Inkwell Institute
Federal Budget Deficit Reduction:
Paper #2
In continuing with the series on fighting the Federal deficit according to the office of Wisconsin’s Rep. Paul Ryan….next this all seems to be the same song different Congress from the GOP……This installment is entitled:
Cancel Remaining “Stimulus” Funds
The cancellation of the program would save $273 billion over 10 years. The savings would be directed to the reduction of the Federal budget.
I will agree with Rep. Ryan, which I seldom do, that the stimulus money should be rescinded from its current proposals…I do disagree with Ryan in that it should be used to stimulate demand….instead of the programs it is trying to fund now…
With demand created…jobs will be created….production will increase…..and revenue will be increased……I know how to create demand? One way could be refunds to people who make less than the official poverty level….they will spend any extra income they have …..this is not perfect but it will create a demand and could kick start a sluggish jobs market and create a bit of a recovery from below……the recovery from above that Ryan and his cohorts helped to create has done NOTHING to improve the lives of the American people…all it has done is save some massive corporations from taking a dirt nap.
I may agree with Ryan, at least somewhat, but the stim money would be spent on infrastructure and if it is canceled then the states will have to make up the cash shortfall and the way these self-indulgent people are acting….the only way to make it up is by slashing all funds for services. Ryan’s idea sounds pretty good but in the long run may help bankrupt more states than California.
I agree with you entirely – up to a point – you knew there’d be a catch, didn’t you? Yes, to my way of thinking, creating demand is a very good way to kick start the economy and in the longer term is persuading it to do what a healthy economy should do – grow from REAL demand creating REAL jobs, not phantom employment.
However, the REAL stimulation for the economy (just like in the UK) comes from the industrious and responsible middle classes. It’s actually (to a large extent) THEIR money in the first place, so it should be returned to them.
People working from your point of view tend to look at the whole thing from a Keynesian angle and that of course includes an element of “state dependency” – taken literally, that applies to EVERYONE rich middle and poor.
The right wing on the other hand often takes a much more bullish totally free market approach that takes little if any account of those who are not able to cope in the “rat race”. Their answer to everything is via the corporations and really equates to a “corporation dependency”.
Personally, I think that the nearest we can get to any real freedom for any section of humanity is a totally independent – or “no dependency” society that provides some measure of protection for the weakest, but does not encourage the use of those facilities except as a haven of last resort – a final “safety net”.
The middle classes are already by instinct and nature that huge part of society that does NOT wish to be dependent on anyone! They just want to get on with their lives without interference. That fact alone makes them by far the most valuable part of any democratic culture.
The problem for the Keynesian followers is that (apart from their belief that government should RUN the people, rather than BE run BY the people) is that they are somewhat screwed by the fact that the middles classes get sriously pissed by the fact that, under what are basically socialist ideals, they are asked to pay more and more out and never receive much if anything back, which would be fine with most of them if they only had to pay the minimum to protect the weakest, but that’s not good enough, or meddling enough for the “statists” who want to rule everything.
The consequence is this: More and more people pay more and more into the system and, in order to keep the REAL payers, the middle classes, quiet, they are offered the same or similar to what the poorer sections of society get. The middle classes don’t WANT it, but they don’t want nothing at all in return for the VAST taxes they pay either. So, they get the same as everyone else whether they want it or not.
This results in them paying tax, which includes an amount for some service – call it service X. The government administers the money paid and that costs a proportion of it and the taxpayer who doesn’t want the service in the first place (but is sick of paying for everything for others) effectively get their donation for X minus the administration costs back.
How does that make any fucking sense to anyone at all? It’s a bloody CON TRICK!
But…(always, huh?)….if the economy has collapsed industry and middle class get the shaft…where would the recovery come from without an injection of cash?
But that’s what I was saying – give the cash to the people who deserve it most and will do more worthwhile things with it – the middle classes – it’s THEIR money anyway!
Then why do not government see it that way? Besides the obvious……
Why doesn’t the government go boil its collective head? How long is a piece of string? How the hell should I know?
😆
String? I once contemplated the meaning of it. But that was the 60’s and I contemplated the meaning of many things…if you know what I mean….LOL
On another note….I think that all government, today’s governments, are CON JOBS!
Agreed. Exactly!
I knew we could find common ground….LOL
Always 🙂
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