Question for the Democrats on the National Debt?
815110
Bush and his crownies think that if you give rich people even more money they will invest it wisely which will create jobs and bolster the economy.  It's called supply side economics and it DOES NOT WORK.  It sounds good but it's fundamentally flawed.\n\nOne reason that can cause the economy to slow down is that supply side investment is not invested in the most productive way.  Meaning that the money isn't being invested in the best places to help stimulate the national economy.  In such a case it is ludicrous to dump more money into the supply side of the economy (the Bush tax cuts).  The way to fix such a stagnant economy is to stimulate demand.  Give tax breaks to the lower class and middle class who spend most or all of their income on consumer products.  The increase in spending on consumer products will provide emerging patterns in the market which will help investors identify where to reallocate their investments and make the economy run stronger.\n\nIt's really as simple as this.  Demand precedes supply.\n\nThe End.
389476
Government is like any big business. It's not an issue of debt, but of cash flow. That's what politicians are dirving at when they say debt is not always a big issue. Right now, our cash flow situation has not been impeded by our debt.
503097
Both. It takes money out of our economy, and tries to 'reform' other countries instead of largely leaving them to their own devices, breeds passivity in those countries on solving problems and dependency. Our country's 8, going on 9 trillion in the hole, and if you do the math, you find that the damage that debt can do is only going to accelerate. Even if the interest on 9 trillion drops from 4% to 1%, 1% of a trillion dollars is still a truckload of money. Several truckloads, actually. As Congress stupidly signs anything put in front of em(old folks will sign ANYTHING), and the debt spins up to 13, 14, 20 trillion dollars in unpayable red ink, you're going to see the beginning of The End for this country. The shift is already on to invest in euros instead of dollars. The european countries have the debt stuff WRITTEN INTO THEIR CONSTITUTION. Maybe it's time for america to have such and amendment. Hey, Congress, sign this! LOLOL
1043641
Are you SURE the democrats were ruining the country? By some people's perspective, the dems did more for america than the republicans ever had, the republicans being primarily interested in getting rich. I don't mind the idea of going out and making a buck, but at the same time there's an issue of \nwhat kind of society we want to end up living in, what kind of world we want to end up living in, and so forth. Bush and the GOP have driven the country further into debt in less time and they won't be leaving a budget surplus when they're gone, either. \nI think the democrats are more 'in tune' with having the public involved in running the country than the republicans have been,\nhence the name, democrats, and the republicans have done a great job of alienating people both in america and beyond, I think.\n\nThere's liberal conservatives out there too, fence-sitters, so don't think of the GOP as the be-all, end-all vehicle of your anti-liberal crusade, and likewise there are democrats out there with conservative views, too, I guess nothing's ever 100%. \nAt the end of the day though, neither democrat nor republican wants to say the magic words, 'budget cuts', the necessary medicine to choke back on unnecessary spending and reduce wasteful practices, you know, the kind of thing your average business has to do in order to stay IN business. There's a heapin' helpin' of common sense that needs to be applied to all this faux feuding between parties, we don't need 'good politician/bad politician' charades to keep driving up the debt and driving down public credibility of some of thes clowns, Congress has a lower approval rating than Bush does, and that's not by accident. Truth is, people want reform, but there isn't one candidate out there running on THAT platform....you tell ME what it's going to take to get the GOP to remedial math class! LOLOL
228212
If the deficit was $319 billion, then our national debt increased by $319 billion.\n\nA deficit is our debt for that particular year. The deficit is then added to the total debt.
906152
i completely agree. democrats are very uneducated when it comes to whats right for our country. i personally dont want to pay taxes for people who could work for themselves. we shouldnt give welfare to people just sitting on their butts. welfare should be earned through a steady job... and pay. and how is it bush's fault for 9/11. he hadn't even been in office for a whole year. did you know that what happens in one presidents' term is a reflection of the president before him/her? because clinton was too lazy to do anything... we are in this predicament with the middle east. and it is important to be in iraq. sadaam was like hitler. he murdered 500000 of his own people. we needed to get him out of there before he massacred anymore people. we are helping the country recover. it took more than a year to build rome.. so being in iraq will take a little while. \n\nim embarrassed that democrats are in control of congress. and im also afraid of how downhill we are going to go with democrats leading us.
212278
The Budget Deficit is only one tiny little part of the whole debt problem the USA, and by extension the rest of the world, faces in the very near future. Yes, I realize I am saying a lot when I refer to our colossal deficit as tiny.\n\nThere is a monstrous deficit in the amount of repairs and improvements to our infrastructure that has been tossed about since the 1984 election that no one has really taken care of. Our local water systems are collapsing, and privatization has only made the problem worse. We are not working on improving our ability to complete interstate commerce upon which our economy depends. The multi-state black-out caused by a lightning strike should have been a wake up call, but if people don't care that you can't drink the water out of the kitchen sink I guess we have a ways to go.\n\nWhile we have the highest number of homeowners in our history, far too many of them are using the equity to extend the self-delusion that they are still in the middle class. This is why you see so many commercials of how neat it would be to mortgage your home to 125% of the value and take that vacation, just like the rich folks do!\n\nUnsecured debt and the resultant explosion of bankruptcy is going to plunge a large part of the population into a situation where eventually they will never be able to buy a car outside of the Trading Times and never have a chance of opening a business except a MLM nightmare.\n\nWe are allowing our growing need for energy to outstrip our ability to supply it even with foreign and unreliable sources. We are allowing a future without adequate education and job skills because of apathy on the part of parents and short sightedness of multinational employers. The list goes on and on.\n\nLets face it, the future is going to be a cold, dark and nasty place. Let's hope we're dead and buried long before it gets here.
481618
There is the debt the national government owes. Then there is the debt the population and corporations owe. Then there is the debt that states and localities owe. Which did you mean, or did you mean all?\n\nU S government $8+ trillion.  Does not include unfunded obligations such as social security and medicare. \n\nConsumer debt is over $10 trillion.\n\nCorporate debt is probably around another $10 trillion. GM alone owes 285 billion and that does not include unfunded pension and health care liabilities.\n\nStates and local governments probably $30 billion. Every town, school district, airport, library, college owes millions. \n\nHope I didn't ruin your week.
931373
... well... first off... I fear I may be wasting my breath, because the information is out there and with an attitude like "all that I have seen or heard from the democrats is their utter hatred for President Bush"... it seems to show that you watch and believe only conservative sources of news... if that's all you believe, then it's pointless to argue...\n\nbut, real quick... a few points... \n\nIraq... listen to the generals (as many retired generals have said the current admin has not), set goals and flexible time lines to get the country stabilized and our boys home...\n\nhealth care... work to either expand current coverage of medicaid or work on bringing the costs down, but not through caps... costs are totally out of control\n\neducation... work to give more loans at lower rates and grants... tuition has skyrocketed... also, rework no child left behind to make it a working program...\n\ntaxes... keep the cuts on the middle class, repeal investor tax cuts... this will generate revenue to apply to the deficit...\n\nsocial security...we need to stop taking out of the jar and pay back what we have taken out... \n\nterror... work on bin Laden... a lot of talk from the Republicans about bin Laden... little action... the sooner we stabilize Iraq, the more we can focus on him...\n\nthere are other issues... and different democratic candidates have different views on the issues... just like McCain and Bush's views on these issues you asked about are sometimes very different inside the same party...\n\nEDIT: don't mention it... I think that one IMPORTANT key is that I don't like all democratic candidates... I think some of them are crazy... and I don't dislike all Republican candidates... \ntry to vote on the individual and their stances and not the party... I may lean to the democrat side often, but I do vote Republcian at times...
867166
There is no reason to be any more concerned today than you were yesterday. The Democrats won the House. What did they really win? They won the right to make the president a lame duck. Mr. Bush can still veto any legislation they try to pass and the Democrats do not have a 2/3 Senate majority required to over ride a veto. The Democrats say they want change, so here's their chance. We will see in the coming days if Democrats really want change for all Americans and are willing to reach across the aisle, or if they just want power. Either way do not expect much to change in the next 2 years. If anything this election has almost guaranteed that nothing substantive will happen in that time.\n\nmrfoxhorn: I have to take exception with a few of your statements.\nI am middle class, I do not make 200K a year. I make more money than I did during the Clinton administration and I am paying less in taxes.\nBecause one man in the Republican party solicited a teenage boy, it does not make the entire Republican party gay. This is one the most ridiculous statements Democrats make.\nThe Republicans did not handcuff Mr. Clinton with Monica. Mr. Clinton created his own woes by lying about the affair under oath. Credibility and honesty from our leaders (all of them) may not matter to you, but it is very important to me.\nI do not blame Mr. Clinton for 9/11, I blame terrorists. What I blame Mr. Clinton for in regard to terrorism is his administrations direct efforts to hamper intelligence gathering and sharing. \nThe idea that the Democrats will build up the military stands in stark opposition to their actual record on military spending. How do you think Mr. Clinton was able to balance the budget? It wasn't by cutting social programs, but rather by dessimating the military and intelligence communities.\nDemocrats have won the midterm, you wanted change and now you have it. Pointing fingers at the other side for their failings isn't going to work anymore. Democrats now have to take responsibilty and start showing us what positive change they propose for America. I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt in this area, but I honestly believe they will fail miserably unless they change their thinking and move forward rather than looking back.
812598
The national debt was created by buying weapons and food during world war two, and we finished paying it in 1998. However, France, Germany and Japan were given allowed to drop their debts by the kind US of A after the war, seems that we were the only dumb idiots who payed them. It cost us most of the inventions (jet engine, TV, computer, etc,) and we now have to sit down and listen to the Americans telling us how they have re-written our history, and how wonderful it has been living on the money we sent to them for 60 years, to help us win the Western war, which they like to take credit for as well.\n\nI feel sorry for Russia, who did most of the fighting, and are just starting to climb out of the economic hole they dug themselves into fighting Hitler and then the cold war paranoia.
896638
the only other "plan" they have is to point in the other direction and say "LOOK THE DEMOCRATS HAVE NO PLAN!"... \n\nhoping no one will notice how much they are borrowing and spending...\n\nit's one of those "if you say the other guy has no plan, maybe no one will notice that you don't have one" kind of things...
508513
Republicans have always been about foreign policy and Democrats have always been about domestic policy. We have spend over $280 Billion so far in Iraq. What does that translate to for the US? Over 10 Million new teachers or a million new fire engines or healthcare for 50 million Americans.\n\n"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity" - Preamble to the Constitution\n\nThere is a section in there about "promote the general Welfare". Maybe turboweegie is too busy spouting hatred and intolerance to read the first paragraph of the Constitution.\n\nEvery American taxpayer has spent over $2130 on this war so far, not including the massive interest we will pay on the debt from this war. Thats rougly equivalent to a years worth of gasoline for me and slightly less than I pay for a years worth of health insurance.
822196
THE NATIONAL DEBT WAS 900 BILLION WHEN JIMMY CARTER LEFT OFFICE AND WAS OVER 4 TRILLION AFTER THE REAGAN/BUSH/QUAYLE ERA WAS OVER.\n\nIT NEARLY FLATLINED DURING THE CLINTON ERA THEN CONTINUED TO SKYROCKET AFTER LITTLE BUSH TOOK OVER
479948
On the other hand, having a little bit of national debt can be a good thing, because it allows the treasury to sell bonds on the debt, which is an important tool for monetary policy and allows the government to mitigate inflation.\n\nLots of debt is definitely a problem, though.  My theory on why people don't understand things like this (or act like they do) comes down to a combination of laziness, stupidity, and selfishness -- the unholy trinity of human failure.
1082931
... the public should throw out all the ones that brought this to a vote... it clearly wasn't going to pass and was a huge waste of taxpayer dollars... \n\nThis is just one reason the debt is so high... irresponsible spending like this...
185384
Right now it is 21 trillion, and they inherited 20 trillion, with a balanced budget. So, in 6 years the Republicans have more than doubled our national debt. That is $30,000.00 dollars a piece for every American man, woman, and child to pay "TODAY" and it's going up. The New York Times reporting.