Citizens Against Government Waste

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teflor the ranger
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Citizens Against Government Waste

Postby teflor the ranger » Sat Oct 30, 2010 12:32 am

Teflor does. Teflor does not.
Corth
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Re: Citizens Against Government Waste

Postby Corth » Sat Oct 30, 2010 1:57 am

I like the punchline. Of course, there's the old saying (updated for current values):

If you owe the bank a million dollars the bank has a problem. If you owe the bank a billion dollars the bank has a problem.


What about when you owe China a trillion dollars?
Having said all that, the situation has been handled, so this thread is pretty much at an end. -Kossuth

Goddamned slippery mage.
Teflor Lyorian
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Re: Citizens Against Government Waste

Postby Teflor Lyorian » Sun Oct 31, 2010 6:17 am

It's funny that you say that, Corth, because you might note that we owe China "dollars." Not in another currency. Inflating our way out of a debt would destroy the life savings of Americans. Refusing to pay kills the credit rating that the United States has come to depend on for all of it's political and government growing spending.

Yes, it's China's problem, but do we really want China to have an "America" problem?
"You see, the devil haunts a hungry man.
If you don’t wanna join him, you got to beat him."
- Kris Kristofferson (To Beat the Devil)
Corth
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Re: Citizens Against Government Waste

Postby Corth » Sun Oct 31, 2010 3:43 pm

I don't think inflating is ideal. You are absolutely right that it will destroy people's life savings and undermine our country's credibility vis-a-vis foreign investors. This is very destructive. On the other hand, I'm not quite sure that the country's debt, public and private, actually CAN be paid back in real dollars.
Having said all that, the situation has been handled, so this thread is pretty much at an end. -Kossuth



Goddamned slippery mage.
Teflor Lyorian
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Re: Citizens Against Government Waste

Postby Teflor Lyorian » Mon Nov 01, 2010 3:43 am

They could potentially trade it for other influences. And yet, they could just also accept our interest payments.
"You see, the devil haunts a hungry man.
If you don’t wanna join him, you got to beat him."
- Kris Kristofferson (To Beat the Devil)
Corth
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Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2001 6:01 am
Location: NY, USA

Re: Citizens Against Government Waste

Postby Corth » Mon Nov 01, 2010 7:12 pm

Rofl - the national debt turned into a circa 2006 real estate craze interest only loan. :)

One thing I know is that the US government has never outright defaulted on any obligation in it's entire history. I don't expect Uncle Sam to plead poverty and seek a 'loan modifciation' any time soon. It's an interesting idea but the interest only solution seems dubious to me.

Especially when the US government prints the currency that it owes. It will be a stealth default. We owe you a trillion dollars - and you're going to get it exactly when we agreed to pay it to you. The problem is that perhaps a trillion dollars won't go quite as far as it once did. But you will get what we owe you!
Having said all that, the situation has been handled, so this thread is pretty much at an end. -Kossuth



Goddamned slippery mage.
Teflor Lyorian
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Posts: 1273
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Re: Citizens Against Government Waste

Postby Teflor Lyorian » Mon Nov 01, 2010 7:24 pm

It's becoming an issue when so much of our budget goes to interest payments. Nearing 20 cents of every Federal dollar...
"You see, the devil haunts a hungry man.
If you don’t wanna join him, you got to beat him."
- Kris Kristofferson (To Beat the Devil)

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