#National Debt 2024

[tomorrowusa]

We need to smash the mythology of Republicans being fiscally responsible and good at economics. Shoveling vast amounts of money into the pockets of venal oligarchs who don't need it is not good for the country.

Former president Donald Trump approved almost twice as much borrowing as current President Joe Biden during his four years in office, according to the Committee for a Responsible Budget (CFRB). Trump, who presided over the federal government from 2016 to 2020, approved $8.4 trillion in new ten-year debt. But incumbent president Biden, who defeated Trump four years ago, has approved $4.3 trillion in new borrowing, said a new report by the committee. As for reducing the budget deficit, Trump cut it by $443 billion. The Biden administration has reduced it by $1.9 trillion. The U.S. is sitting on a total of $34.73 trillion in national debt, accrued over the country's history, according to government data.

I often say that Republicans create a mess when in office. And when they're voted out, the Republicans then try to make a campaign issue out of Democrats not cleaning up the Republican mess quickly enough.

During the Trump years, his tax cuts added $1.9 trillion in U.S. debt, while the budget passed in 2018 and 2019 generated borrowing of $2.1 trillion. Those two policy moves contributed some of the largest debt increases during Trump's tenure. Over the last three and a half years, under Biden, some of the largest contributors to the national debt included the appropriations bills of fiscal year 2022 and 2023 that generated $1.4 trillion of borrowing, while the American Rescue Plan Act was responsible for $2.1 trillion in debt, according to CFRB.

The Trump tax breaks for the filthy rich will automatically expire in a few years. That's why multi-billionaires are ignoring Trump's dictatorial behavior and criminality and are dropping HŪGE donations into Trump's campaign coffers so that he can renew their tax breaks if he gets back into office. Their rapacious greed is downright pathological.

When those tax breaks expire, provided Biden wins, the debt will then level off as it did during the Clinton administration after Democrats raised taxes on the filthy rich. Bill Clinton ended his presidency with a budget surplus.

As long as we're talking economics, a reminder that 90.9% of all recessions of the past 71 years began under Republicans.

... just sayin'.

[chradorya]

dj i promised back on twt

[fuckyeahnineninenine]

Trump-saster. I’ll take Bidenomics any day.

[commonsensecommentary]

“It is, of course, more than possible that our national awakening has come too late to save us from the accelerating catastrophe of decades of disastrously misguided experiments with bringing the very worst that Marxism has to offer to America, but perhaps we can now lessen the impact with which we are hitting the brick wall of reality.”

[vally-vall-vall]

I think I'm about to have a stroke

[danwhobrowses]

I'm not American I'm sure I've made that clear here but since it's Election Day in America it's worrisome that I once again have to compel myself to tell voters not to be stupid.

You're 1-1 right now, and the fact that this is considered a close election is a bafflement to the world. You are either voting for someone with a plan or a cult leader looking to use presidency as a Get Out Of Jail Free card, again.

So please. Don't. Be. Stupid.

[intelligentchristianlady]

Very wonky. Just look at the chart.

[boreal-sea]

Look.

I have made you a chart. A very simple chart.

People say "You have to draw the line somewhere, and Biden has crossed it-" and my response is "Trump has crossed way more lines than Biden".

These categories are based off of actual policy enacted by both of these men while they were in office.

If the ONLY LINE YOU CARE ABOUT is line 12, you have an incredible amount of privilege, AND YOU DO NOT CARE ABOUT PALESTINIANS. You obviously have nothing to fear from a Trump presidency, and you do not give a fuck if a ceasefire actually occurs. You are obviously fine if your queer, disabled, and marginalized loved ones are hurt. You clearly don't care about the status of American democracy, which Trump has openly stated he plans to destroy on day 1 he is in office.

EDIT:

Ok fine, I spent 3 hours compiling sources for all of these, you can find that below the cut.

I'll give at least one link per subject area. There are of course many more sources to be read on these subject areas and no post could possibly give someone a full education on these subjects.

Biden and trans rights: https://www.hrc.org/resources/president-bidens-pro-lgbtq-timeline

Trump and trans rights: https://www.aclu.org/news/lgbtq-rights/trump-on-lgbtq-rights-rolling-back-protections-and-criminalizing-gender-nonconformity

The two sources above show how Biden has done a lot of work to promote trans rights, and how Trump did a lot of work to hurt trans rights.

Biden on abortion access: https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/08/politics/what-is-in-biden-abortion-executive-order/index.html

Trump on abortion access: https://apnews.com/article/abortion-trump-republican-presidential-election-2024-585faf025a1416d13d2fbc23da8d8637

Biden openly supports access to abortion and has taken steps to protect those rights at a federal level even after Roe v Wade was overturned. Trump, on the other hand, was the man who appointed the judges who helped overturn Roe v Wade and he openly brags about how proud he is of that decision. He also states that he believes individual states should have the final say in whether or not abortion is legal, and that he trusts them to "do the right thing", meaning he supports stronger abortion bans.

Biden on environmental reform: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/10/07/fact-sheet-president-biden-restores-protections-for-three-national-monuments-and-renews-american-leadership-to-steward-lands-waters-and-cultural-resources/

Trump on environmental reform: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/climate/trump-environment-rollbacks-list.html

Biden has made major steps forward for environmental reform. He has restored protections that Trump rolled back. He has enacted many executive orders and more to promote environmental protections, including rejoining the Paris Accords, which Trump withdrew the USA from. Trump is also well known for spreading conspiracy theories and lies about global climate change, calling it a "Chinese hoax".

Biden on healthcare and prescription reform: https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2023/06/09/biden-administration-announces-savings-43-prescription-drugs-part-cost-saving-measures-president-bidens-inflation-reduction-act.html

Trump on healthcare reform: https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/07/politics/obamacare-health-insurance-ending-trump/index.html

I'm rolling healthcare and prescriptions and vaccines and public health all into one category here since they are related. Biden has lowered drug costs, expanded access to medicaid, and ACA enrollment has risen during his presidency. He has also made it so medical debt no longer applies to a person's credit score. He signed many executive orders during his first few weeks in office in order to get a handle on Trump's grievous mishandling of the COVID pandemic. Trump also wants to end the ACA. Trump is well known for refusing to wear a mask during the pandemic, encouraging the use of hydroxylchloroquine to "treat" COVID, and being openly anti-vaxx.

Biden on student loan forgiveness: https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/biden-harris-administration-announces-additional-77-billion-approved-student-debt-relief-160000-borrowers

Trump on student loan forgiveness: https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamminsky/2024/06/20/trump-knocks-bidens-vile-student-loan-forgiveness-plans-suggests-reversal/

Trump wants to reverse the student loan forgiveness plans Biden has enacted. Biden has already forgiven billions of dollars in loans and continues to work towards forgiving more.

Infrastructure funding:

I'm putting these links next together because they are all about infrastructure.

In general, Trump's "achievements" for infrastructure were to destroy environmental protections to speed up projects. Many of his plans were ineffective due to the fact that he did not clearly outline where the money was going to come from, and he was unwilling to raise taxes to pay for the projects. He was unable (and unwilling) to pass a bipartisan infrastructure bill during his 4 years in office. He did sign a few disaster relief bills. He did not enthusiastically promote renewable energy infrastructure. He created "Infrastructure Weeks" that the federal government then failed to fund. Trump did not do nothing for infrastructure, but his no-tax stance and his dislike for renewable energy means the contributions he made to American infrastructure were not as much as he claimed they were, nor as much as they could have been. Basically, he made a lot of promises, and delivered on very few of them. He is not "against" infrastructure, but he's certainly against funding it.

Biden was able to pass that bipartisan bill after taking office. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Plan that Trump tried to prevent from passing during Biden's term contains concrete funding sources and step by step plans to rebuild America's infrastructure. If you want to read the plan, you can find it here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/build/guidebook/. Biden has done far more for American infrastructure than Trump did, most notably by actually getting the bipartisan bill through congress.

Biden on Racial Equity: https://www.npr.org/sections/president-biden-takes-office/2021/01/26/960725707/biden-aims-to-advance-racial-equity-with-executive-actions

Trump on Racial Equity: https://www.axios.com/2024/04/01/trump-reverse-racism-civil-rights https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-37230916

Trump's racist policies are loud and clear for everyone to hear. We all heard him call Mexicans "Drug dealers, criminals, rapists". We all watched as he enacted travel bans on people from majority-Muslim nations. Biden, on the other hand, has done quite a lot during his term to attempt to reconcile racism in this country, including reversing Trump's "Muslim ban" the first day he was in office.

Biden on DEI: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/06/25/executive-order-on-diversity-equity-inclusion-and-accessibility-in-the-federal-workforce/

Trump on DEI: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-tried-to-crush-the-dei-revolution-heres-how-he-might-finish-the-job/ar-BB1jg3gz

Biden supports DEI and has signed executive orders and passed laws that support DEI on the federal level. Trump absolutely hates DEI and wants to eradicate it.

Biden on criminal justice reform: https://time.com/6155084/biden-criminal-justice-reform/

Trump on criminal justice reform: https://www.vox.com/2020-presidential-election/21418911/donald-trump-crime-criminal-justice-policy-record https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/05/trumps-extreme-plans-crime/678502/

From pardons for non-violent marijuana convictions to reducing the federal government's reliance on private prisons, Biden has done a lot in four years to reform our criminal justice system on the federal level. Meanwhile, Trump has described himself as "tough on crime". He advocates for more policing, including "stop and frisk" activities. Ironically it's actually quite difficult to find sources about what Trump thinks about crime, because almost all of the search results are about his own crimes.

Biden on military support for Israel: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/biden-obama-divide-closely-support-israel-rcna127107

Trump on military support for Israel: https://www.vox.com/politics/353037/trump-gaza-israel-protests-biden-election-2024

Biden supports Israel financially and militarily and promotes holding Israel close. So did Trump. Trump was also very pro-Israel during his time in office and even moved the embassy to Jerusalem and declared Jerusalem the capitol of Israel, a move that inflamed attitudes in the region.

Biden on a ceasefire: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2024/06/05/gaza-israel-hamas-cease-fire-plan-biden/73967659007/

Trump on a ceasefire: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-israel-gaza-finish-problem-rcna141905

Trump has tried to be quiet on the issue but recently said he wants Israel to "finish the problem". He of course claims he could have prevented the whole problem. Trump also openly stated after Oct 7th that he would bar immigrants who support Hamas from the country and send in officers to American protests to arrest anyone supporting Hamas.

Biden meanwhile has been quietly urging Netanyahu to accept a ceasefire deal for months, including the most recent announcement earlier in June, though it seems as though that deal has finally fallen through as well.

[ranthaven]

The US is the most productive economy for the success of the middleman in the history of the world. Buy my new book: How to Get Rich Without Offering Anything of Value!! Yours now for the low, low price of whatever I feel like charging for it! Come on, you know you want it.

[signode-blog]

The Economic Impact of a Kamala Harris Presidency: U.S. and Global Perspectives

The prediction that Kamala Harris could win the U.S. elections has sparked discussions across various fields, including politics, economics, and international relations. While predictions, particularly those based on astrology, are not grounded in empirical evidence, it is an interesting exercise to explore the potential impacts that a Kamala Harris presidency could have on both the U.S. economy…

[tomorrowusa]

There's been another tranche of student debt forgiveness by the Biden administration.

The Biden administration on Friday announced another $5 billion in debt forgiveness for 74,000 student loan borrowers. Why it matters: Although the Supreme Court blocked Biden's signature student loan forgiveness plan, his administration has found alternative ways to provide relief to more than 3.7 million people.

The Republican Supreme Court has tried to block student loan relief, but the Biden administration hasn't stopped looking for legal ways around SCOTUS for specific groups of Americans burdened by such debt.

Since 1981 Republicans have serially backed enormous tax breaks for their filthy rich contributors, but they vehemently oppose loan forgiveness for middle class and poorer taxpayers.

House GOP advances bill to block Biden’s student loan repayment program

Supreme Court, Republicans to blame for lack of debt forgiveness, students say in poll

In general, Republicans oppose higher education. Their base is made up of dumbass morons who believe conspiracy theories and they need more voters like that who won't question the bullshit that comes out of the GOP.

The Republican jones for deregulation since the Reagan-Bush era has led student debt to spiral out of control. The vicious circle of more burdensome loans feeding ever-increasing tuition fits well into the GOP agenda. It's a system that discourages post-secondary education for anyone who isn't rich.

President Dwight Eisenhower was no radical. But he knew what made America strong. The highest federal income tax rate for the filthy rich during most of his administration was 91%. And it was universally regarded as a period of enormous economic growth and prosperity.

A portion of that tax revenue went into the National Defense Education Act which, among other features, provided for grants and loans for post-secondary education – particularly for STEM, teacher education, and foreign languages. That was the impressive start of the federal student loan program. It was never meant to be a permanent chain around the necks of college graduates.

National Defense depends on smart Americans. But certain Russia-friendly Republicans have no interest in standing in Putin's way.

[erebusvincent]

We cannot afford any tax cuts without a massive reduction in spending or a much greater tax increase elsewhere.

[bopinion]

2024 / 27

Aperçu of the week

"Some day, following the example of the United States of America, there will be a United States of Europe."

(George Washington)

Bad News of the Week

Viktor Orbán has always been the loose cannon of European politics. Optimists had hoped that when Hungary takes over the rotating EU presidency for the second half of 2024, he would act just as statesmanlike as his equally right-wing Italian predecessor Giorgia Meloni did. Far from it.

First, he founded the new right-wing alliance "Patriots for Europe" with like-minded parties. He also won over the Austrian FPÖ (Freedom Party of Austria), whose chairman Herbert Kickl has a good chance of taking power in Vienna in the upcoming elections in the fall. Together with the Czech ANO (Action of Dissatisfied Citizens), an axis is emerging here and others are showing interest. Their agenda is not surprising: rejection of migration, a stop to the "Green Deal", no support for Ukraine and a "dismantling of European integration" in favor of national sovereignty - in short, against Europe.

Orbán then made a "diplomatic visit" to the Kremlin. Officially to mediate. As the first EU head of government since the start of the Ukraine war. And above all, as many EU representatives hastened to point out, without a corresponding mandate from the European Union. He has always been close to Vladimir Putin and distant from European democracy. Apart from a few pretty photos for him, this action achieves nothing and tears a hole in European unity.

This is exactly what Orbán is trying to do: weaken the EU. To signal that a united Europe does not exist. It is fitting that the next stop on his "peace mission" is Beijing. Europe only has a chance in international competition - and I don't just mean economically, but also geopolitically - against the USA and China in particular if it presents a united front. The Hungarian power dwarf continues to play the wrecking ball, supranational responsibility or not. Thanks for nothing.

Good News of the Week

The German federal cabinet has finally put together its national budget for 2025. This was preceded by endless disputes in plain public. It was mainly the Liberals and the Greens who were beating each other over the head with red lines. And the Social Democratic Chancellor Olaf Scholz did not dare to put his foot down - "policy competence" looks different. But now everyone apparently wanted to keep their promise to find a solution, i.e. a compromise, before the end of July.

According to Green Minister for Economic Affairs Robert Habeck, who I believe is the most credible source in this context, the compromise is actually a good one. He calls it a package "for children, the climate and the economy". Benefits for children and families are to be increased. Funding for climate protection projects is not to be cut. The economy and the labor market are to be given a sustainable boost. And there should not even be (or have to be) a special fund outside the regular budget for further military and social support for Ukraine. How is this supposed to work if the debt brake is to remain in place at the same time?

The magic wand of this budget negotiation is apparently called "creative accounting". This makes it possible to use more leeway in the here and now by shifting and staggering the posting of individual items. As a father whose children will have to pay it all off one day, this still allows me to sleep reasonably soundly. The UK's national debt in relation to gross domestic product, for example, is 101%. The USA's is 122%, Italy's 137% and Japan's 252%. The figure for Germany is just 64%. Perhaps Habeck is right when he calls the result, which still has to be approved by the parliament, a "very, very good package".

Personal happy moment of the week

Germany has been knocked out of the European Football Championship in its own country. Because "we" lost to Spain on Friday in the last minute and some say unjustifiably (increasing match domination, penalty not awarded, questionable timekeeping). Nevertheless, we had a great evening. Because we went to a small public viewing event at Strandbad Schliersee, a lakeside beach ground in the Alps. We were not yet familiar with this beautiful place, although we had walked past it many times. Wonderful ambience, great food, enthusiastic atmosphere, sunset included. Nice.

I couldn't care less...

...that France's Prime Minister Gabriel Attal offered his resignation after the government camp lost the elections. Because this is merely a symbolic and traditional gesture. After all, President Emmanuel Macron can keep the cabinet in office in an acting capacity. Moreover, it will be days before the majority situation is clear. Either way, the bottom line is that the French people have denied the Rassemblement National a grip on power with a pleasingly high voter turnout. The whole of Europe has been lucky again...

It's fine with me...

...that after the appointment by King Charles III and the introduction of his ministers, the first official act of the new UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer was to stop the deportation of immigrants to Rwanda. In doing so, he is demonstrating exactly what I wanted him to do in his new post: Respect for the rule of law and respect for human rights.

As I write this...

...the world looks at Iran with a doubtful frown. In the presidential election, the moderate politician Massud Peseshkian actually won the run-off. On the one hand, this is pleasing, as he is seen as downright progressive for the Shia state. For example, he wants to revive the nuclear agreement in order to spare his country economic sanctions. Or wants to curb the brutal persecution of women by the moral guardians for hijab violations. Or seeks to take action against corruption. The only problem is that the president has little say in Iran. The head of state and most powerful man is the 85-year-old religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In this theocratic state, religion still determines how much freedom of movement politics has. We shall see.

Post Scriptum

For the second half of 2024, my symbolic thinker of the year Friedrich Nietzsche stares into the void. Since our society lacks any coherent recipe for the challenges of our time: the defense of democracy against extremist forces, the fight against the consequences of climate change, the preservation of prosperity and social security, the freedom of self-determination, and peace. Nietzsche wears a button with the eye of the Freemasons as a symbol of truth. As we all have to face these challenges with open eyes.

[strangelandofbritain]

I feel like the turkey that voted for Christmas...

“Local woman convinced stone has some blood in it yet – will also consider extra beating for dead horse.”

Alternatively:

“Man kicks self in balls to ensure balls stop hurting.”