Forget the Obama Budget -- the Real Crisis Ahead Is the Debt Ceiling

I'd say it is more "spin the future". High speed rail is another one of those 19th century concepts that electrify this administration, like those of Engels and Marx who were famous for advocating spreading other peoples' money around. Both ideas were tried and failed in experiments in the 20th century and deserve their place... in history books. High speed rail and socialism are places where wealth goes to die.

The Democrats ignorred getting a budget passed back last October - a budget for 2011 should have been completed in Oct - now, Congress has to work on the 2011 and 2012 budgets. The Dems were too busy taking care of the unions, the lawyers, the lobbyists, the LGBTs, and everyone else rather than attending to the basic responsibilities of the Government. Obama drastically increased spending in all departments of the Government wasting much of the stimulus funds. Now, he wants that budget set in concrete rather than returning to a lesser figure. While America has to tighten their belts, Obama and his cronies want higher costs and we get nothing from it other than an outrageous bill that we have to pay - but I am sure he has no intention of paying for it on his watch. His ego is out of control.

There is no need to be concerned with default if we face facts and defer some of the "investments" we cannot afford. A sane approach might be to match expenditures to revenues, which would require zero additional borrowing. Maybe a bullet train from L.A. to Vegas is not quite so urgent as making sure granny's Social Security check does not bounce.

Don't raise the debt ceiling.... Enough is enough

The day will go on... The government needs to START making good decisions. This would force them to

A $3.7 trillion dollar budget. Where will most of this money come from? Most will be borrowed from China. The interest due on this loan will be added to the deficit. Another Obama shell game...

Walter, forget the budget?! It's 3.7 TRILLION dollars, walter.

Why don't we roll the dice and find out? What's the worst that could happen? We default and China dumps dollars like water, making the greenback virtually worthless on the international market! The government stops issuing Social Security checks, driving 40 million into poverty, their subesequent default on their bills causing a massive banking collapse! States stop paying unemployment compensation, impoverishing the 4 million beneficiaries! Our country is essentially bankrupt and we enter a Depression far to deep to ever get out of! The country plunges into Anarchy. looting and killing are rampant. The national Guard is deployed and quickly overpowered, resulting in the mobilization of troops with instructions to open fire! Thousands are killed in the world's biggest blood bath. Senators and Congressmen are targetted by the mobs as having been responsible for the carnage! Most are quickly dispatched with the remainder fleeing the country for their lives! The government collapses and martial law prevails. A dictator emerges from the masses and is swiftly recognized by the army. America becomes a "banana republic" Other than that, what's the worst that could happen?

This is really a schell game about debt,if everyone so concerned about the debt,why do they keep crying about more and more tax cuts. The last adminastration gave away the farm to get relected plus two wars that are not payed for,and people still want more tax cuts.You can't give away your pay check and still expect to pay the bills. I am still laying our financial problems at the republicans door,the first thing and the only thing they can think of is tax cuts,if we are so straped for money then why in hell to give more back,it dosn't make any sesene.

Understand, we as Americans are about to see a major, major collapse in our national monetary system and our normal way of life. Our government has borrowed such a huge amount of money that we will no longer be able to even afford the interest on the loans we've taken out. Of course, you may take a look at our economy and think otherwise. The stock market has had a great year, and unemployment rates have stabilized. But understand, even if all Americans gave away 100% of their income right now it would still not be enough to balance the federal budget! We'd still have to borrow money just to maintain the status quo.

Yes, the U.S. dollar is still "the world's reserve currency." And yes, because of this we are privileged as being the only country in the world that can pay for imported goods with our own money. If you're the Canadian government, for example, and you wanted to buy coal from China, you can't use Canadian dollars to pay for it. You have to buy U.S. dollars first, and then buy your coal. But in America, we can consume as much as we want without worrying about acquiring the money to pay for it, because our dollars are accepted everywhere and by everyone.

This is why we haven't had to produce or export anything to get all the dollars we needed to buy the goods our country required. All we had to do was borrow the money. And now the U.S. government is in more debt than any other nation in the world. What are we doing to repay our debts? You guessed it… We're printing more money. I believe this will eventually anger our creditors, who in turn will stop accepting the U.S. dollar. And that will make all of our imports vastly more expensive. From gas and oil, to clothing and food, you can expect everyday items to get way more costly in the near future...

As soon as other countries start preferring payments in something besides U.S. dollars, the value of our currency will sink.

I suggest that the majority of voters have never really had to suck it up and control their spending to live within their means. Americans have become accustomed to living with mortgage, fixed and revolving debt that allows them to borrow from their future revenues. Continually increasing the debt will eventually lead to a default situation. I'd like to think that it might be time for the US to selectively default on some payments... like Medicare, where the costs have risen quite substantially over the years. It is going to hurt, but we've got to stop adding to our debt and start living within our means.