Where is the Austerity?
One of the problems I have right now is that the United States is debating budget cuts which only reduce the deficit.
Its like this. Every inning of baseball, the other team is scoring three runs. That is bad. Right now, you have been getting on run every inning (and yes, I know baseball does not work like this, but stick with me). At the end of five innings, you are 15-5 down. It hurts, people start saying you'll never make it.
Ending number 1:
It hurts. You huddle together and your coach comes up with a brilliant plan.
The big plan is this: if only we could score two run an inning instead of one, everything will get better. You do this.. and lose 27-13.
Ending 2:
But you get together, and out of nowhere your coach says "what the hell have you idiots been doing?" and proceeds to tear you all a new one, and tell you to get on with it. Tough love here is the name of the game, and it works. You score more, play better defense, and come out ahead.
All across the world, we see nations and states striving for ending 2. They realize that running consistent budget deficits is about as helpful to an economy as towing elephants would be to a family SUV.
California just passed deep spending cuts. NJ and Illinois have been taking down unions and cutting costs. The UK has imposed significant austerity measures and is aiming for a balanced budget (though they have proposed some really boneheaded ideas, like offering a 50% reduction in jail time to any criminal who pleads guilty - they later said they would not include rapists, pedophiles and violent offenders... still... wtf Cameron) as have Germany, Spain, France etc etc etc..
But not the US. For the past seven weeks, the US government has debated debt reduction and gotten nowhere. Debt ratings agencies are stating that it is likely the US govt rating is going to fall, and then we will be paying a lot more for our debt. Economists are pointing out the dangers of continuing on our current path.
The problem is this. Democrats want to tax more, and Republicans want to spend less. Shocking, I know.
The question then becomes--as, lest we forget, this is theoretically some form of democracy we currently find ourselves in, though I think the Field of Mars might have had more enfranchisement than our current system--do the people of this nation believe that it is spending or taxes which have gotten out of hand?
Well, first, screw the people, this is my book, and I think it is spending. What the hell are we spending trillions on anyway? The government is far far too large, Obamacare should be rolled back, social security and healthcare need to be privatized, and military spending needs to be drastically refocused - we spend way too much on weapons systems development and too little on troops.
But then, letting the people have their say...
So then, Norm has the backing of the majority of the American population when I say that Congress needs to get their goddamn act together.
As a final point... government spending does not drive the economy. Cutting government spending does not automatically mean a reduction in GDP, though it is likely that cutting spending will not help the GDP, there are a lot of ways which if you reduced government spending and government regulation, you would end up in a much better position than when you started. Little things like taxes, regulation on healthcare, regulation on insurance, regulation on securities trading, regulation on business finance and accounting are all complete freaking messes right now which cost billions if not trillions in wasted time and effort.
Fix those, spend less, earn more, grow faster, develop more, live better, live longer, die happy.
Its like this. Every inning of baseball, the other team is scoring three runs. That is bad. Right now, you have been getting on run every inning (and yes, I know baseball does not work like this, but stick with me). At the end of five innings, you are 15-5 down. It hurts, people start saying you'll never make it.
Ending number 1:
It hurts. You huddle together and your coach comes up with a brilliant plan.
 |
| Your coach is a man known for brilliant plans.... |
Ending 2:
But you get together, and out of nowhere your coach says "what the hell have you idiots been doing?" and proceeds to tear you all a new one, and tell you to get on with it. Tough love here is the name of the game, and it works. You score more, play better defense, and come out ahead.
All across the world, we see nations and states striving for ending 2. They realize that running consistent budget deficits is about as helpful to an economy as towing elephants would be to a family SUV.
California just passed deep spending cuts. NJ and Illinois have been taking down unions and cutting costs. The UK has imposed significant austerity measures and is aiming for a balanced budget (though they have proposed some really boneheaded ideas, like offering a 50% reduction in jail time to any criminal who pleads guilty - they later said they would not include rapists, pedophiles and violent offenders... still... wtf Cameron) as have Germany, Spain, France etc etc etc..
But not the US. For the past seven weeks, the US government has debated debt reduction and gotten nowhere. Debt ratings agencies are stating that it is likely the US govt rating is going to fall, and then we will be paying a lot more for our debt. Economists are pointing out the dangers of continuing on our current path.
 |
| Our current path |
The question then becomes--as, lest we forget, this is theoretically some form of democracy we currently find ourselves in, though I think the Field of Mars might have had more enfranchisement than our current system--do the people of this nation believe that it is spending or taxes which have gotten out of hand?
Well, first, screw the people, this is my book, and I think it is spending. What the hell are we spending trillions on anyway? The government is far far too large, Obamacare should be rolled back, social security and healthcare need to be privatized, and military spending needs to be drastically refocused - we spend way too much on weapons systems development and too little on troops.
But then, letting the people have their say...
"Which comes closest to your view? Congress should increase the debt ceiling first to avoid a default on federal debt, and discuss spending cuts and deficit reduction separately. Congress should ONLY increase the debt ceiling if it makes significant spending cuts at the same time, even if that means there will be considerable reductions in government services and programs. OR, Congress should NOT increase the debt ceiling under any circumstances, even if that means the U.S. defaults on its debt." Options rotated | ||||||
| Increase debt ceiling, then discuss cuts | Increase only if makes cuts at same time | Should not increase, even if U.S. defaults | Unsure | Refused | ||
| % | % | % | % | % | ||
6/16-20/11 | 34 | 43 | 18 | 4 | 1 | |
So then, Norm has the backing of the majority of the American population when I say that Congress needs to get their goddamn act together.
As a final point... government spending does not drive the economy. Cutting government spending does not automatically mean a reduction in GDP, though it is likely that cutting spending will not help the GDP, there are a lot of ways which if you reduced government spending and government regulation, you would end up in a much better position than when you started. Little things like taxes, regulation on healthcare, regulation on insurance, regulation on securities trading, regulation on business finance and accounting are all complete freaking messes right now which cost billions if not trillions in wasted time and effort.
Fix those, spend less, earn more, grow faster, develop more, live better, live longer, die happy.
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