The Debt only became a "problem" when Obama became President

by: Zappatero

Mon Nov 26, 2012 at 08:55:53 AM MST

• Is there a looming crisis of debt or deficits, such that sacrifices in general are necessary?

  No, there is not. Not in the short run - as almost everyone agrees. But also: not in the long run.

• Is there a looming crisis of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, such that these programs must be reformed?

  No, there is not. Social insurance programs are not businesses. They are not required to make a profit; they need not be funded from any particular stream of tax revenues over any particular time horizon. Reasonable control of health care costs - public and private - is necessary and also sufficient to keep the costs of Medicare and Medicaid within bounds.

• Would the military sequestration programmed to start in January be a disaster?

  No, it would not be.

• Would the upper-end tax increases programmed to take effect in January be a disaster?

  No, they would not be.

And never forget these facts as the argument over who and how fast we should pay off the debt moves through the power matrix of Washington, DC, where the voice of the Middle Class is the least organized and it has no lobbyists financed by Pete Peterson or Bill Koch. The lobbyist for the Middle Class is the Democratic Party.

1. Barack Obama started his presidency by putting all war costs on budget. The Bush Administration ran their two wars off budget and requested funding each year by "emergency supplemental" requests to congress.

2. Obama's policies have contributed only 12% of our current national debt.

3. Social Security is a Trust Fund paid into by the current workforce to honor the contributions of the retired workforce, Social Security does not add one penny to the national debt, and Social Security funding can be fixed - and its benefits expanded - with the simple adjustment proposed by Senator Mark Begich of Alaska.