Posts Tagged ‘debt’

A method to cut government spending where bureaucrats will WANT to cut!

It is a well known and quite understandable reaction of any bureau to make sure that the current year’s budget has been spent by the end of the fiscal year, even on unnecessary projects, else they lose it. Personal interest should have every employee watching for any possible waste of the taxpayer’s dollars.

A new budgeting policy for each bureau should be established, where any unspent budgeted funds at the end of the fiscal year shall be equally divided up and paid out to all of the employees in that bureau, and, then the lower budget figure, pre-disbursement, would be used for the next fiscal year, with, again, any unspent surplus being distributed to the employees who made the surplus possible.

No money would be saved the first year, but from then on every department would have continuously lowering budgets. Could the cost of running the state be cut in half in three years? I think so. The bottom line would be far more efficient and less costly state services.

(Idea from Wayne Green)

Drawing a direct line — or any line at all — that links criminal guilt with incarceration is becoming impossible in a growing number of cities and States, as people are being put indefinitely in jail for their inability to pay medical bills, traffic fines and court costs.

Since 1833, it’s been illegal at the Federal level to imprison someone for unpaid debt. But individual States still retain the legal prerogative to do just that, and one-third of them still do.

Increasingly, private debt collection has come to put pressure on law enforcement to aggressively pursue available legal opportunities to arrest those who don’t pay their bills — such as when a civil judgment has been issued against an already-delinquent borrower and that person subsequently is found to be in contempt of the judgment because he still can’t pay.

Read more by Ben Bullard at PersonalLiberty.com

At least our state budget is getting better. Thanks Governor Walker!

A method to cut government spending where bureaucrats will WANT to cut!

It is a well known and quite understandable reaction of any bureau to make sure that the current year’s budget has been spent by the end of the fiscal year, even on unnecessary projects, else they lose it. Personal interest should have every employee watching for any possible waste of the taxpayer’s dollars.

A new budgeting policy for each bureau should be established, where any unspent budgeted funds at the end of the fiscal year shall be equally divided up and paid out to all of the employees in that bureau, and, then the lower budget figure, pre-disbursement, would be used for the next fiscal year, with, again, any unspent surplus being distributed to the employees who made the surplus possible.

No money would be saved the first year, but from then on every department would have continuously lowering budgets. Could the cost of running the state be cut in half in three years? I think so. The bottom line would be far more efficient and less costly state services.

(Idea from Wayne Green)

The Congressional Budget Office gives its baseline budget projections for fiscal years 2013 to 2023 in its February 5, 2013  Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2013 to 2023. Table 1-5 shows how the CBO incorporates the $55 billion per year in sequestered defense cuts and the $37 million per year in sequestered non-defense cuts into its projections of  discretionary spending.

The sequester “cuts” are subtracted after  increasing  appropriations subject to the sequester at the rate of  inflation and adding back in more than a trillion dollars (over ten years) of spending exempted from the sequester.

Read more by Paul Roderick Gregory at Forbes.com

Wisconsin is known for many things, such as our friendly disposition, impeccable beer and cheeses and, of course, our Green Bay Packers. Since I’ve taken office, we’ve gained national recognition for the proven results of our fiscal and economic reforms.

We took a principled stand, confronted our shortcomings and transformed them into real solutions. We’re turning things around and heading in the right direction. Unfortunately, the national outlook isn’t as bright. With growing debt and deficit without a clear solution, the problems we face as a nation are daunting.

Read more by Gov. Scott Walker at TribLive.com

The world’s markets are beginning to go haywire.

The world’s money system – the scales upon which the world’s market functions – is being deliberately destroyed. And so, the monetary signals that guide the markets – which are supposed to represent the supply and demand decisions of billions of people – have become distorted.

–SNIP– The distortions in the markets are the result of the deliberate manipulation of currency values around the world by central bankers. The central bankers are responding to their political masters’ demands for easier money and cheaper credit. There is now, around the world, a widespread belief that the symbol of wealth (paper money) alone can deliver all the benefits of the market.

This is the great lie. It is the final modern delusion.

Read more by Porter Stansberry at DailyWealth.com

• Dr. Benjamin Carson delivered a noteworthy National Prayer Breakfast keynote speech in President Barack Obama’s presence
• Carson attacked political correctness as a “dangerous” threat to free speech and encouraged Americans to boldly share their views
• The pediatric neurosurgeon also provided his theories about the national debt, deficits, taxation and health care, taking stances that were opposed to the president’s
• Obama watched intently as Carson spoke for more than 25 minutes

Read more by Billy Hallowell at theblaze.com

The President delays needed conversations about our fiscal challenges.
February 4, 2013

WASHINGTON—Today, President Obama is required by law to submit his budget request for Fiscal Year 2014. For the fourth time in five years, however, he will miss the statutory deadline. In response, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin issued the following statement:

“I’m disappointed the President has missed his deadline. But I’m not surprised. In four of the last five years, he’s failed to submit his budget on time. We still don’t know when we’ll receive the president’s request. And for nearly four years, Senate Democrats haven’t passed a budget at all. We deserve better.

“We spend $1 trillion more than we take in each year. In fact, we spend $3 for every $2 we take in. And we can’t keep that up. If we stay on this path, our finances will collapse. The economy will stall. And the most vulnerable will suffer. We need a budget that reflects our priorities—that expands opportunity. The fact is, we cannot achieve those goals unless we budget responsibly.

“Every time the President and Senate Democrats shirk their duty, they delay choices we need to make. We’ve still got time, but it’s dwindling. Every missed deadline is a missed opportunity. We need to get serious about spending now.

“The House Budget Committee will do its job. We’ll write a budget—and submit it on time. In the past two years, we’ve offered our solutions to the country’s fiscal challenges. Now the President must do the same.”

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Press Release from Committee on the Budget: U.S. House of Representatives

The House, under the leadership of Speaker John Boehner, has precipitated a postponement in the debt ceiling fight until May. This represents a strategic choice by Boehner to make the Sequester fight, not the debt ceiling fight, the next major engagement. Much of the mainstream media now is accusing Congress of “kicking the can down the road.” They are missing the strategic implications.

In retrospect, at the Battle at Fiscal Cliff, Boehner took President Obama to the cleaners. He did it suavely, without histrionics. While Obama churlishly, and in a politically amateurish manner, publicly strutted about having forced the Republicans to raise tax rates on “the wealthiest Americans” Boehner, quietly, was pocketing his winnings.

Read more by Ralph Benko at Forbes.com

It’s one of the most fundamental political questions of our time: What’s driving the growth in government spending? And it has a relatively straightforward answer: first and foremost, spending on health care through Medicare and Medicaid, and other major social insurance and entitlement programs.

But I thought it was worth reviewing the evidence in a bit more detail. There are a few surprises along the way, some of which liberal readers might like and others of which will please conservative readers.

The Web site usgovernmentspending.com has an abundance of data on federal, state and local spending at different points in time. My focus will be on how government has been spending its money in the present and the past, rather than evaluating any future budgets or projections.

Read more by NATE SILVER at fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com

How bad is the USA’s debt problem (as we approach the dreaded debt ceiling debate)?

Federal government debt held by the public surged starting in Q2 2008.

But since Q2 2008, government debt held by the public surged 113%. But real GDP growth over 4+ years was a measly 2.6%. That’s not annual real GDP growth, but real GDP growth over 4+ years!

Read more by Anthony B. Sanders at confoundedinterest.wordpress.com

Jim Grant spends exactly the correct amount of time (zero) discussing the “urban myth’ of the trillion dollar coin in this brief interview on CNBC; instead deciding to try and strike up some intelligent understanding of the dire situation we face. By providing context for our massive 16 trillion dollar debt (360 million pounds of $100 bills), and explaining how exponential the idiocy has become, Grant brings us full circle as he explains to the money-honey that once upon a time our debt was backed by gold, and “there was only so much gold and so many dollars,” thus limiting our exuberance, but “now we have neither the gold covering the dollar nor do we have interest rates constraining us [thanks to Bernanke et al.]; the only thing remaining to constrain us is some sort of civil discussion, a numerate discussion about the debt,” which it appears the bespectacled and bow-tie-bound bond brain-box hopes is possible. “The debt has increased twice as fast as federal receipts,” he warns, adding correctly that “the United States is truly submerging.”

Read more at ZeroHedge.com

With Spanish 10Y yields hovering at a ‘relatively’ healthy 5%, having been driven inexorably lower on the promise of ECB assistance at some time in the future, the market has become increasingly unsure of just who it is that keeps bidding for this stuff. Well, wonder no longer. As the WSJ notes, Spain has been quietly tapping the country’s richest piggy bank, the Social Security Reserve Fund, as a buyer of last resort for Spanish government bonds - with at least 90% of the €65 billion ($85.7 billion) fund has been invested in increasingly risky Spanish debt. Of course, this is nothing new, the US (and the Irish) have been using quasi-government entities to fund themselves in a mutually-destructive circle-jerk for years - the only difference being there are other buyers in the Treasury market, whereas in Spain the marginal buyer is critical to support the sinking ship. The Spanish defend the use of pension funds to buy bonds as sustainable as long as it can issue bonds - and yet the only way it can actually get the bonds off in the public markets is through using the pension fund assets. The pensioners sum it up perfectly “We are very worried about this, we just don’t know who’s going to pay for the pensions of those who are younger now,” or those who are older we would add.

Read more at ZeroHedge.com

Never mind the “fiscal cliff.” America went bankrupt, technically, at midnight on December 31, 2012. We hit the debt ceiling of $16.394 trillion. Yet the U.S. government needs to borrow more money than is legally allowed. So Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is now juggling federal accounts via questionable extraordinary measures to squeeze out perhaps two more months. Uncle Sam has maxed out his credit cards.

More than ever before, America now faces national ruin unless political leaders cut federal spending. However, Washington no longer understands what budget cuts are.

Simply trim a few percent from every program — here a little, there a little. Isn’t that obvious?

Read more by Jonathon Moseley at American Thinker