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According to this article, a number of GOP House members actually want to see the USA default. Is that a possibility?
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It’s definitely a possibility in an era where some politicians would murder their own parent if it led to the other side looking bad; but it’s not at all an outcome we should be happy about as a country.
A skilled politician will tell you that default might actually be a wake up call to the problem of debt outgrowing GDP by leaps and bounds; but it’s not exactly the right kind of wake up call.
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Sic transit gloria mundi (so shut up and get back to work) -
The move is to always blame the adults in the room who ask for austerity. Happened in Greece, Spain, etc., and the UK. Let’s see, out of control spending caused inflation, which causes the Fed to (belatedly) raise rates, which caused bank failures. And now the government wants to spend even more.
Because of inflation, my savings are worth 1/3 less, and I need to generate higher returns to keep pace. In all likelihood, Gen Z may not get to retire if current trends continue. Also, it is draining Social Security at a faster pace. Not to mention that debt service by the federal government will triple (at least) because of the combination of more debt and higher interest rates. The average mortgage is no longer affordable to an average family. 24 months of real wages decline has families under financial stress. All of this from fiscal irresponsibility (and the Fed’s addiction to easy money since 2008). Might as well rip the band-aid off so we learn a lesson.
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Rogpodge, “which causes the Fed to (belatedly) raise rates, which caused bank failures.”
Pardon me, I am obsessed with detail. The rate increases over the last year have not caused “bank failures”. Piss poor, self interested managements and incompetent regulators are to blame.
Any student who has completed a basic money and capital markets course is aware of duration and its implications for portfolio management. The Fed created conditions that offered an opportunity to get rich through the abandonment of sound principles, but they didn’t make the piss poor decisions. Many managers elected not to exploit Fed largess for short term gain.
And let’s keep in mind that the regulators knew of the balance sheet problems 18 months ago, before the Fed commenced the tightening cycle. They did nothing. And now the Fed is between the rock and the hard place. In the last three weeks they have unwound five months of work to shrink their balance sheet.
The administration will try to blame the Fed for a recession. No reason to blame the incompetent regulators they pay with our money.
Here's a toast with one last pour, may it last forever and a minute more;
Good fortune seems to you have sung, to live and love way past long
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I agree with RodgePodge. But if these rich prick demtards don’t care about the crime in our cities or the open border invasions, why would they even care about this? They are insulated from the troubles of the Plebians. So a GOP driven wake up call will just give them more fingers to point at their nemesis.
“I remember that one fateful day when Coach took me aside. I knew what was coming. "You don't have to tell me," I said. "I'm off the team, aren't I?" "Well," said Coach, "you never were really ON the team. You made that uniform you're wearing out of rags and towels, and your helmet is a toy space helmet. You show up at practice and then either steal the ball and make us chase you to get it back, or you try to tackle people at inappropriate times." It was all true what he was saying. And yet, I
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I agree with RodgePodge. But if these rich prick demtards don’t care about the crime in our cities or the open border invasions, why would they even care about this? They are insulated from the troubles of the Plebians. So a GOP driven wake up call will just give them more fingers to point at their nemesis.
It drives me crazy that Dems point to Trump and Republicans as being responsible for the deficit. It was high after WWII (of course), then decreased through Republican administrations, increased with Reagan, Bush and Clinton, started to decrease in Clinton’s second term, stayed flat (relatively) with Bush II, then absolutely skyrocketed with Obama. Rate actually started to slow with Trump, and has persistently increased with Biden.
![U.S. National Debt Is Growing Rapidly [Infographic]](https://i0.wp.com/specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5d639faffead280008921f89/960x0.jpg?w=648&ssl=1)
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Because of inflation, my savings are worth 1/3 less, and I need to generate higher returns to keep pace. In all likelihood, Gen Z may not get to retire if current trends continue. Also, it is draining Social Security at a faster pace.
This has been part of a long term trend. Not just Gen Z, but Gen X and — to be frank — the back half of the Baby Boomers won’t be able to retire. We’ll work until we die, most of us. The money just isn’t there. The so-called “Greatest Generation” made out like bandits, the Silent Generation did well, the first half of the Baby Boomers will get a subpar return, the rest of us will get kicked in the balls. I’ve been saying this since I was 25.
The money won’t be there.
Between me and my employers, I have paid over $400k into Social Security. If I work until 70, I’ll get $4,530 a month. Average life expectancy — and I’m in heart failure, so that is probably unlikely — is about eight more years, or 96 months. 96 months times the $4,530 is $434k. Had I invested that money in the stock market at average stock market rate, my earnings would have put me just under $1 mms.
I’ll make the following offer to the Federal government. Give me half of my total contributions — $200k — right now, and let me out of the system, with no further payments due to me. I’d take that deal in a heartbeat.
As far as I’m concerned, so-called Social Security is a lie, a Ponzi scheme, a front-loaded bonus from FDR until about 10 years ago, and the rest of us are screwed.
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There is no informed discussion about the debt or the deficit. EVER. Paul Ryan was the last politician to broach the idea of restructuring entitlements and he has been vilified and sent into exile. Remember how everyone reacted when GWB raised the topic. Lost him the House in 2006 in a blue wave.
Meanwhile, Al Gore “misinforms” the public w/ his BULLS**T Social Security “lockbox”. Newt Gingrich was the last politician to squarely face the issue and that happened 29 years ago.
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The Social Security debacle is actually worse than I thought, for two reasons:
- Republicans, led by Senators Angus King and Bill Cassidy, want to raise the full retirement age from 67 to 70. This is in the face of Social Security going bankrupt in 2034.
House GOP Budget Framework Sets 70 as Full Social Security Claiming Age | ThinkAdvisor
2. At the same time, average American life expectancy is dropping. Average life expectancy for infants is now 76.1, the lowest since 1996. Another report says it’s actually 73.2 years. This thanks to COVID, chronic illness and drugs:
America’s epidemic of chronic illness is killing us too soon (msn.com)
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