Looking Ahead -
Post - Election Year Issues, 2021
Welcome
!
Party Platform Links
–
Democrats
– Link 1 / Platform
- Link 2 (different website)
Republicans
– Link 1 / Platform
Link 2 (different website)
Main Content Pages -
I. This page - National
Debt / The U.S. Economy – ( This page, scroll down)
II.
Social Issues –
2. Free Speech / Cancel Culture
5. A Look at Illegal
Immigration- Detention Centers
7. 2016-2020
The
National Debt
Topic 1 -
National Debt — The National Debt is a basic Social Justice issue. (see Platform links above and excerpt
below)
How much is the National Debt ?
As of August 2020 our National debt was $26 Trillion
dollars, including the COVID stimulus packages to date (Sept. 14, 2020).
It is 111% of the U.S. economy, more than the total of all our output
(GDP).
To
illustrate the scale and difference between a million, a billion and a
trillion. If one dollar equaled one second of time, -
$1
million dollars
would equal 12 days.
$1 billion dollars would equal 32 years.
$1
trillion dollars
would equal 32,000 years.
If the National Debt was divided by the population,
what would each person owe ?
The Amount of
Debt divided per person currently is—
$72,882 for
every person living in the U.S. (that is newborn to nursing home).
Per each
household the
National Debt currently is—
$186,745 for
every household in the U.S.
Would the Debt problem be solved if the very wealthy
and the rich corporations were taxed at a high rate ?
1.
Video
explaining what it would take to solve the National Debt – 12 Minutes – Tony
Robbins
3. Bowles – Simpson testifying
before the Senate – the avoidable crisis - National Debt, 2011
Note –
Example
1, To further illustrate the scale of the Debt, -
If all U.S. individuals / families earning
$250,000 or more per year – up to and including all the Billionaires
like Jeff Beezos, Warren Buffett & Bill Gates
were taxed at 100% of their income, and
the $26 Trillion Debt was spread over one year’s time,
all that money would cover only 35 days, or, $1.363 Trillion dollars of the total amount, with 330 days of the year remaining.
· Both parties voted to create several stimulus
packages as a response to circumstances created by COVID-19, which added over $2
trillion to the Debt as of October 2020.
BBC News report, Friday, Sept. 11, 2020 -
“At
a hearing in Washington in June, Jerome Powell, the head of the US central bank,
told members of Congress that America's spending path was "unsustainable",
but said reducing the shortfall should not be a priority given the state of the
economy. Republicans this week put forward a $300
billion proposal for more aid. The plan was blocked by Democrats and
failed to advance, with Democrats saying it fell far
short of the more than $3 trillion in relief they
support.”
The
Republicans were arguing, Debt-wise, to be fiscally conscious of the damage
these huge costs will inflict on future generations. It will all have to be
paid back (see platform excerpts below)..
What will be the impact of the relief packages on
top of the Debt ?
Brookings
Institution on the National Debt
From the Republican Platform -
“Our
national debt is a burden on our economy and families. The huge increase in the
national debt demanded by and incurred during the Obama Administration has
placed a significant burden on future generations.
“We must impose firm caps on future debt, accelerate
the repayment of the trillions we now owe in order to reaffirm our principles
of responsible and limited government, and remove the burdens we are placing on
future generations.”
“A strong economy is one key to debt reduction, but
spending restraint is a necessary component that must be vigorously pursued.”
“The Republican path to fiscal sanity and economic
expansion begins with a constitutional requirement for a federal balanced
budget.”
“We will fight for Congress to adopt, and for the states to ratify, a Balanced
Budget Amendment which imposes a cap limiting spending to the appropriate
historical average percentage of our nation's gross domestic product while
requiring a super-majority for any tax increase, with exceptions only for war
or legitimate emergencies. Only a constitutional safeguard such as this can
prevent deficits from mounting to government default.”
How Does the Debt Affect Social Security ?
Video – The current
Situation of Social Security – 3 minutes
The 2020
Democratic party platform contains an ambitious spending agenda,
ideologically driven, socially progressive legal and fiscally unfunded mandates
of which trouble many moderates and liberals in their own party ( see party
platform), and are demonstrably not supported by at least 50% of the country as
seen in the results of the 2016 election.
The debt surged by 41% in Obama's
first 1,012 days in office, ultimately ballooning by about 84% as fiscal 2016 drew to a close. Under Trump, the debt has grown by roughly
15% in three years so far, and the Congressional Budget Office projected that
it could swell by 43% more by the end of fiscal 2024 (due to the Corona Virus
Stimulus Packages in the Democratic-controlled Senate).
https://www.businessinsider.com/national-debt-deficit-trump-how-it-compares-obama-bush-clinton-2019-11
What Is The Democrat’s Plan For The National Debt ?
The National Debt is
not mentioned or acknowledged in their 2020
Platform.
The National Debt is A Basic Social Justice Issue.
What Has Joe Biden and / or Kamala Harris Said About The National Debt ?
Joe Biden has not addressed the National Debt in debate or press conferences,
nor has he mentioned the Bowles-Simpson Commission
appointed by Pres. Obama during his own vice-presidency. – Video 2 minutes
What was Kamala Harris’ Spending Plan During The Democratic Primary ?
Democratic Party, elected
Officials fiscal / budget plans – 8 minute video
“The Joe
Biden campaign announced that he had selected Senator Kamala Harris as his
running mate, and, taking into account both his age/rumors of ill health and
the fact that Harris was herself a presidential candidate, her opinions matter
more than in the usual case in which a vice-presidential nominee is more
window-dressing.
He has not addressed the future
insolvency of Social Security, and his party’s spending plans, like free
college for 80% of Americans, for example, will be paid for through
increasingly higher taxes to service the debt plus interest on money the U.S.
has borrowed to finance our economy. The Democratic Platform proposes that individual
states set up additional retirement savings programs which is an avoidance to
fixing our current social security system.”
Note
- Harris As
President is a Possibility due to Biden’s age and previous health issues, the
two brain surgeries in 1988.
“As to
Biden’s life expectancy: assuming that he is in above-average health, he has a
10% chance of not surviving to the end of his term. As to dementia, even
notwithstanding questions raised by his political opponents, the prevalence of
dementia increases with age; there’s no convenient actuarial table but, across
all OECD countries, the prevalence increases from 7% for individuals ages 75 -
79 to 12% for those 80 - 84, and 20% for those 85 - 89.”
Excerpt
From Forbes
Magazine article
Is It Only Republicans Who Object to the Dangerous Spending Levels ?
“The fiscal path we are
on today is simply not sustainable," Erskine Bowles said ( Budget director under Bill Clinton). "This debt and these deficits that we
are incurring on an annual basis are like a cancer and they are going to truly
destroy this country from within unless we have the common sense to do
something about it."
Please note mandated wage increases on private businesses, and
prioritized increased public / government spending on new social initiatives in
the 2020 platform.
The words used throughout the platform – “expand, ensure, support, create,
mobilize, develop and increase”, have fiscal consequences. While many of these
initiatives have noble intentions, whether agreed upon or not, if passed they
all must be funded.
What are the long-term consequences of government printing too much
money / increasing money supply to deal with the results of too much Debt ?
The
National Debt, the Coronavirus Pandemic and Federal Spending | C-SPAN.org - The consequences of current and election-year
campaign-spending proposals with Maya MacGuineas, President for the Committee
for a Responsible Federal Budget. They have 91 videos in the C-SPAN Video
Library. - Video
Their
thoughts on modern monetary theory, which states a government can print money
as often as it is in need of more of it.
Between
the cost of the National Debt and the COVID Stimulus Packages, what is the
Democratic Party’s approach to addressing it ?
1. Democratic Party, elected Officials fiscal / budget
plans – 8 minute video
2. Video explaining the
National Debt – 12 Minutes – Tony Robbins
3. Video – 2 minutes -
President Obama’s - Simpson – Bowles Commission on the National
Debt
What were the results of Pres Obama’s Bowles-Simpson
Commission on Reducing the Debt ?
Pres. Obama appointed
the Simpson-Bowles Commission to determine how to reduce the Debt and disregarded
their recommendations.
Erskine Bowles (Pres. Clinton’s Budget Director) and Alan Simpson,
(former Republican Senator) were co-chairs of the commission, discuss their bi-partisan
commission’s efforts and what needs to be done.
What are the updated Budget Projections Showing the Fiscal Toll of
the COVID-19 Pandemic & National Debt ? ( June 2020)
http://www.crfb.org/papers/updated-budget-projections-show-fiscal-toll-covid-19-pandemic
Note - Both parties voted to create
several stimulus packages as a response to COVID-19, which added over $2
trillion to the Debt.
To illustrate the scale and difference between a million, a
billion and a trillion. If one dollar equaled one second of time, -
1 million
dollars would equal 12 days.
1 billion
dollars would equal 32 years.
1 trillion
dollars would equal 32,000 years.
* As of August 2020 our National debt was 26 Trillion dollars
Will taxing the rich pay off the National Debt ?
To illustrate, If everyone in the United States that makes
over $250,000./ year, - individuals, dual-income couples, up to billionaires
like Warren Buffet, Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, were taxed at 100% of
their income, it would total $1.363
Trillion dollars.
If we took 21 trillion (2019 number) and spread it over one year’s time, the
$1.363 Trillion would pay for only 35 days. Then what … all the 1%
percenters and more are gone.
If
there is less tax revenue paid to the Government, more new taxes will have to
enacted to pay for all these new proposals.
Unfunded mandates to increase municipal workers wages and services will require
additional taxation. Legislative mandates to increase private sector wages will
result in higher costs of goods and services for consumers. Any
and all programs funded by the Government, meaning the people, will be
paid for by the people.
The debt is a promise of future labor. Whose? Our children’s.
Is a Socialist Democracy a more effective system to
fund social programs ?
Video clip - Joe Rogan –
The relative merits of Democracy vs Socialism with Naval Ravikant – 8 Minutes
Naval
Ravikant is an Indian American entrepreneur and
investor. He graduated with degrees in Computer Science and Economics from
Dartmouth College.
He is the co-founder, chairman and former CEO of Angel List. As an angel, he has invested early-stage in
over 200 companies including Uber, FourSquare,
Twitter, Wish.com, Poshmark, Postmates, Thumbtack,
Notion, SnapLogic, Opendoor,
Stack Overflow, OpenDNS, Yammer, and Clearview AI.
Should Capitalism be ended ? - 5 min.
video clip
Bret Weinstein, Douglas Murray
Can government can provide goods and services at no
one's expense ?
Video Clip - The Free-Lunch myth – Milton
Friedman – 3 minutes
Milton Friedman explores the myth that government can provide
goods and services at no one's expense.
With all the spending proposals in the 2020
Platform, the value of future salaries will be significantly reduced, spending
power / value of our income will go down because of the obligations / interest
we owe on the National Debt.
The Debt is 111% of the GDP of the U.S. economy
Amount of Debt per person / household currently is—
$72,882 for every person living in the U.S.,
$186,745 for every household in the U.S.
BBC News Report, Friday, Sept. 11, 2020-
“At a hearing in
Washington in June, Jerome Powell, the head of the US central bank,
told members of Congress that America's spending path was "unsustainable",
but said reducing the shortfall should not be a priority given the state of the
economy. Republicans this week put forward a $300 billion proposal for
more aid. The plan failed to advance, with Democrats saying it fell
far short of the more than $3 trillion in relief they support.”
(Please refer to the Video on the National Debt)
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-54126226