Here, from Talking Points Memo, is one spin on the Super Committee meeting to fix the Federal Budget before a deadline of Wednesday, 23 November (the upcoming Wednesday).
The report is pessimistic, and it sees the Republicans as the villains. That is an a-historic view, but it is the view of the reporter, Mr Brian Beutler. Of course, this is all further complicated by the fact that economists are currently clueless about how to fix our problem. On top of that, Europe is in deep economic trouble and so is China, although China has done a better job of covering it up.
For those who picture themselves, or their Congress Critters, as Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones, the fact that the cuts and taxes doesn't go into effect until 1 January 2013, when there is a new Congress, there is plenty of time to find an escape from this problem.
The problem is, this problem is not going away. There are ever more of us older folks and ever fewer young folks, and those who are entering the job market are not finding many jobs.
Can we spend our way of this, or do we have to destroy the overhang of mal-investment in order to spark new investment? I don't think you can split the difference.
In the mean time, stand by for layoffs in the Defense Sector. Both returning servicemen and women and those in defense industries. I am thinking the US Army, active duty, could shrink up to 20% from its current authorized end-strength of 561,984. Not only will we be retiring colors and mothballing equipment as the Services shrink in size, we won't be buying as much shiny new stuff, nor as much in terms of spare parts. Then there are the cuts to social services that will begin thirteen and a half months from now—medicare reimbursements, for example. It is an ugly picture. We better hope there is an Indiana Jones out there to show us the way to successfully escape this doom.
Regards — Cliff
I need to make a correction to one off your assertions. In 2013 there will NOT be a new Congress. Much if not most of the Congress is the same tired, worthless bunch that has been there all along. Aside from Scott Brown in MA, apparently the only way to get a new face in the MA contingent s for one of them to die.
ReplyDeleteIf one carefully examines history, everytime the social liberals have managed to reduce the size of "defense" we have been confronted by a major conflict for which we were eminently unprepared. The costs of our unpreparedness are measured in white headstones by the thousands, headstones that arguably would not have been there had we represented a high risk to an aggressor. What this Administration and this Congress are doing right now, today, and in the next few days, is preparing America to once again be unprepared. It is reminiscent of the two blind airline pilots who lifted off the runway when they heard the passengers scream in horror. One day the copilot said to the pilot, "You know what worries me? Some day they are going to scream too late." Some day America will not have time to "be prepared" from her unpreparedness.
There are so many opportunities to stop spending and the amounts of money that would be saved is staggering by taking those opportunities to do so. We have a debt problem because we have a spending problem and we have to stop spending on stuff that is not basic to our needs. Instead we waste billions of dollars on pointless, fraudulent dry holes. We pay China foreign aid using the money we borrow from China. Until we stop doing stupid stuff like that, we are on a very steep, slippery slope to the bottom.