6
0

Why do we have a national debt at all?


 invite response                
2023 Mar 27, 9:37am   12,658 views  128 comments

by Patrick   ➕follow (59)   💰tip   ignore  

Seriously, what is the point?

I know that a lot of people say so that the Fed can collect interest from taxpayers, and that may be so, but why would the government even agree to that?

It seems that every country on earth has national debt, but how can this be? It always costs more to borrow and pay interest than to save and simply pay for something.

Is every country on earth stupid and/or irresponsible? Is it just that they have more demand for services than they can afford? If that's so, then it's still stupid because they have to pay it off eventually anyway. Or do they just keep rolling over the debt forever, growing ever larger? Eventually their debts will be infinite and the interest will be unpayable.


« First        Comments 105 - 128 of 128        Search these comments

105   Ceffer   2024 Feb 9, 6:18pm  

What doesn't anybody understand about 'Babylonian Debt Slavery' and 'fiat printing press money'? Our taxes are collected by the Vatican, and whatever they deem fit is deposited in the IMF or BIS and then lent back to us at an interest rate (low, but still interest) and the debt is meant to enslave, and keep the government operating at a deficit beholden to the various Euro banksters and mafias.
106   Someone_else   2024 Feb 9, 6:31pm  

If you or I had a printing press in the basement and it made money, would we be in debt?
107   HeadSet   2024 Feb 9, 6:47pm  

Someone_else says

If you or I had a printing press in the basement and it made money, would we be in debt?

Yes, if you are married.
108   AD   2024 Feb 9, 6:48pm  

Someone_else says

If you or I had a printing press in the basement and it made money, would we be in debt?


All that does is reward people with free money.

So there is essentially more demand but at best the same amount of supply.

If you are going to give out money, make sure there is enough innovation and productivity to provide adequate supply.
109   PeopleUnited   2024 Feb 9, 6:59pm  

WookieMan says

. That's why we fight wars. Why in the flying fuck would you admit to wars and proxy wars that it was because you don't want to pay people back?

Well said. The debt is paid in blood. We the people are collateral, and the elites will trade our lives and labor like bargaining chips on the global market.
110   NuttBoxer   2024 Feb 11, 8:52am  

UkraineIsFucked says

NuttBoxer says


16th's passage the same year the current central bank was chartered is pure coincidence...


No. But Fed's charter has nothing to do with amending the Constitution...


Your statements seem to be at odds.
112   GNL   2024 Feb 12, 6:25pm  

Patrick says





Cloward–Piven strategy?
113   NuttBoxer   2024 Feb 12, 7:40pm  

Does Cloward Pivan believe that you can inflate your way out of anything?
114   AD   2024 Feb 12, 10:22pm  

.

8% of 2022 federal budget was for net interest

https://www.federalbudgetinpictures.com/where-does-all-the-money-go/

I wonder what it is for 2024.

They should hold outlays (or the federal budget) as constant for at least 3 years to reduce the growth of deficits:
.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_budget#Overview

.
At least outlays from 2023 to 2024 only increase by about 1% thanks to the leadership of House of Representatives Speaker Johnson.

.
115   AmericanKulak   2024 Feb 12, 11:53pm  

GNL says

Cloward–Piven strategy?

Partially. I mean the hofare wasn't enough. Now they have to import 9M and give them more than hofare does, like pre-paid charge cards and hotel rooms. Even Shaniqua didn't get months at a Manhattan or SF hotel at $200/day.
116   AmericanKulak   2024 Feb 12, 11:55pm  

HeadSet says


That sounds like you want to have a tax on the broker fee and not a sales tax on the shares sold. To keep that pink flamingo analogy, one would pay a tax on the actual shares purchased. That is, buy $100 worth of stock, even without a broker fee like at Schwab, pay a $4 (at 4%) sales tax.

A transaction tax on Shares, like a sales tax, sure.

We definitely don't have a turnover or liquidity problem. Restoring a dividend-centric stock market might be better.

Paying taxes on money making money seems fairer than taxing productive income. I'd rather tax a surgeon's stock trades than tax his earned income.
117   zzyzzx   2024 Feb 13, 5:53am  

Stop funding all welfare programs and the budget will be balanced.
118   PeopleUnited   2024 Feb 13, 6:25am  

zzyzzx says


Stop funding all welfare programs and the budget will be balanced.

Stop funding warfare programs as well. It’s one thing to have a well equipped military. It’s quite another to play policeman for the world.
120   DemocratsAreTotallyFucked   2024 Jun 19, 7:03pm  

UkraineIsTotallyFucked says

"Ferguson’s Law states that any great power that spends more on debt service (interest payments on the national debt) than on defense will not stay great for very long. True of Hapsburg Spain, true of ancien régime France, true of the Ottoman Empire, true of the British Empire." -Niall Ferguson
121   Patrick   2024 Jun 19, 7:18pm  

So why do we have any fucking national debt at all?

Just so the Fed can get interest payments from taxpayers?
122   FortwayeAsFuckJoeBiden   2024 Jun 19, 7:22pm  

Patrick says

So why do we have any fucking national debt at all?

Just so the Fed can get interest payments from taxpayers?


i don’t understand how this shit works too. they sell bonds, pay interest on bonds…
123   stereotomy   2024 Jun 19, 7:34pm  

To answer the OP question: It's to keep the banksters happy.

Debt, as @Wookieman says is a contract which can be broken. You can't imprison people chained in your basement for unpaid debts to you like they did in the Roman Empire. On the other hand, they're trying to bring back debtors prisons via the backdoor of court fees.

In the early years of this country, the Colonies had issued debt to finance the Revolutionary War in part. After the war, Hamilton successfully pushed to have these bonds repaid at 100%. Of course, his cronies had been buying up Colonial debt for pennies on the dollar before this happened.

Who knows, maybe Aaron Burr did us a favor?
124   Patrick   2024 Jun 19, 7:52pm  

FortwayeAsFuckJoeBiden says

Patrick says


So why do we have any fucking national debt at all?

Just so the Fed can get interest payments from taxpayers?


i don’t understand how this shit works too. they sell bonds, pay interest on bonds…


@FortwayeAsFuckJoeBiden

It's deliberately complicated. The US government sells bonds to get cash, and the Fed buys those bonds with newly printed dollars.

So the Fed starts with nothing, but gets interest payments from all of us on money it created out of thin air.
125   stereotomy   2024 Jun 19, 8:01pm  

Patrick says

FortwayeAsFuckJoeBiden says


Patrick says



So why do we have any fucking national debt at all?

Just so the Fed can get interest payments from taxpayers?


i don’t understand how this shit works too. they sell bonds, pay interest on bonds…



FortwayeAsFuckJoeBiden

It's deliberately complicated. The US government sells bonds to get cash, and the Fed buys those bonds with newly printed dollars.

So the Fed starts with nothing, but gets interest payments from all of us on money it created out of thin air.

The Fed supposedly reimburses the gubment for any interest it collects on the Treasuries it holds. It's real profits stem from the power and influence as the agent of seigniorage, as has already been mentioned
126   DemocratsAreTotallyFucked   2024 Jun 19, 9:56pm  

stereotomy says


The Fed supposedly reimburses the gubment for any interest it collects on the Treasuries it holds. It's real profits stem from the power and influence as the agent of seigniorage, as has already been mentioned


Only for the bonds on the Fed's balance sheet. Interest on bonds held by everyone else Congress has to pay up.
127   AD   2024 Jun 21, 10:56pm  

Patrick says






Yeah Patrick, this year the federal debt service payments will be greater than the Pentagon budget. I think this is the first time that has ever occurred for the US federal government :-/

I hope this trend reverses some as deficits and debt decrease steadily with decreasing US Treasury interest rates and an improving economy.

.
128   AD   2024 Jun 21, 11:00pm  

stereotomy says

The Fed supposedly reimburses the gubment for any interest it collects on the Treasuries it holds. It's real profits stem from the power and influence as the agent of seigniorage, as has already been mentioned


The Fed has been losing some money now. At least it is reducing its Treasuries and mortgage back securities holdings.

" (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve said on Tuesday that it officially saw a net negative income of $114.3 billion in 2023, a record loss tied to expenses related to managing the U.S. central bank's short-term interest rate target. The loss last year follows $58.8 billion in net income in 2022, the Fed said.Mar 26, 2024 "

« First        Comments 105 - 128 of 128        Search these comments

Please register to comment:

api   best comments   contact   latest images   memes   one year ago   random   suggestions