Why balancing the budget is wrong...

[zyxt9]

Why can't all of these candidates stop saying they want to balance the budget and do what really needs to be done, REDUCE THE DEFICIT!!! Balancing the budget doesn't do jack, we need to pay down the national debt!

 

[Mitchrapp]

Why can't all of these candidates stop saying they want to balance the budget and do what really needs to be done, REDUCE THE DEFICIT!!! Balancing the budget doesn't do jack, we need to pay down the national debt!

Why? I mean they have no clear plan to balance it how do you expect them to reduce it. It's been like this since Washington. I just learn to live with it.

 

[Michchamp]

... Balancing the budget doesn't do jack, we need to pay down the national debt!

why? the federal government is not the same thing as a business or a person. it doesn't need to balance the budget. as long as it can make the interest payments on its debt and borrow money when needed (which it can comfortably do right now, and according to the opinion of most economists is in no danger of losing the ability to do so), there is no need to pay down debt.

No.

You're wrong.

 

[redandguilty]

Why can't all of these candidates stop saying they want to balance the budget and do what really needs to be done, REDUCE THE DEFICIT!!! Balancing the budget doesn't do jack, we need to pay down the national debt!

The debt doesn't need to go to zero. The US should always be growing and advancing..there are always enough important things to do that it makes sense for us to borrow some money and pay interest on it. We need to being doing things that help us to grow more than the interest, but that's how the state of things should look if things are going well.

But you are right, we do, at some point, need to get our debt under control. Our debt/GDP has grown at a scary rate. I don't know what we can sustain, but if interest rates come back, debt needs to go down...of course...if interest rates bounce back because the economy bounces back, it will be easier to pay that debt down.

http://www4c.wolframalpha.com/share/clip?f=d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e54pdlq7pf2

edit: apparently the link to the image isn't permanent, hopefully this link will continue to work.

 

[zyxt9]

I'm not saying they can make it zero in one term, that is something that will require probably a century of presidents dedicated to the mission.

pisses me off when businesses and governments are so flippant about being in debt. clean the slate and that provides all kinds of financial leverage for times when it is absolutely necessary to TEMPORARILY take on some debt.

you guys crack me up acting like $16 trillion means nothing and don't worry about it. let's just keep jacking it up by double with every president then and see just where that gets us. no big deal, right? only one who gets hurt is the average guy, who cares about him?

 

[Michchamp]

I'm not saying they can make it zero in one term, that is something that will require probably a century of presidents dedicated to the mission.

pisses me off when businesses and governments are so flippant about being in debt. clean the slate and that provides all kinds of financial leverage for times when it is absolutely necessary to TEMPORARILY take on some debt.

you guys crack me up acting like $16 trillion means nothing and don't worry about it. let's just keep jacking it up by double with every president then and see just where that gets us. no big deal, right? only one who gets hurt is the average guy, who cares about him?

I am glad I crack you up, however that was not my intention.

I think a lot of people don't realize that money is - in the big picture - a commodity just like anything else. it has a price, which is the interest rate.

if you can borrow money for cheap, it's not a big deal. being in debt isn't the calamity some people make it out to be. most businesses carry a lot of debt, and most countries do too, and always have in the modern era. countries that don't aren't necessarily in better shape either, especially if they're not spending the money necessary to improve their infrastructure, human development, etc. etc.

what I'm saying is... the national debt has become this simple black and white issue for most voters, mainly due to the efforts of a certain group with certain political goals (lowering their own tax burden by eliminating programs that benefit all, but that they short-sightedly believe they don't need). the reality is, it's a lot more complicated than that.

 

[tsmith7559]

Why can't all of these candidates stop saying they want to balance the budget and do what really needs to be done, REDUCE THE DEFICIT!!! Balancing the budget doesn't do jack, we need to pay down the national debt!

3/4 of the debt is owed to the people of this country. Just cancel it out, happy?