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OfflineAncalagon
AgnosticLibertarian

Registered: 07/30/02
Posts: 1,364
Last seen: 15 years, 1 month
Government Debt ? The Greatest Threat to National Security
    #3279813 - 10/26/04 02:17 PM (19 years, 5 months ago)

Government Debt ? The Greatest Threat to National Security

by Rep. Ron Paul, MD

Once again the federal government has reached its ?debt ceiling,? and once again Congress is poised to authorize an increase in government borrowing. Between its ever-growing bureaucracies, expanding entitlements, and overseas military entanglements, the federal government is borrowing roughly one billion dollars every day to pay its bills.

Federal law limits the amount of debt the U.S. Treasury may carry, and the current amount ? a whopping $7.4 trillion ? has been reached once again by a spendthrift federal government. Total federal spending, which now exceeds $2 trillion annually, once took more than 100 years to double. Today it doubles in less than a decade, and the rate is accelerating. When President Reagan entered office in 1981 facing a federal debt of $1 trillion that had piled up over the decades, he declared that figure ?incomprehensible.? At its present rate of spending, the federal government will soon amass $1 trillion of new debt in just one year.

Government debt carries absolutely no stigma for politicians in Washington. The original idea behind the debt limit law was to shine a light on government spending, by forcing lawmakers to vote publicly for debt increases. Over time, however, the increases have become so commonplace that the media scarcely reports them ? and there are no political consequences for those who vote for more red ink. It?s far more risky for politicians to vote against special interest spending

Since 1969, the federal government has spent more that it received in revenues every year. Even supposed single-year surpluses never existed, but were merely an accounting trick based on stealing IOUs from the imaginary Social Security trust fund. Remember that the total federal debt continued to rise rapidly even during the claimed surplus years. Since Congress is incapable of spending only what the Treasury takes in, it must borrow money. Unlike ordinary debts, however, government debts are not repaid by those who spend the money ? they?re repaid by you and future generations.

The federal government issues U.S. Treasury bonds to finance its deficit spending. The largest holders of those Treasury notes ? our largest creditors ? are foreign governments and foreign individuals. Asian central banks and investors in particular, especially China, have been happy to buy U.S. dollars over the past decade. But foreign governments will not prop up our spending habits forever. Already, Asian central banks are favoring Euro-denominated assets over U.S. dollars, reflecting their belief that the American economy is headed for trouble. It?s akin to a credit-card company cutting off a borrower who has exceeded his credit limit one too many times.

Debt destroys U.S. sovereignty, because the American economy now depends on the actions of foreign governments. While we brag about our role as world superpower in international affairs, we are in truth the world?s greatest debtor. Like all debtors, we are not truly free. China and other foreign government creditors could in essence wage economic war against us simply by dumping their huge holdings of U.S. dollars, driving the value of those dollars sharply downward and severely damaging our economy. Desmond Lachman, an economist at the American Enterprise Institute, states that foreign central banks ?Now have considerable ability to disrupt U.S. financial markets by simply deciding to refrain from buying further U.S. government paper.? Former Treasury secretary Lawrence Summers warns about ?A kind of global balance of financial terror,? noting our dependency on ?the discretionary acts of what are inevitably political entities in other countries.?

Ultimately, debt is slavery. Every dollar the federal government borrows makes us less secure as a nation, by making America beholden to interests outside our borders. So when you hear a politician saying America will do ?whatever it takes? to fight terrorism or rebuild Iraq or end poverty or provide health care for all, what they really mean is they are willing to sink America even deeper into debt. We?re told that foreign wars and expanded entitlements will somehow make America more secure, but insolvency is hardly the foundation for security. Only when we stop trying to remake the world in our image, and reject the entitlement state at home, will we begin to create a more secure America that is not a financial slave to foreign creditors.


--------------------
?When Alexander the Great visted the philosopher Diogenes and asked whether he could do anything for him, Diogenes is said to have replied: 'Yes, stand a little less between me and the sun.' It is what every citizen is entitled to ask of his government.?
-Henry Hazlitt in 'Economics in One Lesson'

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OfflineJesusChrist
Son Of God
Registered: 02/19/04
Posts: 1,459
Last seen: 11 years, 6 months
Re: Government Debt ? The Greatest Threat to National Security [Re: Ancalagon]
    #3279953 - 10/26/04 02:42 PM (19 years, 5 months ago)

Quote:

Ancalagon said:
Government Debt ? The Greatest Threat to National Security

Since 1969, the federal government has spent more that it received in revenues every year. Even supposed single-year surpluses never existed, but were merely an accounting trick based on stealing IOUs from the imaginary Social Security trust fund. Remember that the total federal debt continued to rise rapidly even during the claimed surplus years. Since Congress is incapable of spending only what the Treasury takes in, it must borrow money. Unlike ordinary debts, however, government debts are not repaid by those who spend the money ? they?re repaid by you and future generations.




That was my favorite part. Ron Paul is a great American. You ain't so bad yourself Ancalagon. Nice article.

You would think we would already be way past the point of confronting this problem. This nation is worse than an alcoholic in denial. I should know, because I am an alcoholic in denial. Wait, I completely deny that.

At some point the bill will come due. If we wait for the system to completely break down before we act we will have fewer options to remedy the situation. Simply reverting to even a small surplus right now would be an outstanding step in the right direction. And that means a real surplus, not a "projected surplus".

Our politicians were projecting surpluses based upon the boom years of expansive growth during the dot com bubble. Then they adjusted their spending to eat up those surpluses. The bubble bust, the spending didn't.

We are all going to hell for doing this to our children. I really hate our government sometimes. This problem will only get worse as millions of baby boomers retire and go on the public dole. The centre cannot hold.


--------------------
Tastes just like chicken

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OfflineAncalagon
AgnosticLibertarian

Registered: 07/30/02
Posts: 1,364
Last seen: 15 years, 1 month
Re: Government Debt ? The Greatest Threat to National Security [Re: JesusChrist]
    #3280076 - 10/26/04 03:12 PM (19 years, 5 months ago)

Quote:


You would think we would already be way past the point of confronting this problem. This nation is worse than an alcoholic in denial. I should know, because I am an alcoholic in denial. Wait, I completely deny that.




Ha. I'm not sure why you think we'd be over this problem. We keep electing the same guys, the same parties to office. Everytime we reelect someone complicit in this atrocity(yes it's an atrocity) we are rubber stamping the concept itself. Both the Democrats and the Republicans have shown themselves incapable of performing a task that any kid fresh out of college must learn on his own, it is insanity to think they are going to wake up one term and realize the fallacies inherent in deficit spending. They know EXACTLY what they are doing, the problem is we(not neccesarily you and me) do not.

Quote:

At some point the bill will come due. If we wait for the system to completely break down before we act we will have fewer options to remedy the situation. Simply reverting to even a small surplus right now would be an outstanding step in the right direction. And that means a real surplus, not a "projected surplus".



Unfortunately blame can always be shifted. The men with the guns at the time of this inevitable collapse(and it IS inevitable if things do not change) will simply blame it on their predecessors while their predecessors are basking in the sun somewhere in the South Pacific. Educating the populace is our only hope -- a task complicated by the fact that the vast majority of the populace has been indoctrinated into falling for the many fallacies propogated by goverment thanks to our excellent public schools.

Quote:


Our politicians were projecting surpluses based upon the boom years of expansive growth during the dot com bubble. Then they adjusted their spending to eat up those surpluses. The bubble bust, the spending didn't.




This is one area in which almost every politician(the esteemed Ron Paul is one exception) is completely clueless. Hardly any of them understand that these tremendous Booms and equally tremendous Busts are the result of the abhorrent monetary system of this country. Such a shame that very few colleges teach Austrian Economics.

Quote:

We are all going to hell for doing this to our children. I really hate our government sometimes. This problem will only get worse as millions of baby boomers retire and go on the public dole. The centre cannot hold.



Please consider(again) voting Libertarian. You see clearly that so much more is at stake than the war in Iraq. In addition, the odds of your one vote being THE deciding factor in all of Ohio is infinitesmally small. I see very little else in the way of hope; the Republican party is not going to return to the days of Goldwater and Reagan now that they see they can get away with putting up faux-conservative candidates such as Bush. The public needs to be educated and the only way that is going to happen is via a growing movement of people who truly desire and love freedom. You are clearly one of those people.


--------------------
?When Alexander the Great visted the philosopher Diogenes and asked whether he could do anything for him, Diogenes is said to have replied: 'Yes, stand a little less between me and the sun.' It is what every citizen is entitled to ask of his government.?
-Henry Hazlitt in 'Economics in One Lesson'

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InvisibleRandalFlagg
Stranger
Registered: 06/15/02
Posts: 15,608
Re: Government Debt ? The Greatest Threat to National Security [Re: Ancalagon]
    #3280164 - 10/26/04 03:31 PM (19 years, 5 months ago)

I just saw Bush say in a speech at some rally that, "John Kerry voted
to raise taxes 90 some times during his tenure in the Senate, whereas
I cut taxes".  Of course he failed to mention that under his
stewardship the federal government has had massive deficits which
continue to get this country further and further into debt.  Only
a retard would applaud the fiscal policy of our government over the
past 40 years.  We spend more money than we take in.  We are deeply
in debt.  The federal government is making no effort to curb
spending and pay down the debt.  Things don't appear as if they will
be changing.  This is all VERY VERY bad.  If things continue to
go this way, the U.S. will face a SEVERE economic crisis.

Americans are a funny lot.  We bitch and moan about taxes, yet we
want a bunch of entitlements.  It can't work both ways.

I wanted to jump into the TV and strangle Bush.  These "small
government" republicans sure do a good job don't they... :rolleyes:

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