11/27: Damn the Deficit: Full Speed Ahead on Health Care
Posted by Editor on November 27, 2009 · 3 Comments
Michael Barone: Double-digit. That hyphenated adjective has been used most often recently to describe October’s 10.2 percent unemployment rate. But it can also be used to describe the federal budget deficit as a percentage of the gross domestic product. That precise number is not yet known, but it may turn out to have a more dire effect on our national life than October’s unemployment rate.
In the fiscal year just ended, federal spending was nearly 25 percent of GDP while federal revenues slipped below 15 percent because of the financial crisis and recession. We have not seen a budget deficit of this magnitude since World War II, which surely was a greater challenge than recent economic troubles.
The meaning of Thanksgiving is not hidden, it’s not a secret message given only to a few “connecting the dots.” The meaning is simple: We should all be grateful to God for what we have, and that we should share with others, family, friends and strangers all we have. Those things have been given to us by God and are ours to share, but not to hoard.
An economic professor says the plan will also reduce insurance costs for individuals, something not reported in the fringe stream media:
http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/mit-economist-finds-flaws-in-insurance-industry-report/
Actually the CBO says the proposed bill will reduce the deficit. The author seems to have missed that bit of news.