stealth toilet said:
70%? I'll take your word on that, being as you live in America and all. :lol
But last I heard 50% of America's budget went directly to military spending, and this figure was fairly consistent before the Iraq war. I assumed it would only have risen since. At the very least, there are several hundreds of billions of dollars being spent on military upkeep in America, and allocated properly it could at least stem the tide. Even if its just a drop in the pan, which I believe to an understatement, any drops going towards the right pan will pave the way for more to drop there as well, so to speak. It would be a start, which is no small thing. I oversimplified my initial statement on purpose, but I really do believe America has the industrial strength and wealth to climb out of the hole its in, and I don't think its unreasonable to think this could happen well within a decade.
I agree that it is possible, and I pulling out of Iraq would help to a point. The thing is, Obama doesn't seem to be the president who is going to do it. He's talking about large-scale expansion of social programs, something that will likely cause us to maintain our budget deficit for the next four years of his presidency.
stealth toilet said:
But I am curious, if you think the situation really is that dire HC, what do you believe would be the best course of action for the American people to take?
I'm actually the guy that points out problems. I don't do solutions. :lol
I can honestly say that I'm glad I don't have to make the decisions Obama does, but I guess I could play armchair president for a couple minutes.
Obama's idea with the economic stimulus package isn't something I'm entirely against. Government spending can revive an economy, but the shear magnitude of Obama's plan is absolutely ridiculous. I don't have the exact figure in front of me, but the proposed plan would cost MUCH more than the (inflation-adjusted) cost of the New Deal (I got that from a Time article a ways back. I'm pretty sure it was somewhere in the area of 5 times more). I would create a much smaller stimulus package that focuses on things such as infrastructure and tax cuts. Both of these things have been demonstrated time and again to be good investments that are usually paid back because of greater growth rates they generate. Any stimulus beyond that would have to be conditional upon how the economy is responding. I would also hold off on expanding social programs until the recession is finished. I find it admirable that he wants to expand certain social programs, and I fully support it, but he should wait until Americans have more expendable income and can afford to be taxed a little more. If he immediately does the expansions he is talking about, he will either run up a massive deficit or be forced to raise taxes midway through a very bad recession. Either one would be very bad for the economy.
Obama's plan is starting to seem more and more like the New Deal to me. It is expensive, its economic impact will be minimal, but, like the New Deal, it will raise people's hopes and spirits during a time of crisis. In essence, it's a placebo, and while getting people thinking positive is a very good thing, it isn't $1 trillion good.
All of this aside, his first major decision made me
very happy. Closing Gitmo and giving due process and rights to our prisoners is something I can completely support. Obama is looking very promising in every area but economics.
