Patrick.net

Borrowing from ourselves to make us appear richer.

By RentingForHalfTheCost   Follow   Fri, 20 Apr 2012, 9:53am   1,004 views   10 comments
In San Mateo CA 94404   Watch (0)   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike  

When the idea to borrow against ourselves first got tabled, someone should have been shot IMHO. Dead on the spot. As an example for the next stupid idea in the room of our best and brightest. If capitalism fails, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

"But the difference has been made up for with interest paid by the Treasury on the $2.6 trillion that the federal government owes the program."

http://money.cnn.com/2012/04/20/news/economy/social_security_medicare/index.htm?iid=Lead

Viewing Comments 1-10 of 10     Last »     See most liked comments

1. bubblesitter Follow Befriend (5) 10 threads 2,329 comments

   1   10:26am Fri 20 Apr 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (3)   Dislike   RentingForHalfTheCost says Borrowing from ourselves to make us appear richer. No,we went one step further. Borrowing from future generations to make us appear richer.

2. freak80 Follow Befriend (4) 52 threads 4,416 comments Corning, NY Premium

   2   11:54am Fri 20 Apr 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   RentingForHalfTheCost says If capitalism fails, we have no one to blame but ourselves. Seems like capitalism has a history of self-distruction. Capitalism is a lot like nuclear fission. It's great if it's got some regulation and direction. If not...meltdown! For example, Glass-Stegall was put in place to prevent a meltdown. But we thought it was too old-fashioned and got rid of it.

3. iwog Follow Befriend (48) 274 threads 12,575 comments 47 male Lafayette, CA Premium

   3   2:54pm Fri 20 Apr 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   Capitalism works if it is tempered with a system to prevent the unreasonable accumulation of wealth. Allowing Bill Gates or Warren Buffett access to tax rules that allow them to accumulate more wealth than the GDP of entire states is insane. A lifetime achievement of $100 million (approximately $1 million per year over a lifetime plus investment returns) is more than enough to motivate anyone on earth to succeed. Yet when Obama wants to raise taxes on people making over $1 million, armies of blue collar workers earning $25,000 per year accuse the government of communism. I highly recommend the movie Idiocracy to anyone who hasn't seen it. As far as borrowing from ourselves to keep the economy going, we have no choice. We're near the end of the Monopoly game and all the cash is being held by the 1%. You either tax it, borrow it, or steal it. A responsible government taxes it before things get too far out of hand. If that fails, a system of borrowing it is established. If the aristocracy gets so strong that borrowing is terminated, there's a socialist revolt and the money is simply stolen.

4. FortWayne Follow Befriend (13) 103 threads 3,764 comments

   4   3:03pm Fri 20 Apr 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   bubblesitter says No,we went one step further. Borrowing from future generations to make us appear richer.

5. Vicente Follow Befriend (8) 204 threads 4,415 comments Davis, CA

   5   3:31pm Fri 20 Apr 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   This is needlessly vague thread. Did we "borrow against ourselves" to fight WWII? BIG TIME, with a debt-to-GDP of 120%. Do you "borrow against yourself" when you take out a loan? Yes you do. If you want a pre-banking environment, you can find it. If you want to envision a totally debt-free government, they wrote a paper about that once. It involved some worries over what happens when we have no Treasuries to market to the world and the consequences of that.

6. clambo Follow Befriend (5) 1,070 comments Santa Cruz, CA

   6   3:44pm Fri 20 Apr 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   At least in WWII they sold War Bonds and they were clearly identified as paying for the war effort.

7. tdeloco Follow Befriend (2) 11 threads 218 comments San Jose, CA

   7   5:16pm Fri 20 Apr 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   clambo says At least in WWII they sold War Bonds and they were clearly identified as paying for the war effort. Furthermore, all that debt was invested productively. This time around, we've been borrowing and throwing good money after bad.

8. clambo Follow Befriend (5) 1,070 comments Santa Cruz, CA

   8   5:28pm Fri 20 Apr 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like (1)   Dislike   Do you mean sec. 8 , WIC and food stamps for my friend Maricela paid for by debt might not be productive?

9. tdeloco Follow Befriend (2) 11 threads 218 comments San Jose, CA

   9   6:38pm Fri 20 Apr 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   clambo says Do you mean sec. 8 , WIC and food stamps for my friend Maricela paid for by debt might not be productive? I mean bank bailouts and the like.

10. B.A.C.A.H. Follow Befriend (6) 5 threads 2,359 comments

    10   10:34pm Fri 20 Apr 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   iwog says when Obama wants to raise taxes on people making over $1 million, armies of blue collar workers earning $25,000 per year accuse the government of communism. It is because he is black, even though he is as white as he is black.