[Vision2020] yay! we passed $18 trillion!

Tue Dec 9 14:57:25 PST 2014

Yay! We passed $18 trillion!

The country would be in better shape if we had run up more debt, in the
process of putting people back to work. But Obama wanted that, so of course
the house Republican's wouldn't stand for it.

I am no economist, but it seems important to me that people (especially
people in government) understand that national debt is quite different from
private debt or family debt. Many right-wing politicians have made a career
out of denouncing the national debt, because the average working stiff grew
up thinking debt in general is undesirable and therefore we should pay off
that national debt as quickly as possible.

After World War II, taxpayers faced a bigger debt, as a percentage of GDP,
than we owe today. ("Nobody understands debt," Paul Krugman, New York
Times, 1/1/2012, available by Googling "National Debt.) That World War II
debt was never repaid, it was just subsumed in the larger debt that was
handled easily by our recovering economy.

And: The debt grew almost twice as fast in the first six years of the
Reagan presidency as it did in the first six years of the Obama presidency.
(You can ignore this because I don't have a source, but I'm pretty sure the
source I lost was a good source.)

And yes, there were REASONS why money had to be spent during the Reagan
presidency. There are always reasons why it's difficult to allocate blame
for a big national debt.

Don Coombs

On Mon, Dec 8, 2014 at 5:36 PM, Tom Hansen <thansen at moscow.com> wrote:

> He (Rand Paul) also supports DOMA (the Defense of Marriage Act) and
> criminalizing abortions (a woman's right to choose).
>
> Seventy-eight hours until the federal budget expires.
>
> Here is the schedule of legislation going before the House this week (just
> before the House takes its holiday recess), courtesy of the U.S. House of
> Representatives at:
>
> http://docs.house.gov/floor/
>
> --------------------------------------------
>
> The following are links to the text of legislation scheduled for
> consideration during the week of Dec. 8, 2014. For the complete schedule,
> please visit the Majority Leader's <http://majorityleader.gov/> site.
> Items that may be considered under suspension of the rulesH.R. 4030To
> designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 18640
> NW 2nd Avenue in Miami, Florida, as the "Father Richard Marquess-Barry Post
> Office Building"[PDF
> <http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-113hr4030ih/pdf/BILLS-113hr4030ih.pdf>
> ]H.R. 5385To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service
> located at 55 Grasso Plaza in St. Louis, Missouri, as the "Sgt. Amanda N.
> Pinson Post Office"[PDF
> <http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-113hr5385ih/pdf/BILLS-113hr5385ih.pdf>
> ]H.R. 5794To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service
> located at 55 Grasso Plaza in St. Louis, Missouri, as the "Sgt. Amanda N.
> Pinson Post Office" [PDF
> <http://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20141208/WAGNER_020_xml.pdf>]H.R.
> 5562To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located
> at 801 West Ocean Avenue in Lompoc, California, as the "Federal
> Correctional Officer Scott J. Williams Memorial Post Office Building"[PDF
> <http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-113hr5562ih/pdf/BILLS-113hr5562ih.pdf>
> ]H.R. 5687To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service
> located at 101 East Market Street in Long Beach, California, as the
> "Juanita Millender-McDonald Post Office"[PDF
> <http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-113hr5687ih/pdf/BILLS-113hr5687ih.pdf>
> ]H.R. 579To designate the United States courthouse located at 501 East
> Court Street in Jackson, Mississippi, as the "R. Jess Brown United States
> Courthouse"[PDF
> <http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-113hr579rh/pdf/BILLS-113hr579rh.pdf>]H.R.
> 1378To designate the United States courthouse located at 333 West
> Broadway in San Diego, California, as the "James M. Carter and Judith N.
> Keep United States Courthouse," as amended[PDF
> <http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-113hr1378rh/pdf/BILLS-113hr1378rh.pdf>
> ]H.R. 4926To designate the "James L. Oberstar Memorial Highway" and the
> "James L. Oberstar National Scenic Byway" in the State of Minnesota, as
> amended[PDF
> <http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-113hr4926rh/pdf/BILLS-113hr4926rh.pdf>
> ]H.R. 5146To designate the United States courthouse located at 700 Grant
> Street in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as the "Joseph F. Weis Jr. United
> States Courthouse"[PDF
> <http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-113hr5146rh/pdf/BILLS-113hr5146rh.pdf>
> ]S. 1434To designate the Junction City Community-Based Outpatient Clinic
> located at 715 Southwind Drive, Junction City, Kansas, as the "Lieutenant
> General Richard J. Seitz Community-Based Outpatient Clinic"[PDF
> <http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-113s1434rfh/pdf/BILLS-113s1434rfh.pdf>
> ]S. 229Corporal Michael J. Crescenz Act of 2013[PDF
> <http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-113s229es/pdf/BILLS-113s229es.pdf>]S.
> 2921To designate the community based outpatient clinic of the Department
> of Veterans Affairs located at 310 Home Boulevard in Galesburg, Illinois,
> as the "Lane A. Evans VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic"[PDF
> <http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-113s2921es/pdf/BILLS-113s2921es.pdf>]H.R.
> 5086To amend the National Trails System Act to direct the Secretary of
> the Interior to conduct a study on the feasibility of designating the Chief
> Standing Bear National Historic Trail, and for other purposes, as amended[
> PDF <http://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20141208/H5086_SUS_xml.pdf>]*Added
> 12/05/2014 at 05:43 PM*H.R. 5699John Muir National Historic Site
> Expansion Act, as amended[PDF
> <http://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20141208/H5699_RH_xml.pdf>]*Added
> 12/05/2014 at 05:43 PM*H.R. 5701Western Oregon Indian Tribal Lands Act,
> as amended[PDF
> <http://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20141208/113H5701_SUS_xml.pdf>]*Added
> 12/05/2014 at 05:43 PM*S. 1000Chesapeake Bay Accountability and Recovery
> Act of 2014[PDF
> <http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-113s1000es/pdf/BILLS-113s1000es.pdf>]*Added
> 12/05/2014 at 05:43 PM*H.R. 5705Propane Education and Research
> Enhancement Act of 2014[PDF
> <http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-113hr5705ih/pdf/BILLS-113hr5705ih.pdf>
> ]*Added 12/05/2014 at 05:43 PM*H.R. 5185EARLY Act Reauthorization of
> 2014, as amended[PDF
> <http://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20141208/H5185_SUS_xml.pdf>]*Added
> 12/05/2014 at 05:43 PM*H.R. 5764Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of
> 2014[PDF
> <http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-113hr5764ih/pdf/BILLS-113hr5764ih.pdf>
> ]*Added 12/05/2014 at 05:43 PM*S. 2759To release the City of St. Clair,
> Missouri, from all restrictions, conditions, and limitations on the use,
> encumbrance, conveyance, and closure of the St. Clair Regional Airport [
> PDF
> <http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-113s2759rfh/pdf/BILLS-113s2759rfh.pdf>
> ]*Added 12/05/2014 at 05:43 PM*H.R. 5059Clay Hunt SAV Act, as amended[PDF
> <http://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20141208/H5059_sus_xml.pdf>]*Added
> 12/05/2014 at 05:43 PM*H.R. 5656Global Food Security Act of 2014, as
> amended[PDF
> <http://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20141208/H5656_sus_xml%20-%20Global%20Food%20Security.pdf>
> ]*Added 12/05/2014 at 05:43 PM*H.R. 2901Senator Paul Simon Water for the
> World Act, as amended[PDF
> <http://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20141208/HR%202901%20-%20Water%20for%20the%20World%20-%20sus_xml.pdf>
> ]*Added 12/05/2014 at 05:43 PM*
> *Updated 12/08/2014 at 01:33 PMTechnical Correction*S. 1683Naval Vessel
> Transfer Act of 2013[PDF
> <http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-113s1683es/pdf/BILLS-113s1683es.pdf>]*Added
> 12/05/2014 at 05:43 PM*------------.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -------http://www.MoscowCares.com <http://www.moscowcares.com/>
>
> Tom Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho
>
> "There's room at the top they are telling you still.
> But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,
> If you want to be like the folks on the hill."
>
> - John Lennon
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .
>
> "Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
> http://www.MoscowCares.com <http://www.moscowcares.com/>
>
> Tom Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho
>
> "There's room at the top they are telling you still.
> But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,
> If you want to be like the folks on the hill."
>
> - John Lennon
>
>
> =======================================================
>  List services made available by First Step Internet,
>  serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
>                http://www.fsr.net
>           mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> =======================================================
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20141209/8854aecf/attachment-0001.html>