Can the ponzi last through the next election cycle?
Fitch downgraded the United States’ long-term credit rating as expected. This is basically the reason:
Thank you Barak, Donald, Joe, Janet, Jerome, Ben, US Congress et al.
My question is, can the ponzi last through the upcoming election cycle? Instability rears its ugly head from time to time like an alcoholic realizing he is slipping into the abyss. SVB bank, commercial real estate, Fitch credit ratings....
How easy or difficult will it be for the party in power to pin it on the other party?
Oh well, I guess we'll just let the good times roll... for now.
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Exessive wasteful military spending, $858 Billion just for FY2023, consumer debt and huge tax cuts for the wealthy are all dragging down the U.S. economy.
@LeopoldBloom Corrupt defense contractors steal huge amounts from the American tax-payer by greatly overcharging. Congress needs to mandate a yearly independent audit of Pentagon expenditures. And enforce strong penaltes against defense contractors who over-charge.
@irishmolly72 You can thank your orange savior for that. The national debt exploded under his administration, the biggest increase in history.
And I agree, the federal government does waste a lot of money. Half of discretionary spending is on the military, adding up to more money than the next several countries combined.
@LeopoldBloom What do you mean? First, I never voted for the orange guy as I've repeatedly said. Second, it was Obama who started the truely reckless budget explosion.
@irishmolly72 Actually, the budget exploded under Bush and spending decreased under Obama as it always does under Democratic administrations. But the spending under Trump was unprecedented.
You never voted for Trump? Is that because you live in Ireland and can't vote here, or you voted for the Libertarian or the Constitution Party?
@LeopoldBloom In your graph, the first set of tall blue bars runs through the Obama presidency. The second set of tall blue bars runs from the Trump (who I oppose) during Covid through the first year of the Biden presidency.
The orange projections are, of course, fluff. Wait until SS and Medicare hits the fan. You haven't seen anything like those deficits yet!
My point was that Obama started the recent bout of insanely wasteful spending. Thank you for your graphical verification that this is true. 😘
@irishmolly72 At least the first year of any president's economic program will be most affected by his predecessor. Obama took office after the disastrous Bush presidency, just as Biden took office after the disastrous Trump presidency. Notice that the first large spike happened under Trump.
In reality, of course, Congress spends money, not the president, and in all of the above cases, complex, worldwide events are the main driver of the American economy, with the President having little or no effect, despite getting all the blame or credit.
Social Security and Medicare aren't discretionary spending, so they may not be shown on this graph. But that highlights another reality, that a significant portion of the federal debt is one part of the government owing money to another part. Any Social Security shortfall could be remedied by lifting the income contribution cap.
