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Old 05-04-2012, 07:36 AM  
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Debt misunderstanding . . . ? Track the debt to GDP ratio for the last 10-12 years!
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Old 05-04-2012, 09:20 AM  
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Originally Posted by Eddie_T View Post
Debt misunderstanding . . . ? Track the debt to GDP ratio for the last 10-12 years!

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Originally Posted by rivalarrival View Post
And we're back to misunderstanding debt. Wonderful.

But, if this is what you're concerned about, surely you would be interested in telling us what areas of the budget could be adjusted to improve the income-to-revenue ratio. Please, enlighten us.

At what oil price point is ethanol, or a variety of other green energy sources commercially viable? Why do you think our gasoline and diesel prices are a fraction of what Europe pays?
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Old 05-04-2012, 09:55 AM  
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Originally Posted by rivalarrival View Post
But, if this is what you're concerned about, surely you would be interested in telling us what areas of the budget could be adjusted to improve the income-to-revenue ratio. Please, enlighten us.

At what oil price point is ethanol, or a variety of other green energy sources commercially viable? Why do you think our gasoline and diesel prices are a fraction of what Europe pays?
Mainly by balancing the budget, paying down the debt and less government meddling.
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Old 05-04-2012, 01:01 PM  
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Mainly by balancing the budget, paying down the debt and less government meddling.
Really. That's interesting. What "government meddling" would you stop? Investment in alternative alternative energy programs that aren't commercially viable because OPEC lowers their prices specifically to prevent them from becoming viable, thus saving us from paying gasoline prices three times higher, as seen in various other nations?

Perhaps the government meddling you're speaking of is part of the over half of our total expenditures going to the military. Personally, I wouldn't want to make anything but very precise cuts within that budget, but seeing as it's the single largest category, I think it's a good place to start.
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Old 05-04-2012, 03:25 PM  
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Didn't the debt increase from about 58% to !00% of GDP?
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Old 05-04-2012, 11:23 PM  
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Originally Posted by Eddie_T
Didn't the debt increase from about 58% to !00% of GDP?
See, if the problem were real, you'd actually be concerned about solving it, rather than just pointing fingers. So what is it? You got anything concrete, or just more wishful thinking?

The fact is that what you see as a major problem simply isn't.
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Old 05-05-2012, 08:53 AM  
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See, if the problem were real, you'd actually be concerned about solving it, rather than just pointing fingers. So what is it? You got anything concrete, or just more wishful thinking?

The fact is that what you see as a major problem simply isn't.
I am concerned about solving it. I write to my duly elected "threesome" but they tend to follow their respective party lines. The start has to be debt reduction, just deficit reduction won't help. Obama said his deficit reduction plan will achieve "approximately $4.4 trillion in deficit reduction" and pay for "the cost of the American Jobs Act," which is about $447 billion (less than the interest payment of $454+ billion in FY 2011). This may sound great to the uninformed but you can't pay for anything just by charging less!
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Old 05-05-2012, 04:39 PM  
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Originally Posted by Eddie_T View Post
I am concerned about solving it. I write to my duly elected "threesome" but they tend to follow their respective party lines. The start has to be debt reduction, just deficit reduction won't help. Obama said his deficit reduction plan will achieve "approximately $4.4 trillion in deficit reduction" and pay for "the cost of the American Jobs Act," which is about $447 billion (less than the interest payment of $454+ billion in FY 2011). This may sound great to the uninformed but you can't pay for anything just by charging less!
You're about one step too short. The primary goal shouldn't be to reduce the debt; the primary goal should be to improve the American economy. There's a subtle but important difference.

It's very easy to look at all government expenditures as contributing to the deficit and the debt. It's very easy to look at a company's advertising budget and say that it contributes to that company's debts and deficits. But where those government expenditures improve the American economy, they should *not* be cut; where that advertising budget is responsible for driving that company's business, it absolutely should not be cut.

So, what expenditures are you going to cut? It shouldn't take me three days to get this answer from you, Eddie. You hijacked this thread to bring up the budget; I've indulged you. Now, it's time to cut the crap and tell us: how would you do it, Eddie? What programs are you going to cut? How are you going to eliminate the deficit and reduce the debt?

When you wrote your representatives, what programs did you tell them to cut? Or did you just tell them to focus on reducing debts and deficits while failing to mention any concern about the ramifications for doing so?

This isn't the first time you've been given that opportunity, Eddie. I've seen other people ask you how to do it; I myself have asked you how to do it on numerous occasions. On one memorable occasion, you complained that people never listened to you about what needed to be done - that they seemed bored with what you were trying to tell them. Well, here's yet another instance where you're being asked what we should do, and yet another instance where you have not yet said anything more than "we should reduce the debt".

If you can't answer the question that is being put to you; if you can't tell us what programs to cut or modify, then please stop hijacking every damn thread you come across with complaints about the debt.
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Old 05-05-2012, 04:44 PM  
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Originally Posted by rivalarrival View Post
And we're back to misunderstanding debt. Wonderful.

But, if this is what you're concerned about, surely you would be interested in telling us what areas of the budget could be adjusted to improve the income-to-revenue ratio. Please, enlighten us.

At what oil price point is ethanol, or a variety of other green energy sources commercially viable? Why do you think our gasoline and diesel prices are a fraction of what Europe pays?
Now that we've addressed the first part, what about the second?

It's a tough question that ultimately, the market calculates.
http://www.farmgateblog.com/article/...and-oil-prices

That article from 2009 suggests that ethanol is commercially profitable on its own when oil is at $80/barrel. It's commercially profitable with government subsidy at $50/barrel. Current oil prices seem to be north of $100/barrel. I'm sure the numbers have moved a bit since 2009.
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Old 05-06-2012, 08:00 AM  
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Now that we've addressed the first part, what about the second?

It's a tough question that ultimately, the market calculates.
http://www.farmgateblog.com/article/...and-oil-prices

That article from 2009 suggests that ethanol is commercially profitable on its own when oil is at $80/barrel. It's commercially profitable with government subsidy at $50/barrel. Current oil prices seem to be north of $100/barrel. I'm sure the numbers have moved a bit since 2009.
Let's stop the subsidies and give the free market system a chance.
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