Another day older and deeper in debt

[30ashopper]

BTW, Crist is doing something a little bit different. He announced yesterday that he is cutting the state budget by 4 percent, and by the comments and reaction I've seen, I don't think the people want to hear any of it!

If Crist is "driving the state into the ground" by cutting the budget, and Bush & co are driving the country into the ground by not cutting it, then where does that leave us?

We need serious numbers people in power. ASAP.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/state/article622061.ece

TALLAHASSEE ? Gov. Charlie Crist ordered all state agencies Thursday to reduce spending by 4 percent in the coming fiscal year, just a day after signing an already pared down state budget.

State economists say the action ? the second holdback in less than 12 months ? is necessary because high food and gas prices are prompting consumers to spend less. They now project lower sales tax collections in the coming fiscal year.

If Crist's order stands all year, agencies will have cut spending by roughly $1-billion out of the $25-billion operating budget.

"I believe it (this move) says that this administration believes in being prudent," Crist said Thursday night before a speech before the state Republican Party near Orlando.

The holdback means public schools, universities, community colleges, judges, prosecutors, public defenders and others ? already bracing for the smallest state budget in three years ? will have to get by with less.

All I have to say is, Thank God I left California for Florida. This seems like one of the few states that has it's "stuff" together.

 

[6thGen]

The value of the dollar is keyed to several factors including the budget deficit, trade deficit and interest rates. Greenspan did nothing to defend the dollar when it began its fall. A strong dollar is not necessarily good; a weak dollar is not necessarily bad. Depends on which factors you favor more. With the weak dollar, our exports have increased nicely. Alas, so has the price of oil. The Fed recently stated that it will defend the dollar as did the Treasury Secretary. It appears to have put in a bottom but we will have higher confidence if and when it crosses its won 50 day moving average. If you look at a three year weekly dollar graph, it is when the dollar fell below its 50 day SMA that the dam broke.

I was talking to a friend the other day who remarked that no wonder prices of everything are so high, look how much the dollar has fallen. For citizens, and others, living in the US and buying US goods and services, the value of the dollar versus other world currencies has no context.

I know the benefits of a strong/weak dollar (and I'd argue the Fed has more to do with it than the national debt), but I wish the Fed had Trichet's mandate, simply a stable currency. The Fed has no business looking at employment numbers. Given your other positions, I assume you'd back something of a gold standard (I'd favor some computer model that looked at gold, bonds, and other commodities). Moving to that system would immediately do more for the dollar than strong words, higher short term rates, or lower debt.

TFT,
Here's a good read.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121132884197208937.html

 

[TooFarTampa]

All I have to say is, Thank God I left California for Florida. This seems like one of the few states that has it's "stuff" together.

This is where SHELLY comes in and makes fun of you ...

 

[traderx]

I know the benefits of a strong/weak dollar (and I'd argue the Fed has more to do with it than the national debt), but I wish the Fed had Trichet's mandate, simply a stable currency. The Fed has no business looking at employment numbers. Given your other positions, I assume you'd back something of a gold standard (I'd favor some computer model that looked at gold, bonds, and other commodities). Moving to that system would immediately do more for the dollar than strong words, higher short term rates, or lower debt.

TFT,
Here's a good read.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121132884197208937.html

Ah, the People's Republic of Massachusetts....

I was held prisoner of war in the People's Republic - errr....excuse me, Commonwealth - and a friend there told me that what made Mass. such a great state was its social programs. I kissed the ground when I moved back to Georgia.

As for "free" healthcare, talk to someone in Canada about waiting eight months for an MRI. The very reason health care costs are so high is because of the extent to which our government is involved in health care. Anyone ever seen a Scooter Store commercial? I need a drink...

I don't favor a return to the gold standard. I just want a Fed who will tend to monetary policy and not employment, housing prices, gasoline prices and the stock market. Greenspan was obsessed with the stock market having been chided on by his professorial friend Shiller with his stupid "irrational exuberance" principle.

Moreover, Friedman proved that the Fed was the proximate cause of the Great Depression. Faced with deflation, the Fed drained liquidity which Friedman proved is the exact wrong thing to do.

 

[TooFarTampa]

TFT,
Here's a good read.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121132884197208937.html

Thanks. So ... if this is what happens in Massachussetts, where illegal immigration is relatively low compared to many other states, then what happens on a nationwide basis, when a larger number of illegal immigrants are a) not participating in the health care mandate and b) going to emergency rooms anyway?

Immigration is a whole other issue that I have mixed feelings about, but in a practical sense, I have to agree that Romney's plan on a national level seems like a bad idea.

 

[TooFarTampa]

Ah, the People's Republic of Massachusetts....

I was held prisoner of war in the People's Republic - errr....excuse me, Commonwealth - and a friend there told me that what made Mass. such a great state was its social programs. I kissed the ground when I moved back to Georgia.

I can only imagine how miserable you were. Did it turn you into a Libertarian or were you already one? Just curious!

 

[beachmouse]

One nice thing about the state budget surplus a couple years back is that it allowed the state to pay cash for a good number of capital improvement and land aquisition projects instead of financing them like they usually did. (Jeb! tried to discourage people from treating the surplus as recurring revenue because it just wasn't) Which turned out to be a good thing when the surplus times didn't last, revenues went down, and the state had a better ability to maintain operation levels because it wasn't having to pay off scheduled loan balances and finance charges.

 

[SHELLY]

The economy is screwed--I don't think either party will be able to do anything to "fix" the problems we'll encounter in the future.

But I am still optimistic :shock:

What I see going into the future is that EACH INDIVIDUAL CITIZEN will take responsibility for their own destiny. Many will start making the choice (for forced into making the choice) to drop overspending, materialism and debt, and embrace a comfortable, simpler lifestyle that is within their means. Kinda like a 2nd hippy revolution where recycling of clothing and household goods; and caring for people, the environment and conservation are "in," and where greed, waste and over consumption is frowned upon. It's America's only hope.


.

 

[traderx]

I can only imagine how miserable you were. Did it turn you into a Libertarian or were you already one? Just curious!

I was born into a very political Democratic family. I grew out of it when I first started making good money and really thought about how much money I was sending to Washington. So, I became a Republican. But over time, it was clear to me that Republicans are not really much diferent from Dems on economic/spending/taxing policies. They are clearly more conservative on social issues. Then one day I was dragged kickin' and screamin' to my in-laws. Bored to tears, I started reading a very old Reader's Disgust magazine and in it was a political test. I pegged the needle on Libertarian. 100%. It really made me angry because I knew I was a good Republican. I then read the article and had, as they say, an epiphany. I am conservative on economic and tax policy but quite liberal on social issues. I cannot remember the timing versus my capture by the People's forces but it was close in time. The worse thing about living in the People's Republic was that those folks have convinced themselves that the rest of the country looks to them for guidance on all issues but especially political, social, economic, educational and healthcare. It must have killed them when Ted went to Duke to have his brain surgery.

But, I once read an article by a Northern writer who said that Duke is in the South but not of the South. Okay. By that logic, Harvard is in New England but not of New England since it was started by a Brit. The People's Republic released me from captivity after only two years.

 

[TooFarTampa]

News item:

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Democrat Barack Obama would apply the Social Security payroll tax to all annual incomes above $250,000, which he says would affect the wealthiest 3 percent of Americans.

I don't disagree with this completely, but there is never any mention of raising the ceiling for benefits for these people who would be paying the most into the system. It seems only fair that they should get more money post-retirement if they are paying more into it. Not a LOT more, maybe ... just more.

This would seem to edge SS even more into an "entitlement" program, away from the whole "lockbox," "you get out what you pay in," mentality, and very far away from the private accounts concept. (I don't agree with private accounts as they have been discussed, btw.)