Obama HAS to freeze spending

[TwixVoy]

Sadly Obama has to freeze spending. The national credit card is maxed out so to speak. We are running trillions the hole. So this was not surprising. I posted that we should all expect this months ago.

My only concern is.... will this halt the so called "recovery" now that the cash flow is stopping? Probably.

So my next concern is.... will my belief the powers that be would take us in to a major war as a means to fix this situation come true?

Military spending is one of the few things NOT being cut.... makes you wonder what the long term plan is, doesn't it?

[dkf]

1. Grow jobs...grow the economy.

Sit on the sidelines waiting for the jobs to appear, kill the economy.

[stray cat]

26. Spend More Money! Oh wait - borrow more money if anyone will give us any...

[grahamhgreen]

2. All we need to do is have a war on war spending.

[TheWraith]

3. A major war? The powers that be? Put away the Illuminati books. nt

[TwixVoy]

4. Actually it's a history book my friend

History is full of nations going in to all out war mode once a serious and prolonged economic crisis hits.

And I say "powers that be" in reference to the upper class whom will be sending US to fight such a war.

[jgraz]

8. Does your history book go back to 1937?

If so, you might want to read about what happened when FDR cut spending in the middle of an economic recovery.

[TwixVoy]

9. No kidding

Notice in my OP I acknowledged the fact it would prevent recovery?

So read ahead a few more years my friend. Where was our military a few years later?

[jgraz]

11. Except we have no ability to start another war.

Setting aside the obscenity of engaging in yet another pointless military campaign, we just don't have the capacity that we had in 1940. The military is shredded, recruiting is stalled and no one would tolerate a draft. Plus, we no longer have a domestic manufacturing base to absorb and distribute heavy military spending, so even if we *could* support a war, it would have a limited effect on the GDP.

It just won't work this time.

Instead, these spending cuts are likely the start of a Latin-America-style austerity program intended to appease our Chinese landlords.

[TwixVoy]

14. Over 50% of this nations youth are currently unemployed

As jobs become harder and harder to find guess what they will be told? The military is always hiring.

It will be a disaster. We will spend our last amount of wealth on the military, and make no mistake they will TRY to use military spending and military action to save us. It will be a complete failure.

We will mirror the final years of the Soviet Union. Huge military spending while the people are starving in the street.

[Juche]

18. Why not do infrastructure

US infrastructure needs 2-3 trillion over the next 5 years to be up to code. We also need trillions in energy reform to avert climate change.

There are serious problems that require serious demand. And it is constructive demand (as opposed to the destructive demand of war).

Infrastructure advances and energy reform by switching to alternatives would create tons of jobs and recreate demand.

Plus you create about 50% more jobs with infrastructure and energy than you do with the military for every billion you spend.


So the demand is there. There are tons of problems we need to seriously work on solving by putting millions of jobs and trillions of dollars into. It is just a question of whether we can get people to work solving the problems.

[Odin2005]

35. Or, large number of unemployed young people (especially young men) = revolt.

That's the usual historical pattern.

[aquart]

22. And we'd need money to order spare parts from China.

No way we would be allowed to fight a war that was not in their interest.

[jgraz]

38. At this point, any war we fight is in China's interest

The weaker we make ourselves, the better it is for them.

[Kalun D]

5. Military

the military, where they bomb dirt camps with $MILLION dollar cruise missiles, and then pay Halliburton to "rebuild".

and "homeland security" (the largest bureaucratic increase in the last 50 years)

they have to protect us from "terror" which is ten times less likely than getting hit by lighting.

[WVRICK13]

23. Exactly

when everything is spent on the military and the only ones with money are the top one percent then we too can be like Afghanistan with our Taliban elite. Homeland Security is less about terrorism and more about controlling the population. Just get all of the pieces in place so the people are begging for total control and you have a dictatorship. I have watched this mentality in WV all of my life. The poor support the coal mine companies and attack unionizers like on Blair Mountain, then they vote for Republicans on the way to the food pantries. I really cannot believe Americans are this ignorant.

[Hannah Bell]

6. *has* to freeze spending because? who owns the "credit card"?

how is war spending not "spending"?

what are you talking about?

[jgraz]

7. No, he most certainly does *not* "have to" freeze spending.

Especially so-called "discretionary" spending. If he wants to save money, then he should go after defense spending. Speed up withdrawal from Iraq, for example.

The particulars of this proposal expose it as a political stunt. The cuts (yes, cuts -- you have to figure in inflation) wouldn't start until 2011, and the White House's own advisors are only predicting a savings of $25 billion / year -- or about 48 days of spending on Iraq and Afghanistan.

[TwixVoy]

10. You don't see the big picture do you?

If you had any clue what was coming down the economic pipe you would see WHY he wants to freeze spending.

You would also be fully aware why he is NOT cutting military spending. We are going to be in more countries than Iraq and Afghanistan the coming years my friend... and it's going to result in a LOT of death.

[jgraz]

12. No, I just think your "big picture" is completely wrong.

See above.

[TwixVoy]

13. We will see won't we?

[jgraz]

15. That we will.

My prediction: if the military *does* have another big engagement, it will be within the borders of the US, against our own citizens.

[TwixVoy]

16. The two are not mutually exclusive

I agree there will be engagements within US borders. But it will mostly be putting down small pockets of civil unrest in the poorer parts of the nations cities.

[Hannah Bell]

20. why don't you explain the fine points, then, cassandra?

[Juche]

17. We do have to balance the budget

However we are in the midst of a severe recession. I know it is kosher to attack the GOP, but the time to balance the budget was the 2001-2007 period. Had we not gone to war in Iraq and not had the Bush tax cuts the national debt would be closer to 8-9 trillion now.

Health care is what is really going to screw our debt. We have to reform that dramatically.

[Tailormyst]

29. Notice how it is NEVER the large corporations that have to feel the pain?

Never the billionaires. Never the military.

[Igel]

36. Presumably not 2001-02.

Recession, don't you know.

[KharmaTrain]

19. Except For The Big Banks, We're All Broke...

Yep...this government is maxed out, but so are many businesses and individuals, that's why this recession is so deep and will last for a long time. The only thing that's been keeping some above water has been government spending...propping up bank accounts. The sad reality is this President has made himself weak and this is the only way he'll be able to get a budget through the House & Senate. There is no easy fix here...thus when I hear him and other politicians talk about creating more jobs...one's gotta wonder where they'll come from. Sadly the military spending does pump money into the economy and placates the critics who still will oppose anything this administration does...and are now emboldended since Obama hit his Waterloo.

[WVRICK13]

21. Then Stop War Spending

we have learned nothing from history every empire collapses when the spending is all aimed at the military.

[MadHound]

24. I agree that we have to cut back spending,

But frankly it's which spending that is getting frozen that burns me. Once again our nation is choosing war and death, with bonus profits kicked in for the few and elite over the welfare of the general populace.

In times of recession like this, we shouldn't be fighting wars on this scale. Apparently we haven't learned a damn thing from the USSR's little adventure into Afghanistan.

[TexasObserver]

25. No, he doesn't, and that's a ridiculous statement.

We need another stim package of at least $700 billion. We are not near the deficit spending it took to end the Depression.

[alarimer]

27. No he doesn't.

That didn't work during the depression (it made things worse) and it will not work now. It is a bullshit attempt to appease the right-wing critics. Obama needs to get off his ass and fight for tax increases and cuts in military spending. Now is the time to be bold. But sadly Obama is merely an appeaser. He is Hoover, rather than FDR.

[Tailormyst]

28. I know its mostly water under the bridge, but this is just infuriating

Money for wall street, Money for millionaire/billionaire bonuses, Money for greedy Military contractors who continue to rip us off, Money for bombs, Money for killing, Money for the big insurance companies, but money for the people? Well now, THAT has to stop.


It seriously makes me want to grab a pitchfork and torch and head to Washington.

SO. SICK. OF. ALL. OF. THEM.


Nothing but lies and bullshit while they make each other more money.

[Ganja Ninja]

30. If he's not freezing military spending then he's not freezing spending is he.

How can you call it a spending freeze and leave out the military?

[blindpig]

31. Major war?

The imperial forces are over stretched as is. Naw, they're fighting to keep their heads above water. The Russians are coming, the Chinese are coming, the Indians are coming, economically, that is.

Grover Norquist gotta love this shit.

[shadowknows69]

32. I know what the long term plan is. Total resource hegemony through military might.

[TankLV]

33. Bullshit REPUKE advice - we need to BOOST SPENDING, not halt any chance of recovery

as this "freeze" will certainly do - and then the repukes and right wing nut jobs can point and say - "see - these COMMUNIST/SOCIALIST?FASCIST polices DON'T WORK!!!

go back to your repuke party

[Odin2005]

34. Our debt is not terrible relative to our huge GDP.

as a %of GDP many European countries have FAR worse debt problems. the fear about debt is Libertarian and Neo-Liberal scaremongering.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

37. RW nonsense take root at DU... a grim side-effect of a beloved but amoral presidency

[Individualist]

39. Damn the DLC