USA'S "CLIFF DEAL" IS LIKE THE EU'S GREECE DEAL: A CHARADE

THE DEFICITS WON'T GO DOWN AND DEBT WON'T BE REDUCED.

THE ECONOMY WON'T GROW.

UNEMPLOYMENT WON'T GO DOWN.

BUT MOST PEOPLE WILL PAY MORE TAXES (NYTIMES).

IT'S A BAD DEAL FOR OUR FISCAL CRISIS AND OUR ECONOMY.

ALL IT DOES IS KICK THE CAN DOWN THE ROAD A LITTLE.

LIKE THE EU'S GREEK DEALS HAVE THE PAST 3 YEARS.


FROM NRO:

Let's  take some of our key economic numbers — how much money the U.S. government brings in, how much it spends, and how much brave politicians are “cutting” to bring those numbers into balance — and simply lop off eight zeros (i.e., divide by 100 million) to make those numbers something that American families can relate to:

Why S&P Downgraded the US:

• U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000
• Federal budget: $3,820,000,000,000
• New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000
• National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
• Recent [April] budget cut: $ 38,500,000,000

Let’s remove 8 zeros and pretend it’s a household budget:

• Annual family income: $21,700
• Money the family spent: $38,200
• New debt on the credit card: $16,500
• Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710
• Budget cuts: $385

And look at this graph from Zero Hedge:

THE ADDITIONAL REVENUE
FROM TAXING THE RICH IS ON THE LEFT.
THE DEFICIT IS ON THE RIGHT.

IOW: THE POLITICIANS HAVEN'T MADE A DENT IN THE UNDERLYING PROBLEM. 

Neither Spain or Italy or Greece had "Bush Tax Cuts for The Rich" -

Or "two unfunded wars" -

Or "GOP deregulation for BIG CORPORATIONS!". 

They are in trouble fiscally and economically because they spent too damn much money - on welfare schemes - and they are taxing the most productive people too damn much in order to try to pay fr them. 

This is why we are in trouble too. 

There has been no REAL austerity anywhere in Europe EXCEPT Estonia and it worked there. And in Iceland. It's the only solution. 

Remember: FDR's Keynesian New Deal was a failure; therefore we should NOT be undertaking similar "stimulus spending" (deficit spending) now. 

If government debts yielded economic growth then Greece would be an economic powerhouse.

I AM SORRY TO SAY THAT THESE FACTS WILL PROBABLY ONLY BECOME MORE WIDELY ACCEPTED AFTER WE GO INTO ANOTHER HORRIBLE RECESSION.

WHICH IS NOW VERY LIKELY TO BE OFFICIAL THIS SPRING.

Sigh.