It's making a comeback! USA Today:
The recovery is shaping up to be stronger than expected and there is little risk the economy will slip back into a recession, according to USA TODAY's quarterly survey of 46 leading economists.The bad news? It looks like we spent a boatload of money for nothing. Money/CNN: "The stimulus didn't help"
The recovery is picking up steam as employers boost payrolls, but economists think the government's stimulus package and jobs bill had little to do with the rebound, according to a survey released Monday.And now that we've added to this debt and failed to address entitlement spending, there's little chance of ever growing out of our long-term liabilities:
"We're not going to say we're going to grow our way out of this," said former Republican Senator Alan Simpson. "Hell, we could have double (-digit) growth for 30 years and never grow our way out of this."And make no mistake, the national debt is a problem that will not go away without political will from Washington. In other words: we're doomed.
The deficit was $1.4 trillion in 2009, nearly 10 percent of the overall economy, and it is expected to be that much again this year. Longer term, the retiring baby boom generation will strain the Social Security retirement and Medicare health program for the elderly, putting even more pressure on government spending.
Extra - From Gateway Pundit.
4 comments:
Re the President's just-announced "bipartisan commission" to reduce the deficit: I'm an Obama supporter, but this gambit isn't going to work. First he rammed a bunch of new spending through jaw-clenched Republican opposition, and now he wants their help in making sure his programs don't bankrupt the country. It's all but automatic that the commission will recommend a tax increase, which no one will support, and the voters will revolt once they realize that the economy is still in shambles.
It's unfair that the Democrats are going to come away looking like the party of greater financial irresponsibility. Tax rates were too low when Bush II took office, and he not only lowered them further but also added a bunch more spending. Did he look ahead and found a commission to assess the risks of long-term deficits? No, of course not, he left that mess to his successor.
Obama's going to take the fall for this, but the seeds were sown even before he was in the Senate. Once he was in the White House, it was either spend now or continuing drowning in recession, but all we've done is push doomsday back a few years. Regardless of how one feels about individual programs, the U. S. government does a hell of a lot for its citizens, but we're too short-sighted to be willing to pay for it -- and good luck getting Congress to lead us out of the quagmire, no matter which party holds the majority. Maybe we deserve what we get.
"It's unfair that the Democrats are going to come away looking like the party of greater financial irresponsibility."
Awww...
Those darn republican obstructionists. Our noble democrats only control the white house and both houses of congress. They never really had a chance, did they?
"Did he look ahead and found a commission to assess the risks of long-term deficits?"
Of course not. Only liberal-progressive nit-wits would need to form a commission to understand that which is completely obvious.
Keep voting "D", genius.
Play nice. I like that Eric guy.
It will be virtually impossible to address our long-term liabilities without hitting entitlements. Everything else is chomping at the edges.
I thought we already had a bipartisan commission to manage our financials - it's called Congress. Somehow I doubt the commission is going to recommend spending cuts.
Just Obama looking for cover to crank taxes and break all his promises.
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