Real Chutzpuh---Obama The Deficit Reducer

[grinreaper]

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/deficit-shrinks-1-trillion-obama-era

 

Keep in mind, in the Obama era, the deficit has shrunk by $1 trillion. That’s “trillion,” with a “t.” As a percentage of the economy, the deficit is now down to just 2.5%, which is below the average of the past half-century, and down from 9.8% when the president took office.

Revisiting our coverage from several months ago, I looked for press releases from the “Obama is turning us into Greece!” crowd, eager to see them celebrate President Obama’s striking record on deficit reduction, but so far, nothing has turned up. Maybe they’re busy.

And in practical terms, that’s a shame. The vast majority of Americans are absolutely certain – thanks to deceptive Republican rhetoric and unfortunate news coverage – that the deficit has soared in the Obama era. Late last year, a Bloomberg Politics Poll found that 73% of the public believes the deficit has gotten bigger over the last six years.

The year before, the same pollster found that only 6% of Americans realized the deficit was shrinking. It helps explain why the president hasn’t gotten any credit for deficit reduction, which seems like the sort of development Tea Partiers and the Beltway’s Very Serious People should consider an extraordinary accomplishment.

As we talked about last year, it’s tempting to conclude that the public’s confusion doesn’t matter. In the Clinton era, the deficit disappeared entirely, and Americans had no idea.

But there’s another side to this. Whether or not Americans know and/or understand the basics of the fiscal argument may not have a practical impact on the debate itself, but the fact remains that voters are ultimately responsible for electing policymakers. If Americans believe, incorrectly, that the deficit is getting bigger, these same voters may be inclined to vote for candidates who’ll slash public investments and undermine social-insurance programs – which would have real-world consequences.

Postscript: To reiterate a point that bears repeating, I don’t necessarily consider this sharp reduction in the deficit to be good news. If it were up to me, federal officials would be borrowing more, not less, taking advantage of low interest rates, investing heavily in infrastructure and economic development, creating millions of jobs, and leaving deficit reduction for another day.

That said, if we’re going to have a fiscal debate, it should at least be rooted in reality, not silly misconceptions. And the reality is, we’re witnessing deficit reduction at a truly remarkable clip. Every conservative complaint about fiscal recklessness and irresponsibility in the Obama era is quantifiably ridiculous.

[keepthefaith]

Hurray, the deficit is down to the most it ever was before he took office and since we borrow the money needed to pay the interest - we don't have to worry about a thing. We should be spending much more. We can carry and add to our debt for many years and for generations to come and by the time this becomes a problem, most involved will be dead.

[unbillievable]

So that article is celebrating that Obama is using the credit card far less now than he did when he first took office?

 

The DEBT still doubled.

It's also frustrating that many liberal news organization have decided to remove the comments section at the bottom of their articles, because their "facts" can't stand up to the slightest bit of scrutiny. -so if you're sharing articles without that feature, just know that it's full of $#@!.

Edited November 14, 2016 by unbillievable

[KD in CA]

So the left wing is still going all in on the public being ignorant of what 'deficit' and 'debt' mean.

 

There's a shock.

[Azalin]

Granted, this is the debt and not the deficit, but that notwithstanding, try to tell me that it isn't relevant:

 

http://www.usdebtclock.org/

[/dev/null]

Interesting that the deficit reduction started in 2012. Were there any affecting influence over the Federal budget between FY11 and FY12

 

Granted, this is the debt and not the deficit, but that notwithstanding, try to tell me that it isn't relevant:

 

http://www.usdebtclock.org/

 

It will be relevant again on January 20th

[Nanker]

Interesting that the deficit reduction started in 2012. Were there any affecting influence over the Federal budget between FY11 and FY12

 

 

It will be relevant again on January 20th

As will the poverty rate, homelessness, the real unemployment rate, the ongoing war in the Middle East, etc., etc., etc.

[TH3]

Well with DT laying out tax cuts...should be quick time to get back to the surplus days of ....Clinton.....

 

No excuses GOP......

[Maury Ballstein]

Chutzpah you shmuck.

 

 

Wth are you talking about. Sounds like a side at a soul food place.

[keepthefaith]

Well with DT laying out tax cuts...should be quick time to get back to the surplus days of ....Clinton.....

 

No excuses GOP......

Agree to a point. Getting the economy moving needs to include further deficit reduction. A growing private sector economy may yield higher revenues to the government even with tax cuts Certainly the spending side needs to be scrutinized. For sure we should be able to cut some things and re-prioritize others.

[unbillievable]

Well with DT laying out tax cuts...should be quick time to get back to the surplus days of ....Clinton.....

 

No excuses GOP......

 

Trump needs to focus on minimizing the impending Obama recession first, before thinking about creating a surplus. He may need more than 1 term.

[IDBillzFan]

So the left wing is still going all in on the public being ignorant of what 'deficit' and 'debt' mean.

 

There's a shock.

 

I suspect the Obama administration is doing whatever it can to have some kind of legacy beyond "everything he touched turned to schitt."

[B-Large]

Its really sickening that we have people that think a trillion dollar reduction in Annual Deficit is a big win, when running annual deficits in and of itself is completely unacceptable and ends most business and puts families in complete ruin. Again, the LTD isn't running up quite as much, but its still piling on.

 

also, people don'y understand the difference between budget deficit and long-term debt. Its useless tying to discuss responsible policy with people like that, and that is 8/10 Americans.

 

I tried to have discussion with a friend who did a cash out refi om his house and took the money and paid of school loans. He extended his term and lowered his payment. That's all well and good, but he counldn't wrap his head around the fact tha his 20K in loans would likely cost him much more now in the long run that just paying them off. He didn't get it, he was convinced he paid them off and they were done. my god no wonder people end up in debt forever.

Edited November 14, 2016 by B-Large

[GG]

I tried to have discussion with a friend who did a cash out refi om his house and took the money and paid of school loans. He extended his term and lowered his payment. That's all well and good, but he counldn't wrap his head around the fact tha his 20K in loans would likely cost him much more now in the long run that just paying them off. He didn't get it, he was convinced he paid them off and they were done. my god no wonder people end up in debt forever.

 

Did he have the $20k lying around to pay the student loans off?

 

If not, then he did a smart thing of using the equity in his house to pay off the student debt.

[B-Large]

 

Did he have the $20k lying around to pay the student loans off?

 

If not, then he did a smart thing of using the equity in his house to pay off the student debt.

 

I don't agree. Its cost him in closing, and extended his loan which will increase the price tag over the life of the loan. He didn't have 20K to do a lump sum, but he could have had them paid in full in 12-18 months if he really focused on it. The rate difference was neglible on the student debt and his previous mortgage... extending the term of a loan only to reduce monthly payment seems smart, but in the total cost to you is really not very smart.

[GG]

 

I don't agree. Its cost him in closing, and extended his loan which will increase the price tag over the life of the loan. He didn't have 20K to do a lump sum, but he could have had them paid in full in 12-18 months if he really focused on it. The rate difference was neglible on the student debt and his previous mortgage... extending the term of a loan only to reduce monthly payment seems smart, but in the total cost to you is really not very smart.

 

Did he run an after tax NPV comparison? Extending the duration may not necessarily be a bad thing.

[TH3]

 

Trump needs to focus on minimizing the impending Obama recession first, before thinking about creating a surplus. He may need more than 1 term.

 

 

That is rich...what elements of the current economic snapshot that BO has put in place lead you to believe there is an impending BO recession - or did you hear that on Baurle....?

 

Seriously - the right wing/GOP is going to have to pivot from pretty much their entire game plan being blaming liberals to actually doing something.

 

Would a confident person/entity START their administration with premade excuses?

[DC Tom]

Let's not forget, too, that the "budget deficit" is largely a fiction, since the government is in no small part (and to an increasingly large degree) funded through supplemental appropriations that aren't counted against the deficit. No one's ever adequately explained, for example, how the national debt kept increasing during the Clinton "surplus." And the Iraq War was largely kept "off the books" with supplemental appropriations...until the Democrats took Congress and the Bush administration put those appropriations on the books and dared the Democrats to not pass it.

 

And then there's this...

 

Would a confident person/entity START their administration with premade excuses?

 

Yes, but only due to the failed policies of the Bush Administration...

[TH3]

Let's not forget, too, that the "budget deficit" is largely a fiction, since the government is in no small part (and to an increasingly large degree) funded through supplemental appropriations that aren't counted against the deficit. No one's ever adequately explained, for example, how the national debt kept increasing during the Clinton "surplus." And the Iraq War was largely kept "off the books" with supplemental appropriations...until the Democrats took Congress and the Bush administration put those appropriations on the books and dared the Democrats to not pass it.

 

And then there's this...

 

 

Yes, but only due to the failed policies of the Bush Administration...

 

 

 

Well - when Clinton and Obama left office...the metrics of the economy of both 2000 and 2016 were both varying colors of good to very good. When Bush left in 2008 was the worst economic circumstance since 1929....

 

There are certainly large elements of the US that the current economy does not serve well - let's see how DT does with that....

[B-Man]

National debt growing faster than you think...