending agreement with Congress will suspend the nation’s debt limit and allow the Treasury to borrow another $1.5 trillion or so by the end of his presidency in 2017. Added to the current total national debt of more than $18.15 trillion, the red ink will likely be crowding the $20 trillion mark right around the time Mr. Obama leaves the White House.

When Mr. Obama took over in January 2009, the total national debt stood at $10.6 trillion. That means the debt will have very nearly doubled during his eight years in office, and there is much more debt ahead with the abandonment of “sequestration” spending caps enacted in 2011.

“Congress and the president have just agreed to undo one of the only successful fiscal restraint mechanisms in a generation,” said Pete Sepp, president of the National Taxpayers Union. “The progress on reducing spending and the deficit has just become much more problematic.”

Some budget analysts scoff at the claim made by the administration and by House Speaker John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, that the budget agreement’s $112 billion in spending increases is fully funded by cuts elsewhere. Mr. Boehner left Congress last week.

This amount of debt is unsustainable.

I would also like to mention that the budget deal included taking $150 billion dollars from the Social Security Trust Fund (as if that ever existed) that working people continually pay into. (see rightwinggranny.com).

We need to elect people who will cut government spending–not increase it. Remember as you vote in your state’s primary election and next November that the debt we are incurring will be laid on your children and grandchildren. For their sake (as well as the sake of not becoming a third-world country), we need to rein in government spending as quickly as possible.

Last Night You Were Robbed

This video was posted on YouTube last night.

Protecting Social Security from the Thieves in the Night This is how it happens. Last night while you were sleeping the Senate voted to steal $150 billion dollars from the Social Security Trust Fund. I joined 34 of my colleagues in a vote to prevent this raid. I would like to thank Senator Rand Paul for leading the fight to protect to Social Security from the thieves in Washington, who seem to think that if they steal from the American people at night while they are sleeping that they will get away with it. I was proud to vote with Senator Paul on his point of order that would have protected Social Security, and I ask you to help me shine a light on what Washington has tried to hide from you in the darkness of night. If everyone who sees this message shares it, it will reach millions of Americans. As someone who has been fighting for years to reform our broken government in Washington, I know it is exhausting, I sympathize with your frustration, and I understand your impatience. But don’t give up. Washington wants you to give up. Just remember, a vote to raid social security in the middle of the night in a desperate attempt to perpetuate an unsustainable spending addiction isn’t a sign of strength. It is a sign of weakness.

Posted by United States Senator Mike Lee on Friday, October 30, 2015

 

Another Cost Of Runaway Spending

CNS News is reporting today that the amount of the U. S. Government debt held by the Federal Reserve has increased by 257 percent since President Barack Obama was first inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2009, and the Fed is currently the single largest holder of U.S. government debt.

The article reports:

Since Obama has been president, the publicly held portion of the U.S. government debt (as opposed to the “intragovernmental” debt the government has borrowed from federal trust funds such as the Social Security Trust Fund) has increased by  $5,264,245,866,257.40. The $.221369 in additional U.S. government debt the Fed has purchased during Obama’s presidency equals 23 percent of all the new publicly held debt the Treasury has issued during that time.

Please read that again. That paragraph refers to the fact that the government has borrowed from federal trust funds such as the Social Security Trust Fund. Remember, this is the government that is referring to Social Security as an entitlement. I don’t think I am too far off base when I say that the way the government has handled the Social Security Trust Fund should convince us that we should give the government as little of our money as possible–they did not handle money well.

Unless we elect people who are willing to curb Washington’s runaway spending, our nation will be bankrupt by the time the next president takes office.

Why It Is So Difficult To Get Government Spending Under Control

Yesterday Big Government posted an article about part of the deal that allowed the payroll tax holiday to continue for the year. One way to offset the cost was to increase the amount of money federal employees pay toward their pensions by .08%. First of all, the concept is false. The money that will not be taken out of your paycheck this year was supposed to go toward the non-existent ‘Social Security Fund’–not the general fund. All the payroll tax holiday is doing is hastening the demise of Social Security.

Meanwhile, the article at Big Government quotes the union leader’s reaction:

 “Working class men and women who have dedicated their lives to serve their country should not be on the hook for solving a crisis they did not create,” American Federation of Government Employees National President John Gage said.

[…]

Continuing to attack federal employees’ pay and benefits doesn’t create new jobs and only adds to the pain and suffering many working class men and women are experiencing,” Gage said.

For the moment I am going to ignore the fact that federal workers make double what their counterparts in private industry make (USA Today 8/13/2010) and focus on exactly what the .08% means in actual dollars. If you, as a federal worker, were currently contributing $100 to your pension plan, you are now required to contribute $100.80. That small amount will save the government about $15 billion.

I don’t think 80 cents is an attack on working class men and women. If they are so unhappy with paying the 80 cents, maybe they should try to get a job in the private sector.

 

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