The debt has some scary numbers....that's a given. My personal problem/question/statement is with all this debt and so on, why oh why do we keep sending money to other countries, and, why (as in Iraq) do we rebuild their country so they can just blow it back up again???? I didn't see anyone back here helping to rebuild the World Trade Center.

Just my personal observation, and gripe. It's time.....

I've wondered the same thing... but I guess I can't really complain, because I haven't done anything to change or improve it.

Well, we could all vote for politicians who only spend what is coming in. Now, let's see, who might that be? Uh-------------?

When we talk about Social Security and Medicare people do not like to look at future projections. Okay, let’s look at history. No one can argue with these numbers. They have already happened. This is a table of the maximum amounts that you could have paid into the system for the last 70 years. There is NO maximum for Medicare since 1994, but for illustration purposes assume a base equal to the Social Security base. If you are self-employed, double these numbers. You might note that payroll deductions are only up 27134.00%. You can make your own projections for 2020, 2030 and so on.



Nick

Well, it has been about a year since the last post on this thread and we have elected a new congress. They have promised to make DRASTIC cuts in federal spending and return us to fiscal responsibility. The new congress is looking to reduce federal spending by $100 million dollars this year. WOW, that sounds like a lot of money. Wonder how that compares to the normal household budget?

Let's see. The federal budget is about $3.5 trillion. $100 million divided by $3.5 trillion equals 0.0029%. Let's assume the normal household lives off of about $2,000.00 a month after all the taxes are paid. That would mean to do our part we all need to cut our family budget by a whopping $0.06 per month. That's right, you now have to get by on $1,999.94 per month.

I sure hope these DRASTIC cuts don't collapse our economy.

Nick

This video will make your day Nick!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWt8hTayupE

quote:

Originally posted by Moonbeam-Express:
This video will make your day Nick!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWt8hTayupE

Exactly, this is why I try to explain big numbers in a way that we can all understand them.

Nick

well heres a nice video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...jZdk&feature=related

And that is how we continue to view our neighbours. With complete justification.

Someone sent me this in a long email. This is not the complete email but the part that I thought kinda goes along with "Playing with the numbers":

The following are 19 facts about the deindustrialization of America that will blow your mind....

#1 The United States has lost approximately 42,400 factories since 2001. About 75 percent of those factories employed over 500 people when they were still in operation.

#2 Dell Inc., one of America 's largest manufacturers of computers, has announced plans to dramatically expand its operations in China with an investment of over $100 billion over the next decade.

#3 Dell has announced that it will be closing its last large U.S. manufacturing facility in Winston-Salem , North Carolina in November. Approximately 900 jobs will be lost.

#4 In 2008, 1.2 billion cell phones were sold worldwide. So how many of them were manufactured inside the United States ? Zero.

#5 According to a new study conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, if the U.S. trade deficit with China continues to increase at its current rate, the U.S. economy will lose over half a million jobs this year alone.

#6 As of the end of July, the U.S. trade deficit with China had risen 18 percent compared to the same time period a year ago.

#7 The United States has lost a total of about 5.5 million manufacturing jobs since October 2000.

#8 According to Tax Notes, between 1999 and 2008 employment at the foreign affiliates of U.S. parent companies increased an astounding 30 percent to 10.1 million. During that exact same time period, U.S. employment at American multinational corporations declined 8 percent to 21.1 million.

#9 In 1959, manufacturing represented 28 percent of U.S. economic output. In 2008, it represented 11.5 percent.

#10 Ford Motor Company recently announced the closure of a factory that produces the Ford Ranger in St. Paul , Minnesota. Approximately 750 good paying middle class jobs are going to be lost because making Ford Rangers in Minnesota does not fit in with Ford's new "global" manufacturing strategy.

#11 As of the end of 2009, less than 12 million Americans worked in manufacturing. The last time less than 12 million Americans were employed in manufacturing was in 1941.

#12 In the United States today, consumption accounts for 70 percent of GDP. Of this 70 percent, over half is spent on services.

#13 The United States has lost a whopping 32 percent of its manufacturing jobs since the year 2000.

#14 In 2001, the United States ranked fourth in the world in per capita broadband Internet use. Today it ranks 15th.

#15 Manufacturing employment in the U.S. computer industry is actually lower in 2010 than it was in 1975.

#16 Printed circuit boards are used in tens of thousands of different products. Asia now produces 84 percent of them worldwide.

#17 The United States spends approximately $3.90 on Chinese goods for every $1 that the Chinese spend on goods from the United States .

#18 One prominent economist is projecting that the Chinese economy will be three times larger than the U.S. economy by the year 2040.

#19 The U.S. Census Bureau says that 43.6 million Americans are now living in poverty and according to them that is the highest number of poor Americans in the 51 years that records have been kept.

Nick

ugly. Well, what is the solution? At face value, I would suppose that one of the biggest reasons for our loss of exporting goods is due to successfull inventive people selling their goods or businesses abroad. One may say you cant blame them as life is short and if you are smart enough to come up with viable ideas, why not sell it, make a killing, and not have to deal with the dificulty of growing the business or keeping it profitable, or dealing with local laws or.....whatever. This is obviously not the best thing for America but look at what has been hapening for decades. America was founded primarily by opertunistic people who had been living under opression and were eagerly motivated to improve the futures of their children or grandchildren or whatever. The task of founding a country in the "New World" and becoming the super power that Amierica is, (or was depending on who is listening) is pretty incredible. The burdon on these people must have been astronomical. Anyone would agree that it is a shame to see America in the shape that it is in however, this is nothing new. Look at Roman history. Speaking of which, what happened to Rome? Well, I am no historian but I gather that they were essentially fat and happy and eventually lost their zeal for disciplined work and fell. I am not so sure America has not followed in their steps to a certain degree. I propose that the problem is there are alot of people in China, Mexico, Japan or wherever else that are simply hungrier than we are in America. At the same time, I think perhaps we are a little arrogant in the ideas of what we consider a reasonable lifestyle. I am a blue collar guy that works hard and have worked hard for years. I remember working these rediculous 40+ hour shifts and when I woke up in the morning I thought,..nobody works like that...it is rediculous. I bet you those that founded our country did. I am not talking about Benjamin Franklin and George Washington but the real everyday folks that forged America that never found their way into the history books. I worked at a oppulent country club around my area the other day and was working along side of this Spanish speaking fella that would most likely outwork me when I was 20 years old and very motivated. I thought, if I hired an illegal immigrant in Detroit I would get comments I could not live with. But here he is working his tail off for less than I would choose to make, (I say this because I bet ya I make more not working nearly as hard) and looking like a hero when he brings the bacon home to Mexico. It is not the point that he is illegal (because just saying so would imply that I checked his green card and you know darn well I didn't ask to see that because I would most likely loose a client over it), the point is this guy is so hungry that he will work this hard to bring this money (as little as it may be) to his family.

I do feel shame if it is any consolation to the readers here.

I believe we in America have lived this way for quite some time. Now I am afraid the tables have turned on us for the worst.
Every day we fight to maintain a lifestyle that is way beyond our means (As a Country as a whole that is), and pay oftin times the lions share of our income to taxes and interest. This is crazy but who am I to say...I did it too. The only way to get out of this debt is to segregate ourselves from our peers and work like absolute idiots for 80 hours a week and buy nothing but necessities (this is in fact a best case scenario I believe but it seldom happens). While this is happening, you better hope you have a true wife at home because God knows while you work like an idiot she could easily find someone willing to give more attention and spend lots more on her. Our media sees to it that this is an accepted practice. More than likely however that wife will be working as much as you are. The next problem is the more you work over 50 or so hours, the more taxes gets taken out. Then we start with the next problem...who is raising the kids? Gotta tell you guys I do not sleep that well thinking of the life in store for my son Benjamin. I think we are in a downward spiral.
At the same rate, I oftin thought before I gnawed my way out of rediculous debt..If I have to work for 80 hours a week and not have have anything to show for it but a rented house and a car that needs fixing, I would rather be a slave! At least I would know I would be fed and have a roof over my head. (never been a slave obviously but it sure seemed like the same thing to me).
One more point, Tina and I had to buy rechargeable batteries the other day so we went to Best Buy. I happened to stumble into the TV area and the salesman started showin off these awesome new tv's. I told him my 1993 unit was still working fine...he chuckled and said "dont expect any new tv to last that long buddy, this tv here will last for 4 years tops". I am sure he is right, and thats what we do in America every day...give all of our hard earned dollars to the manufacturers (because that is essentially doing), and going home with a little bit of junk that will be useless in short order.
Well, alright...lets hear it

Kris… you make some valid points. Something that many people have forgotten or are to young to remember is that after WWII the US and Canada where virtually the only countries that had any manufacturing capacity. The rest of the world had either been ravaged by war or bombed into oblivion. With the greatest minds and workforce in the world we were able to take advantage of that and become the largest military and economic power the world had ever seen. For thirty years we had a unique advantage. Beginning in the 1980’s many of the European and Asian countries had rebuilt (with our help) and were able to compete once again. Many countries looked at our capitalistic system, tweaked to meet their own needs and started to out capitalize the capitalists! They wanted what we had! Over the last decade we have not fallen behind as much as we became complacent and allowed the rest of the world to catch up. Now we can sit around and complain about how unfair the trade laws are, how others are taking our jobs, how corrupt the politicians are or we can do what we have always done…. Reinvent ourselves with education and technology, lead the world in renewable energy, rebuild our infrastructure, forget about .25 a gallon gas, and all the other “I remember when” stuff. As with the horse and buggy its gone and is not coming back. Our parents did! Turn off all the cable TV, talk radio, news nonsense, these people are making a fortune on polarizing our great country. We need to quit listening to what we want to hear and start listening to what we know is the truth.
America has never lived in the past it has always molded the future.
We all know what the problems are and we also know how to solve them. What we need is “ a few good men” to lead and one term politicians. Winston Churchill once said that “ you can always count on the Americans to do the right thing….. after they have tried everything else.”

My apologies if any of this sounds political, it certainly was not my intention. USA!!! USA!!! USA!!!

quote:

We need to quit listening to what we want to hear and start listening to what we know is the truth.

Gerald:
HOORAH!

We transported part of a local manufacturer to Mexico. The jobs paid $14/hr, good pay in a rural part of TN. Found out the US government PAID the business to relocate to Mexico. Go figure. There is nothing here no more, everything moved abroad. Next county over got 20% unemployment. Sometimes I just want to scream.
BTW have you seen all the free TVs on craigslist? All big screens, broken. Our 1995 is still working - well until the government puts the next hex on it (i.e. magic boxes required).

maybe you would like to mention the manufacturer