Obama has LOWERED The Deficit In Four Easy And Indisputable Steps

Just so we’re all on the same page here... Obama knocked $555 BILLION off of the deficit. That’s an entire third of the total deficit. That’s more than every president in the history of the country put together. Republicans have been screeching for deficit cuts like demented harpies for years (except when a Republican is in office). If a Republican president did this, the Tea Party would be holding parades for him. Obama did it and 90% of the country doesn’t even know it. The GOP has them convinced the deficit is still going up. Ignorance is the GOP’s best weapon. Knowledge is ours.

http%3A//www.addictinginfo.org/2013/03/06/how-to-prove-obama-lowered-the-deficit-in-four-easy-and-indisputable-steps/

You never hear much about how the deficit has gone down (and expected to go down even more later this year) on the news programs, maybe on Rachel Maddow or Al Sharpton's shows, but the MSM is invested in spreading the GOP lie that "spending is out of control" and the deficit is rising. We are being lied to and misled. The Democrats also need to speak up more about this but they don't.
The deficit has come down farther and faster under Obama than at any time since the end of WW2. Contrary to popular belief, the largest deficit on record is the Fiscal Year 2009 deficit... which was due to a budget signed into law by George W. Bush in October 2008, BEFORE the election. That is BUSH'S deficit, not Obama's. People don't understand how "fiscal years" work, apparently.
I love the President, but his PR team sucks. Well I take that back, Democrats for the longest time, even Clinton, allowed republicans to control the message. But President Obama, who does a great job of messaging during a campaign, can seem to duplicate that in office. I don't know if he thinks its inappropriate or what, but there should be talking points and press releases and twitter blasts about the good things. Or maybe they're doing that and no one is paying attention.
But he's BLAAAAACK!!!!!!!!
Republicans don't actually care about the deficit. It's just a political weapon to reduce the size and power of the federal government, especially where its activities might affect corporate profits or assist poor people. Shhhhhh!
Obama's job is to make government bigger so we're more dependent which he funds by raising taxes so more "free" services are available.
Entitlement programs are today's slavery.
Obama just cut White House tours to lower the Deficit
Social Security and Medicare are entitlement programs.
Did they deliberately pick a photo that has Obama in a Ray Charles-like moment?
R7 is a moron. And R9, they're Earned Benefits. We pay into them our entire working lives. They're not "entitlements" in the casual sense of the word, only in the far more limited and strict budgetary definition.
OP you are a fucking idiot!! The deficit has INCREASED FIVE TRILLION since Obama took over. And this is from CBS not something called addictive bullshit that you quoted.
http://m.cbsnews.com/storysynopsis.rbml%3FpageType%3Dpolitics%26catid%3D57400369%26feed_id%3D3%26videofeed%3D39
R12, again, the article does not take in account that the President did not create the 2009 budget. It was created and passed before he was in office. Also, the President had to deal with the mess he inherited. Yes, he could have lowered both the debt and the deficit by pulling out of both wars the moment he was sworn in, but that would be political suicide.
R8 How will that lower the deficit if the workers of the WH tours are simply being moved to other positions??
That article is a year old, r12.
R13. Obama is the only president to never release a budget for any year.
R13 sorry I was wrong about the budget.
R12, you're an idiot. You have no understanding of cause and effect, of the difference between deficit and debt, the difference between correlation and causation, or the budgeting process in general. So you spout off like that and expose yourself to be an ignorant idiot parroting things you don't genuinely understand.
Republicans and conservative media outlets, like Fox, CNBC and Bloomberg, are exploiting this budget deficit narrative in an effort to dismantle Medicare, Medicaid and SS. It's all a choreographed plan on their part. I can't watch CNBC any more because it's all they talk about now.
Defecits don't matter.
Ricky Cheney!
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How does someone like r12 survive from day to day being so stupid?
BULLSHIT MATH written by Obama's buddy. It's going to take years to repair the damage that Asshole has done to the economy. Dumbass still thinks he can tax and spend us out of trouble.
The article says, “The deficit is the credit card …” No, the deficit is more like the mortgage. Credit card is entirely the wrong metaphor with the wrong implications. Among other things, a mortgage tends to be a necessary expense with low interest rates … and that’s the right picture for US govt borrowing. However, it would be more accurate to say the deficit is the amount we’re financing on our home equity line of credit to pay for the car we need to get to work and the job training we need for a higher income so that we can better afford our bills. The deficit is the amount we add to the home equity loan. The debt is the mortgage. And we can easily make the mortgage payments.
State%20of%20Thought
R23, you're a moron. The damange was done by BUSH, not Obama. Obama is working hard to REPAIR the damage, but the Congressional & Senate GOP are blocking him at almost every turn.
Freepers defy logic and fact, r25...
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Not included in the debt/deficit is the $85 billion a month in money-printing required to shift toxic assets onto the fed's balance sheet. We're also paying just the "juice" or interest on the dbet, which is fine for now, but the larger the debt grows, the less cushion we have for when bad times hit. It's also a matter of time before all this money-printing results in inflation (like in 1979-1980), but this still may be the lesser evil, as there is no free lunch. Food and gas prices have gone through the roof lately as well, due to the weak dollar caused by money-printing. On the upside, interest is toxic as it's unearned income, so cutting rates cuts the fat out of the equation much more than people realize.
[quote]Not included in the debt/deficit is the $85 billion a month in money-printing required to shift toxic assets onto the fed's balance sheet. There's a very good reason for that: it doesn't belong there. [quote]It's also a matter of time before all this money-printing results in inflation (like in 1979-1980) Nope, not gonna happen, not when we're in a liquidity trap. People like you have been promising not just inflation but hyperinflation for years. Your predictions are wrong because your economic model is wrong. [quote]Food and gas prices have gone through the roof lately as well, due to the weak dollar caused by money-printing. Bullshit. Food prices aren't "through the roof" and gas prices are rising because of demand and because the various companies have idled capacity. It doesn't have a damn thing to do with "the weak dollar," which isn't actually particularly "weak."
We should have let the banks fail, we would be in better shape today,inflation would have reversed, the pain would have been over and we would have been mended. Instead, we are still a screwed up mess, and the bankers are still millionaires, on our dime.
R29, That we've been able to kick the can down the road by rolling over our debt at low interest rates does not eliminate the threat of inflation down the road. Hyperinflation? Probably not, but 10-15 percent a year for a few years definitely becomes possible. The $85 trillion in funny money that is being used to prop up the housing market is definitely part of our debt, but we are just printing money to pay it off. That's similar to stock dilution on Wall Street. We haven't felt the brunt of this yet becuase the money has no velocity, i.e., your "liquidity trap." Again, this is not necessarily a bad thing, but the piper will have to be paid, and inflation is much more tolerable than austerity. Food prices are definitley higher. Portions are getting smaller, which is stealth inflation (59 oz. is the new "half-gallon"), and gas is approaching $4.00. Gold is in the stratosphere for a reason. On the positive side, we have tons of accumulated wealth, and even minor adjustments in our financial trajectory now will allow us to right our course decades down the road, so the pain can be spread more evenly. Where we could run into serious problems is with a sovereign default in Europe or one of our fifty states. We can print money so we are immune to defaults, but the rest of the world is not. If interest rates rise, our deficit soars, then we have to choose between more budget cuts and printing more money. Printing money merely dilutes wealth, rather than creating it. It punishes those who have existing wealth, but perhaps these folks should be punished for not being the "job creators" they claim to be. We seem to have our eye on the ball enough to avoid a disaster, but more than at any time in my life, the disincentives to working (extended unemployment, free healthcare for the poor, food stamps, etc.) have never been greater. The student loan program has also functioned as a shadow welfare system, while unemployment among the young is at record levels. Is it fair or wise to have an economy where those of working age prior to 2009 have jobst mostly because they could get one when they needed to? People who have graduated since 2009 haev it much worse. The next generation's lack of weatlh is where we'll really notice th eimpact of these policies. It won't happen overnight, and most of us will be gone by then, so let's kick the can down the road some more!
Karl Marx
[quote]That we've been able to kick the can down the road by rolling over our debt at low interest rates does not eliminate the threat of inflation down the road. Hyperinflation? Probably not, but 10-15 percent a year for a few years definitely becomes possible. Anything is "possible" but it's pretty damned unlikely. The economic conditions today do not support such a prediction. [quote]The $85 trillion in funny money that is being used to prop up the housing market is definitely part of our debt No, actually, it isn't, any more than it's "funny money," and no amount of mindlessly repeating it will make it true. [quote]but we are just printing money to pay it off. *shrug* We've been engaging in similar tactics for nearly 100 years, without the dire economic consequences that people like you have been predicting. [quote]That's similar to stock dilution on Wall Street. Actually, it's nothing like "stock dilution on Wall Street," which is why your predictions aren't going to come true. [quote]Food prices are definitley [sic] higher. You said, and I quote, "through the roof." They aren't. And where they are increasing, it's because of things like drought, not the actions of the Federal Reserve. There is a reason that food prices are not considered in the core inflation measure. [quote]Portions are getting smaller, which is stealth inflation (59 oz. is the new "half-gallon") Sigh.... the various measures of inflation that include food prices take such things into account. There is no "stealth" about it. [quote]and gas is approaching $4.00. Which has absolutely zilch to do with the actions of the Federal Reserve. Gas is simply returning to where it was prior to the drop in demand caused by the economic meltdown. And, as I noted, the current spike was caused by the idling of capacity by the major oil companies. [quote]Gold is in the stratosphere for a reason. Yup, it's in a classic bubble. Look at a chart of gold prices adjusted for inflation and you'll see it is at near record highs. Anyone who invests in gold today is a fool. [quote]but the rest of the world is not. Actually, most of the rest of the world can do exactly what we can. It's the Eurozone that has problems, largely because it's neither one thing nor the other. [quote]Printing money merely dilutes wealth, rather than creating it. It depends on when it is spent and what it is spent on. Your model is too simplistic to adjust for the various factors that can affect this. [quote]but more than at any time in my life, the disincentives to working (extended unemployment, free healthcare for the poor, food stamps, etc.) have never been greater. And your point is? [quote]The student loan program has also functioned as a shadow welfare system Oh, please. This is just silly now. [quote]It won't happen overnight, and most of us will be gone by then, so let's kick the can down the road some more! Sheesh.... What a load of absolute drivel.
I love you r32.
[quote] GOP lie that "spending is out of control" remember, if you repeat it enough, over and over, it MUST be true, no?
Economic ignoramouses should stop talking about economics. If you don't understand the vast differences between economics and macro-economics (and if you think you should run the Government like a household or a business, tehn you clearly don't understand them), then you should just stop talking, and just start accepting the words of actual economists and economic experts.
I love the way you guys heap praise on the President's budget when actual spending doesn't relate to it in any way.
I'm looking in vain for anyone "heap[ing] praise" on Obama's budget. Perhaps you can point me to those posts?
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[quote]then you should just stop talking, and just start accepting the words of actual economists and economic experts. Like the ones posting on DL? BTW quit bumping this thread. It's apparent no one is interested in the deficit on DL.
The deficit will go away when we all have equal rights.
Easy%20solution.%20
[quote] It's apparent no one is interested in the deficit on DL. Appropriately so, since we should be talking about jobs, not about the deficit. The deficit is already set to shrink over the next couple of years and would shrink even further if Congress were acting to put people back to work instead of talking about austerity. Had Congress acted as they did in past economic downturns, we'd have nearly a million more people working right now.
AYYYYIEEEEE! We hate facts! Go away!
Stupid%20Americans
Food is still VERY CHEAP in America. People just eat mega portions and want to buy all the crap, which inflates food bills. One can eat very healthily and well for a very reasonable amount. Even Mama June knows how to stretch a buck!
Where are the jobs, Mr. Speaker?
The scary part is that you guys are not just mouthing talking points. You really believe President Obama has reduced the Deficit and continues working to do so every day. Did you know he "has a gift?" I think I know what it is.
The scary part is that you *are* mouthing "talking points," R45, and that you don't have the foggiest idea what you're talking about, as evidenced by the fact that you presented no data, just mindless partisan drivel.
[quote]You really believe President Obama has reduced the Deficit and continues working to do so every day. He has, and he is. What part of "facts" and "reality" don't you understand.
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Let's face facts. The economy would be better off if the deficits went up, not down.
OP is an idiot.
They at least posted something constructive. You, on the other hand, r50, jump thread to thread with childish insults, which actually makes you the idiot.
R50 is an idiot. OP posted factual information.
I think someone is having fun with us. Either that, or he fails to comprehend that billboard display that has passed $16,000,000,000,000.00 and is rising very rapidly. Get back to us then it starts to run the other way.
Just wait until Obama starts raiding bank accounts OP!
truth!
You better buy gold and silver and hide it in your mattress!
Does anybody on this thread even have their GED
The OP certainly doesn't!
Obama will probably eye any bank account that has over $10,000 in it and then demand half!
Call me crazy, but isn't the Deficit a different thing the National Debt? I think some people are confusing the two.
LMAO! It is just killing them that a black man is running the country and doing better than any white Republican!
[quote]Call me crazy, but isn't the Deficit a different thing the National Debt? I think some people are confusing the two. exactly!
r61 If that makes you feel better, keep telling yourself that. Along with.... black don't crack once you've gone black, you'll never go back if I'm not liked or hired or promoted, it's racist etc, etc, etc
President Obama has lowered the Deficit by 1/3 rd. President Obama needs credit for dropping the deficit so far, so fast. He has dropped the deficit more than any other President in history. Just so we’re all on the same page here. Obama knocked $555 BILLION off of the deficit. That’s an entire third of the total deficit. That’s more than every president in the history of the country put together. Republicans have been screeching for deficit cuts like demented harpies for years (except when a Republican is in office). If a Republican president did this, the Tea Party would be holding parades for him. Obama did it and 90% of the country doesn’t even know it. The GOP has them convinced the deficit is still going up. Ignorance is the GOP’s best weapon. Knowledge is ours.
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/03/06/how-to-prove-obama-lowered-the-deficit-in-four-easy-and-indisputable-steps/
LMAO r64. Putting it on paper doesn't make it so!
r64 doesn't understand the word "projected." Oh, during the 08 campaign, Obama claimed he'd lower the deficit by half during his first term. It tripled.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/overview
[quote]Putting it on paper doesn't make it so! 66 posts on this thread and not one of them has posted any evidence to contradict the original article. [quote]It tripled. No, actually, it didn't. It dropped. The debt was 1.2 trillion when he took office. Can we please get some smarter trolls?
R66, you're an ignorant brainwashed moron, who wouldn't know a fact or the truth if it came up and bit you on your bigoted, moronic ass.
I think we'll have a long wait for smarter trolls, R67. They're republicans, after all. Their critical thinking skills are severely impaired and they don't seem capable of understanding even the simplest, most straightforward presentations of data. And they wear their ignorance like a badge of honor.
God, R7 is an ignorant moron.
“OH FANK YOU! Mr. President!!! You fixded our economy!
Arianna%20from%20Utah
You're delusion, OP.
No R72, OP is absolutely correct. If you don't agree, you're the delusional one. The National Budget Deficit has come down every year Obama has been in office. It's come down farther, and faster than under any other President in history, period.
BUMP!