Bush supporters: How do you propose we pay for our war debt?

Question

a. By cutting taxes?
b. Keep borrowing and spending?
c. Take Iraq's oil money and pay our bills?
d. Don't worry about it.
e. If China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, or other lenders call their loans in, just default and bomb them?
f. In the future we'll just take everybody's Social Security and pay for it?
g. It will pay for itself?
h. Other: please explain...

THANKS already to MISES and Kevorkian! I'm here to learn, not just argue, and I DON'T know all the answers in Economics. That's why I 'm asking.

Butterbar Bob gets an F+
Pretty good sentence structure, but skirted the issue and failed to answer the question. Also assumed that the asker thinks the "majority" of our debt is war.

Answer 1

I agree with Harley: cut out the multitude of failing social programs such as corporate welfare; tax breaks for the rich; industry bail-outs; government hand-outs to huge corporations that overcharge us for 'war' services and then move their corporate headquarters to the Cayman Islands to avoid paying federal taxes on those billions in profits.
Imagine if the hundreds of billions of dollars we give away to corporations - and the trillions we've spent on this insane 'war - had been spent on social programs to help the poor, the sick, the aging, the homeless, the underprivileged, the disadvantaged, the disabled, the unemployed, and the hungry in this country! Imagine what a better nation this would be!! -RKO- 06/29/07

Answer 2

NO not at all...
Bush is pushing the idea of eliminating the deficit in 5 years, parroting the Democrats' plan. The trillions flowing into the U.S. Treasury (thanks to a booming economy) balancing the budget should be a piece of cake. Of course ,the deficit is a much smaller percentage of our overall budget than it was during much of the last thirty years ... but we're still spending more than we take in.Tax cuts don't "cost" money. The proof is clear -- the numbers are there -- tax cuts actually lead to increased federal revenues. The left knows, however, that raising taxes on the rich sounds wonderful to their core constituency ... Remember, there is no such thing as a cut in a federal program...only a reduction in the spending growth. So if you planned on spending $10 billion more on a federal program next year, but decide to only spend $8 billion more, that's somehow seen as a $2 billion "cut." Thats just a way for the Dems (well, all politicians) to sound like they're doing something... their not.. Best thing that could happen to this country is for SOMEONE in Washington to push the fair tax into play... If the fair tax were to be implemented, we ( the American people) would pay no taxes , so to speak... There is already a 22% tax added to all goods before they reach the stores.. This is an unseen tax everytime you purchase a piece of gum, house whatever.. The fair tax would replace the 22% witha 23% tax (you wouldn't see a difference) the 23% goes to the government .. No more Fed. Tax, Nothing.. Right now you hear about how wonderful Irelands economy is booming... How do you think they did that!!!! You should look into it and if you agree, contact your elected.. When researching though , make sure you see the debunked scare tactics of the Left and how the scare tactics being used to attack the fair tax are just that, scare tactics...

Answer 3

The majority of the increased debt is NOT from the war, so that's a few points off for not being fully truthful.

Then there's the failure to comprehend that Bush inherited a slumping economy (look up "dot com recession", it started in 2000) that was followed by the economic impacts of 9/11, and even if Clinton was still president, there would have been a significant budget deficit.

Of course, there was the typical standard increases in outlays, which grow at a predetermined rate, plus the addition of increased outlays for the aftermath of 9/11, the reduced revenues following 9/11 (total economic impact estimated at > $1 trillion), and the increase outlays from the "compassionate" (i.e. liberal) side of Bush - the Medicaid prescription plan AND the No Child Left Behind scheme.

All this added up to significant deficits, even without the tax cuts, even if we never went to war.

But without the tax cuts, the economy would likely have remained sluggish for a long time, which would have had an additional negative impact both on tax revenues and on the deficit.

Perhaps you should look at the Constitution and the 10th amendment and realize that over 1/2 the federal budget is on unconsitutional spending.

Answer 4

The Federal Reserve System and its ability to create money out of thin air facilitate big government. If the Fed did not exist, the government would have to raise funds either by increasing taxes (a politically unpopular thing to do) or by borrowing in the marketplace, competing with businesses and individuals also wanting to borrow. Additional borrowing by the government, of course, increases interest rates and is detrimental to the economy.

So, to finance our welfare state, our wars, and a few good things such as highways, the federal government hands the Fed little pieces of paper called treasury bills and treasury bonds. The Fed, in turn, credits the federal government's checking account in amounts equal to the face value of the bonds, and new money is created out of thin air.

Actually, the process is a little more cumbersome than described, as the federal government cannot, by law, borrow directly from the Fed, which means that when the federal government does borrow it has to go through Wall Street, which allows the major bond houses and banks to earn billions of dollars by acting as middle men.

The present borrowing scheme is a gift to bankers, for there is no reason for the federal government not to be able to borrow directly from the Fed. Taking it a step further, there is no reason for the Fed when it comes to the federal government borrowing money.

Instead of the Fed creating the new dollars (and collecting interest on money that did not exist before the federal government needed to borrow), the US Treasury could create the dollars, saving billions in interest. (Not recommended, but at least it would cut Wall Street out of the process.)

If the gold standard becomes a major issue in this presidential campaign, the American people can only benefit. Americans have little grasp of the concept of money and the deleterious effects of central banks. Americans would need to be much more knowledgeable about the Fed before it could be eliminated.

Presently, most Americans put the Fed on a pedestal. An understanding of how the Fed really works would cut the legs from under that pedestal. Murray Rothbard's The Case Against the Fed is an excellent, short book about the Fed.

Meanwhile, Americans wanting honest money need to become more knowledgeable about money and the Fed, and they need to encourage a debate in this presidential campaign about returning to the gold standard. An excellent book on the gold standard is Murray Rothbard's The Case for a 100% Gold Dollar.

Meanwhile, with every Republican presidential candidates' debate, Congressman Ron Paul gets the opportunity to wake up a few more Americans to the dangers of fiat money and the Federal Reserve System. If the Democrats had a candidate knowledgeable about money and economics, then we could have a great increase in awareness of the unsound financial structure that underlies our economy.

June 29, 2007

Bill Hayne

Answer 5

I'm not a Bush supporter, but, for clarity, I will correct a factual error in one of your points:

e) The Federal government borrows money by selling bonds. Bonds have a fixed interest payment and redemption schedule, so foreign investors cannot 'call in the loan' at will. What they /can/ do is re-sell the bonds on the open market. Dumping large numbers of such bonds would likely depress thier price, which would effectively raise the interest rate on new bonds issued by the Feds at that time. .

Answer 6

Someone told me that the plan was for the rapture to pay for it.

Answer 7

What war debt? Typical twisted facts. At least you didn't do the typical name calling!

Answer 8

the same way we pay for the millions of illegals in the country...fiat currency borrow sell bonds....

p.s. there is NO, ZERO money in Social Security....every dime that comes in today paid by me or you pays for the old people on it now...there is no money in the pot. it's empty. been that way for years.

get a clue and do some freakin homework.

Answer 9

Wasn't it once said that "c" would pay for the war?

Answer 10

All of the above.