Political Question - Congress and the Budget

Every single time I sign a petition to save medicaid, medicare, social programs, foodstamps, etc... I ALWAYS add in that the best way to save the nation money is for ALL elected official to take a 40% pay cut. These elected officials get free healthcare for LIFE, even after just ONE TERM!!! Majority of the elected officials are also already millionaires in their own right, sometimes their wives too!!

Maybe we should fight that if elected to office of any kind in the government, the only pay you get is free housing during your term, free healthcare during your term and a food and vacation stipend.

The whole thing infuriates me to no end. Do as I say not as I do. Can't stand it. Their pay should be the first to go either all the way or at least cut it in half. Benefits too. They are asking us to sacrifice and suffer but they aren't supposed to as well? Excuse me???

How about Mr. President, you and congress stop spending our hard earned money on frivilous stuff. Why don't you practice what you preach??? Maybe if you and the congress did that we the american people would have more respect for you and be more willing to make these sacrifices. But since you aren't, why should we be the ones to suffer more?

This also goes for this healthcare reform thing you rammed down our throats. If we have to be subject to this new wonderful healthcare why aren't you and congress as well? Why get your own top of the line free healthcare while the rest of us get something a lot less? Maybe if you and congress actually had to really work like the rest of us and have the same type of resources available to us, you might actually stop trying to ram these outrageous plans down our throats and stop taxing us and the companies/rich to death. One last question, Mr. President, when was the last time you were hired by a poor person??? The more you tax the rich and the companies, the less they are going to be able to hire and the less they are going to be able to pay their employees. Not to mention that they are going to have to raise their cost of their products. So not only we as the employee get paid less we have to pay more for the services and products. As for the unemployed they are pretty much stuck.

Sorry but as you can tell this is a huge sore subject for me. None of what they as a whole, not just the democrats, makes any sense. The last time I checked they are supposed to be working for us, not for themselves. If they only listened to what their employers (US) want, we might be in a better position.

I could go on and on about what I think needs to be done, but I'll stop here. But yes I agree with you Congress is NOT doing their job. I guess it's up to us to fire them.

Cheryl, you might reconsider posting political diatribe on this or any site while your husband is trying to get a job in the White House. They have to vet your husband and you have NO idea how far they can reach to find stuff about him through all avenues, including his wife.

You need to stop this stuff before you hurt your husband. What you think about economic stuff (even when you don't understand it) isn't NEARLY as important as his ability to get a job.

By the way, the debt ceiling isn't like a credit card. Here's a primer on what the debt ceiling is:

The debt limit was originally crafted to make life easier for Congress. Before World War I, Congress literally had to cast a vote every time Treasury borrowed money to make purchases authorized by Congress (such as tanks). In 1917, Congress decided to do away with the cumbersome procedure and simply gave blanket approval for most types of borrowing. To keep a check on the executive branch, Congress established a limit.

But this is not the same as a credit card limit, a frequently used analogy. A credit card limit prevents someone from making more purchases. You may want to buy that $1,000 refrigerator but if you only have $500 left on your credit card, tough luck—unless you round up some cash.

In this case, Congress has already authorized the expenditures for fiscal year 2011. In many cases, the products, so to speak, have already been purchased, and now the bills are coming due. If the United States government does not pay for these items (which includes interest on the national debt), then it goes in default.

Here's a real-life equivalent. Suppose the son of a millionaire was told he could spend $100,000 in a year, and not only that, but he was told exactly how he needed to spend the money. (That’s the fiscal year appropriations bills passed by Congress.). At the same time, the parent told the son the bills would not be paid after a certain date unless he got additional permission to pay them. (That’s the debt limit.)

I hope this makes more sense to you, if you're willing to actually try to understand. But really, you need to delete what you have written on these threads before you torpedo your husband's possible career.

Dawn

I can't stand scare tactics.
The SS checks will still go out.
I think Obama needs to stop spending any more of our money.
LBC

You know there are a few things that need to be overhauled. Congressional benefits, Congressional salaries, I can't speak for what I do not have facts for but I think both sides are afraid to tell America, Hey!! We need to cut back on this and that. It worked in the 40's.

It's very frustrating.

Oh and my debt ceiling, I noticed yesterday that I double paid our mortgage. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Talk about freaking out right now.

I think congress is so polarized, so divided ideologically, that even when they are trying to do their job, it's hard to find a bill that will pass both the republican-majority House and democratic-majority Senate. Both sides feel strongly that they know the correct solution, and they are so polarized now that they cannot compromise. Compromise is what they need to do, and compromise is so much harder when their constituents are screaming at them not to compromise.

Also, the debt ceiling must be raised. Not only for the country to function (even if the administration prioritizes payments, and pays bondholders first, so as not to technically default, and pays Social Security checks and medicare benefits and military pay... it will run out of money for other very important things. Federal prisons? Air traffic controllers? The CIA? FBI? The government would face a $20 billion shortfall on JUST AUGUST 3rd, the day after it hits the debt limit. Picking who to pay and who not to pay would very quickly become untenable.) But the bigger reason the debt ceiling must be raised is that the United States MUST be seen as creditworthy. Treasury bonds are currently viewed as a "risk free" investment. If that were to change, if we don't raise the debt ceiling and start not paying certain bills, we will be seen as not creditworthy, not risk free. Standard and Poor and Moody's have already said they would downgrade US debt from its current AAA rating. That would be calamitous because many investment programs (pension funds, etc) must only hold AAA rated securities, and they would have to sell. LOTS of funds would have to sell US treasuries. And interest rates would spike.

Just like when you pay a credit card bill late, and you get hit with interest on all the debt you've accumulated, our debt would start to get hit with higher interest rates (people lending to us would consider us more risky) and then, ironically, our debt burden would increase, because our interest payments to manage our debt would have risen.

This is just my take and I love watching politics, but...I don't think this is the right venue for this discussion. I think most of the ladies here, regardless of their views love their family and children and have excellent advise and ideas on how to make our family lives better. We get into a lot of "arguments" but I believe that it's all in love. That being said, I think we all, myself included could use a civics lesson. our gov't has some real problems. Maybe I'm wrong and this is the perfect place to figure out how to get our gov't to work together and for our populace to be educated on what the facts and issues are and be able to be passionate about our beliefs without loosing the thing that makes this community so valuable to me. I know my beliefs, and how I feel, But I'lm not really willing to blow up this forum to air those beliefs.
Just my two cents. Carry on....
A.

You and I are on the opposite ends of the political spectrum but...Go Cheryl!!

I will have to agree with Cheryl about this matter. But all I can say is people need to start doing their jobs because they are running America into the ground and we may never recover!!
Stop complaining and run our country and do your damn jobs!!

As Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke stated this week, raising the debt ceiling is not about increasing the amount of money that can be spent. It is about having a long spending spree (and this goes back into previous Republican administrations) and then refusing to make good on our debts.

I don't think we'll probably go into default, because there are too many financial players who would be hurt, and they have plenty of influence in Washington. Legislators are playing a game of chicken to see who will back down first, even though a recent poll shows the majority of American taxpayers (including 75% of Republicans) recognize the need to raise more revenue (higher taxes for at least some taxpayers). But legislators are desperate to save face and not be seen as weak on their positions. It is fascinating to watch.

And sure I can raise my debt ceiling. Right now, I have no outstanding debt, and I hope to keep it that way. But if I had a medical emergency tomorrow, I would not get any health insurance reimbursement until I exceed $6000. (Yeah, expensive but nearly useless insurance policy, with all sorts of exclusions). So, my husband and I would raise our debt ceiling by $6000 if that's what it took to get me needed surgery. And then half of the next $6000, so we would, if necessary, go $9000 into debt. We'd just be paying it off for the next several years, with interest. But if the alternative was to just wait until I die, I think I would choose to raise my debt ceiling.

A great deal of Republican spending (and revenue reduction) from the past went to tax relief for large corporations and the super-wealthy and funding a couple of wars off the books.

Democratic administration spending (and revenue reduction) is going toward continuing those wars, failing to reverse tax reductions, and maintaining entitlements like Medicare and Social Security at present levels, which are sacred cows even to Republicans who benefit from them. And, even if misguided, rescuing some of our largest corporations and banks from failing during the economic meltdown can be seen as roughly equivalent to medical triage. There's a lot of disagreement on this, but many economic experts believe that if that funding hadn't happened quickly, the meltdown would have been much, much worse, for all of us, than it is.

You mean social security is not in a trust fund?

You mean somebody spent that money?

!!!! :P

dearie, i hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but alot of the problem is not congress, congress has a right to vote themselves pay raises, if you dont like that law, then work to change it.just remember, congress may vote themselves a pay raise, but the president has to approve it. and lets not forget"the health care reform package" that the president signed into law without congressional approval, when the president did this, did you write to your congressman and demand that he vote to impeach the president ?and how about all these "experts" that the president is creating jobs for ?every time he creates a job for one of his contributors, he holds a press conference, patting himself on the back, saying that the stimulus package that he passed is working.
K. h.

If social security isn't broke then why on earth wouldn't the checks be sent out in August, lol

Did someone mention overthrowing the government, sign me up,lol