Charlie Rose

SharkswithfrikingLazers  09/08/2012 02:08 AM Report

Indeed what fuels our deficits?

"USA Today: Social Security is a cash-in/cash-out program. It went into the red last year, when payroll tax revenue came up about $37 billion short of the benefits paid to retirees.

And as we’ve shown, USA Today is correct.

Interestingly, the president has stopped short of this sort of misleading talk. On Feb. 15, Obama held a White House news conference to defend his budget proposal for fiscal year 2012. And here’s what he said about cutting entitlement spending:

Obama: Now, you talked about Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The truth is Social Security is not the huge contributor to the deficit that the other two entitlements are.

That’s true enough. As Obama concedes, Social Security is a "contributor" to the deficit — $37 billion last year. So how can his fellow Democrats claim that it isn’t? When we asked Sen. Schumer’s spokesman Brian Fallon, we got this on-the-record response:

Brian Fallon: This is nitpicking to the nth degree. Social Security is a standalone program and is fully solvent. Our deficit problem lies not with Social Security, but with the rest of the budget.

And from Sen. Durbin’s spokesman Max Gleischman, we got this:

Max Gleischman: We can argue line items and budget allocations all day — our position is that ss doesn’t add to the deficit. Jack Lew and the President agree.

But as we’ve seen, the president’s statement doesn’t back up what Durbin said, and Lew chose his words carefully in his USA Today article. We agree with Lew that Social Security does not "cause our deficits," at least not by itself. But it already contributes some of the deficit, and that will grow over time unless changes are made somewhere."

http://www.factcheck.org/2011/02/democrats-deny-social-securitys-red-ink/

Perhaps less Enron accounting might help the country with the deficit? Put the borrowed money back into the trust fund and show it is there. Quit using this money for other things and leaving an IOU(s).

SharkswithfrikingLazers  09/08/2012 01:42 AM Report

He tells us they failed as a party to make the economic argument that the cost of healthcare is keeping job growth from increasing.

Well . . . not exactly an agreed upon statement.

"To summarize, rapidly rising health care spending could harm the economy by lowering GDP and employment, and increasing inflation (ASPE, 2005). But a contrary view suggests that health care spending has a neutral or positive effect on the economy by raising incomes and employment for workers in the health sector and by increasing the labor market productivity of workers. These and other potential mechanisms for the economic effects of health care spending are summarized in Table 1 below. The next section summarizes the peer-reviewed literature, anecdotal evidence, and survey findings that bear on both aggregate and sector-specific effects."

http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/08/healthcarecost/report.html

Gelles  09/05/2012 06:19 AM Report

To touch up a mangled paragraph timed at 06:06 AM:

When a people have no Navy, they may have to depend on pirates for national defense. But we ought to build a Navy and a clean efficient government -- especially one with a central bank. It needs to finance a business environment that can turn private business toward public prosperity and away from crony casino capitalistic failures. Government must often finance the technological miracle systems this nation has launched and perfected when needed. We must end the recent national sell-out to lower wage rival societies that support none of the freedoms we made famous. And we are fools to endorse continued surrender of jobs and factories in return for Walmart-type price and private profit (low wage) arrangements.

Gelles  09/05/2012 06:06 AM Report

The first night of convention speeches lauding the President, proclaiming his achievements and establishing the economic treason of candidate Romney is over.

If the debates do not give the lie to tonight's version of the Obama presidency, only a knave will fail to vote YES to the second term.

American manufacturing, education, political economy and moral purpose, etc., need leadership from the top and support from us all. The Republican convention did not promise a great government -- it promised a smaller one. Yet it is running for office.

The Democrats are promising great governance and political action to execute responsibility of the nation and its government for achievements no market of private businesses ever aims to achieve. The Republicans resemble pirates -- the Democrats resemble the US Navy.

When a people have no Navy they may depend of pirates for national defense. But we ought to build a Navy and a clean efficient government -- especially one with a central bank to finance a business environment that can turn private business toward public prosperity and away from crony casino capitalistic failure toward the technological miracle systems this nation has launched and perfected before the recent sell out to lower wage rival societies that support none of the freedoms we made famous and would be fools to ever surrender in return for Walmart-type price and private profit (low wage) arrangements.

If I were President I would rule by executive order before I allowed an American parliament to attempt national suicide. I would be commander in chief of a nation not the CEO of private bandits with off-shore interests and partners in scab anti-labor anti-American operations.

richard-lipscombe  09/04/2012 07:11 PM Report

Problem is that most Americans know that America is in decline and another 4 years will hasten not slow that decline...America now has had 3 Presidential terms of poor leadership from the Oval Office...another term of Obama will make it 16 years of decline...WOW!

America is in decline because it has poor k-12... that is the starting point... Finland is a good model for k-12 and it is based on kids starting school later not being dumped in child care at birth...Finland admires teachers...Finland has students who help each other to learn...Finland has youths who are independent not dependent family and State...

public sector growth in America is out of control...it is full of unions that maximise the return to workers not the return to the American people...the GM bailout was essentially another deal with the unions - essentially it was a union buyout of GM...

tax the wealthy at 100% and it will not dent the $US 16 Trillion deficit...the fact that Democrats continue their class wars is a key reason America will continue to decline if Obama gets another 4 years...Obama says he wants 'fairness'... but he wants it only as he defines it - as he defines it the problem is all about re-distribution of wealth not the creation of wealth...

Obama is about 'outcomes' (fairness, victim based society) not 'opportunities'(generosity, open society).. Obama is about Rights that allow a case to be made on behalf of all his supporters as victims...victims who have to be supported by Government intervention into their lives....

Romney may not be able to arrest the decline of America but he will at least be trying to do just that...

my greatest political hero is unquestionable Bobby Kennedy - Bobby was a flawed person who one just had to love... A man who rose above his great wealth and privilege to find the 'generosity of mind and spirit' to help his brother to remake America in all the best ways one can think of - more tolerant, more free, more adventurous (Apollo 11), more innovative, more socially responsible, more future orientated (end to segregated schools), more giving (peace corp, head start program) etc...

Gary Hart was a potential hero of mine until he turned out to be a user of people and to have no moral compass..

cheers, richard.

REMant  09/04/2012 03:16 PM Report

Gov O'Malley made himself quite unpopular with his party Sunday - in particular the irascible former White House chief of staff - by agreeing he thought we weren't better off today than we were four years ago. I am not sure why, when it's clear he's every bit as good a propagandist as Rep Ryan is accused of being. But it would appear these two interviews are in part for the purpose of damage control.

As for the economic analysis see my comments on Mr Norquist last Friday. I doubt very much that the answer to Maryland's budget problems is legislation to expand gambling, as well, tho I know it is as much as in the Maryland character, as Catholicism. He might want to suggest, too, to the Baltimore educational establishment, which comes partly under his purview, that it consider a venue other than Hooters and the like for its future meetings, and renovating schools instead of its offices.

I also think it is clear the several billions spent on protecting New Orleans did so at the expense of many smaller outlying communities.