posted May 25, 2013 10:13 AM            

quote:

---

As a result of fiscal improvements, the annual federal budget deficit will drop this year to $642 billion after four straight years of $1 trillion-plus annual shortfalls, the bipartisan Congressional Budget Office reported this past week.

The Treasury says it will pay down a small portion of the national debt this quarter for the first time in six years.

As the rebound gains steam, Republicans stand to lose what had been one of their strongest hands for the 2014 elections: asserting ineffective economic stewardship from the Democrat in the White House and those on Capitol Hill.

---

quote:

---

There's "no question" that the alleged scandals are taking the attention of many politicians away from economic concerns, said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former director of the Congressional Budget Office and top economic adviser to Republican Sen. John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign.

"What's more politically potent? Another round of complaining on the budget and the economy or the IRS, AP and Benghazi? I think it's the latter," said Holtz-Eakin, who now heads the American Action Forum, a conservative public-policy institute. Besides, "both sides were tired of the budget battle," he added.

Holtz-Eakin and many other economists emphasize that the improvements probably will be short-lived because Congress has yet to seriously address tax overhaul or fast-rising costs of programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicare. "It remains an OK recovery, not a sterling one," he said.

---

posted May 25, 2013 10:19 AM            

------------------
Passion, Lust, Desire. Check out my journal

posted May 25, 2013 10:44 AM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ami Anne:
Improving economy????? Do you have [b]EYES[b] Woman

---

posted May 26, 2013 08:46 AM            

The melt down hit the dairy farmers extremely hard and many faltered but I read that too is improving with herd and production increases..

A sliver of hope.

posted May 26, 2013 09:12 AM            

------------------
Passion, Lust, Desire. Check out my journal

posted May 26, 2013 02:10 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by doommlord:
Said the blind woman sarcastically...

---

posted May 28, 2013 07:09 PM            

Input re the article to support or not the article. My opinion besides unemployment/jobs is: I see it as fairly accurate. At least, in my locality.

posted May 29, 2013 12:25 AM            

I've seen it mentioned in several articles about the "scandals" that the scandals are diversions from talking about an improving economy.

Un/Employment is the last indicator to move in an economic recovery according to what I've read.

posted May 29, 2013 06:04 AM            

If it is touching 15K, then growth has started.

posted May 29, 2013 07:05 AM            

------------------
Passion, Lust, Desire. Check out my journal

posted May 29, 2013 09:43 AM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by MoonWitch:
I find it ridiculous that important issues like Benghazi, IRS and the AP are actually belittled to being 'diversions' by some people.

I also find it confounding that because now we are only spending 650 billion dollars more than we have EVERY YEAR on top of the trillions we are already in debt that it's considered a good thing. If the head of a household ran the house this way their family would be homeless at best.

---

Great point, MW. You have a business and work in the world unlike some people who never ran anything and never did anything and they, like the Clown in Chief, make the rules for people who do.

------------------
Passion, Lust, Desire. Check out my journal

posted May 29, 2013 09:44 AM            

quote:

---

Un/Employment is the last indicator to move in an economic recovery according to what I've read.

---

And it seems to prove out true, at least here.

It is wonderful to see long empty shops opening. Even if it is only for the tourist trade, it is more than we`ve had in 4-5 yrs.

posted May 29, 2013 12:12 PM            

iQ,

I want to agree with you, though I have seen opposition to that idea. Perhaps the opposition is just wishing that the value of companies was not gaining. I think they point to the the Fed printing money (QE), all of which seems to be trapped in the stock market (which is why everyone should get into the stock market).

MoonWitch,

If the government spends less, what is the result? Would you agree that there would be less jobs? Government contractors would not grow, but rather would struggle more. The reduction of money spent would mean that government money wouldn't reach the economy as a whole. The economy with less money would react accordingly, right? That would mean an economic contraction, so things would get worse.

Please read: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/01/31/charts-what-if-ob ama-spent-like-reagan/ http://www.businessinsider.com/one-more-must-see-chart-on-governmen t-spending-under-obama-and-reagan-2012-1

Juni,

posted May 30, 2013 02:21 PM            

I looked at the links comparing Reagan spending vs. Obama spending. Ok. If it were 1981 and we were here discussing this I would still be saying there is too much spending. I’d likely be flipping my lid. The political party that happens to hold office doesn’t matter to me if they are doing a bad job. I’ve voted for Republicans, Democrats and Libertarians if I think they will do a good job. Both of the major parties in the US right now are corrupt and run by the extremists that cry and scream the loudest. If a great, respectable, smart and well-meaning candidate doesn’t goose-step along with every single party line they will never make it to high office because their own party won’t allow it. And if government wasn’t trying to push its way into every single aspect of our lives and wasn’t trying to be the babysitters to the rest of the world it wouldn’t need so much of our hard-earned tax money.

posted May 30, 2013 05:13 PM            

China owns just 8% of the publicly held debt. They are our third largest debt holder behind Social Security, and the money we've essentially printed for the Fed's quantitative easing. The U.S. owes the most debt to itself, and the manufactured inflation decreases the value of foreign debt. If we make our money worth less, then our debt is likewise less. It's a whole manipulated system.

Yes, if the government trims spending, it can adversely affect the economy. If you google news about the economy, you'll find that the economy didn't grow as much as anticipated. Fortunately, there are sections of the economy that are, in essence, negating the effects of the sequester. It didn't appear that the White House thought the economy was strong enough to deal with those cuts at the time they happened.

Government outlays, down for the 10th time in the past 11 quarters, fell more than previously estimated amid the winding down of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-30/economy-in-u-s-grew-at-2-4-rat e-less-than-first-estimated.html

quote:

---

Instead it’s been turned into this massive monster-big-brother that needs more money… more money… more money… so it can engage in more wars while teaching citizens to become completely dependent on the government’s “good graces”.

---

I don't interpret the desire to go back to former, reasonable tax rates as a push for absurd amounts of more money, especially not for the service of citizens "dependent" on the government (I think the argument about people being more dependent upon government is merely a Conservative construct. We're all still Americans, and I'm sure that everyone would rather work and pay their own way). Our taxes have shifted a small amount higher since the Bush years. I don't think that they're yet at the level of the Clinton years, though (since the Bush tax cuts remain in place for those making less than $400,000 a year).

quote:

---

I looked at the links comparing Reagan spending vs. Obama spending. Ok. If it were 1981 and we were here discussing this I would still be saying there is too much spending. I’d likely be flipping my lid.

---

I posted that in an effort to inform you that the typical response to recession has been increased spending.

If public-sector employment had grown since June 2009 by the average amount it grew in the three previous recoveries (2.8 percent) instead of shrinking by 2.5 percent, there would be 1.2 million more public-sector jobs in the U.S. economy today. In addition, these extra public-sector jobs would have helped preserve about 500,000 private-sector jobs. http://www.epi.org/publication/public-sector-job-losses-unprecedented-drag/

quote:

---

If a great, respectable, smart and well-meaning candidate doesn’t goose-step along with every single party line they will never make it to high office because their own party won’t allow it.

---

posted May 30, 2013 05:40 PM            

From the CBO Report on Tax Expenditures

How Are Tax Expenditures Distributed Among Households?
The 10 major tax expenditures considered here are distributed unevenly across the income scale. In calendar year 2013, more than half of the combined benefits of those tax expenditures will accrue to households with income in the highest quintile (or one-fifth) of the population (with 17 percent going to households in the top 1 percent of the population), CBO estimates. In contrast, 13 percent of those tax expenditures will accrue to households in the middle quintile, and only 8 percent will accrue to households in the lowest quintile (see Summary Figure 1).

Yikes! When people talk about Americans being dependent on government I usually think they're talking about welfare recipients, not the 1% at the top.