2011 Budget proposal (interactive graphic)

[Old and In the Way]

Excellent NYT's graphic of the budget. When Republicans BS about savings from unnecessary waste...this pretty much explains where the only place we can cut that has serious money savings potential: Defense. Click on mandatory spending to see how much of the budget is off limits to cutting.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/02/01/us/budget.html

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

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[YOY]

2. Well Railroads are getting fucked.

n.t.

[thereismore]

3. See "Net Interest?" It's killing us. That's our debt. nt

[Statistical]

4. Even worse it is an INTEREST ONLY payment on the debt.

Like paying the minimum on credit cards.

If we pay only net interest the national debt will never shrink not even $0.01 even with a balanced budget.

To pay interest principle and amortize the debt (pay it down like a mortgage) over:
50 years - would require increasing payment to $624 billion per year
40 years - would require increasing payment to $684 billion per year
30 years - would require increasing payment to $780 billion per year

[bossy22]

5. but unlike an individual

we can keep that up indefinatly...and even if we only made the interest payments with a balanced budget- the debt would become more and more marginal because its percentage of GDP would decline. Thats why experts say that the U.S. could sustain a yearly deficit of 3% annually indefinatly without any issues (thats because U.S. economic growth is about 3% a year).

It's all relative

in fact, there are many economists and financial analysts who think that reducing the national debt to 0 is not the best policy. They believe that debt makes money for the economy as a whole. Remember, the Fed uses U.S. debt to finance much of its operation. So its very complicated

[upi402]

6. Unemployment cut 47.2%, is that real?

Am I crazy and blind? Someone tell me I should just go back to my special place now...