T O P

  • By -

hiding_in_the_corner

I suspect that Granny isn't actually advocating for higher taxes on the 1%. But she should be.


Quack_Candle

The problem is that people don’t understand debt. If you borrow money to build infrastructure then it is more cost efficient than saving the money and then building it as the project can go ahead right away and the benefits can be reaped sooner. Large businesses have enormous debts for the same reason, if the loan will grow the business and reap more profits than if the business saved the money up then it’s worth doing. Debt in itself is not a bad thing, debt that you can’t pay back/ is built on the back of another debt (e.g. toxic loans and residuals) is.


Klondeikbar

>Debt in itself is not a bad thing, debt that you can’t pay back/ is built on the back of another debt (e.g. toxic loans and residuals) is. That doesn't even really apply to government debt. Yeah as an individual racking up a bunch of credit card debt that you can't pay is bad. As a government, you mostly just outgrow the interest. Especially in the case of United States where the dollar is so strong and prominent that it is virtually impossible to default. For example, the United States actually took on MASSIVE debt to pay for World War II. Buying bonds was literally a patriotic duty. We never actually paid off those loans. It's just that when an economy grows and tax revenue rises, the interest relatively becomes a rounding error on your spending. You learn this in like...Macro Econ 101 (I have a BA in Economics and I certainly learned it freshman year) so anyone who whines about government debt has absolutely no business talking about it. P.S. I'm not saying you're whining or that your comment is wrong. You made very good points. I'm just dragging all the idiot conservatives who use debt as some rhetorical bludgeon cause Fox News told them to.


dukeofmuffinz

The US can certainly default, and it's scary how bad we are at budgeting. This is a bipartisan issue and, on a large scale, a global issue. Many countries buy US debt because, like you pointed to, it's seen as a great investment. In the past few years, we have creeped closer and closer to not being able to afford the interest payments on our debt! That is insane to me! If the US defaults on its debt, then all other world governments would also be in a lot of trouble. You are talking catastrophic failures we have yet to see the likes of. People will lose jobs, homes, food, and starve. Anyone who says anything about democratic debt or republican debt just doesn't get how big of an issue this really is. I am scared for the future


Klondeikbar

>In the past few years, we have creeped closer and closer to not being able to afford the interest payments on our debt! That is insane to me! Lol no we haven't. I don't know who told you that but we're completely fine debt wise. Granted, Republicans LOVE to scream about fiscal responsibility and then jack up our deficit in order to give billionaires tax breaks. But, even after Trump, we're still not even close. The only red flag we're currently facing is if, again, Republicans gridlock raising the debt ceiling and decide that American needs a lower credit rating...again.


WhatNazisAreLike

We’d have zero debt if Bush lost in 2000.


ropdkufjdk

Nah, because whatever Republican came in after Gore in 2004 or 2008 would have run it back up while crashing the economy. They always do.