Obama's Debt Commission Leaders Paint Gloomy Picture! (we're SCREWED!)

The heads of President Barack Obama's national debt commission painted a gloomy picture Sunday as the United States struggles to get its spending under control.

Republican Alan Simpson and Democrat Erskine Bowles told a meeting of the National Governors Association that everything needs to be considered — including curtailing popular tax breaks, such as the home mortgage deduction, and instituting a financial trigger mechanism for gaining Medicare coverage.The nation's total federal debt next year is expected to exceed $14 trillion — about $47,000 for every U.S. resident

"This debt is like a cancer," Bowles said in a sober presentation nonetheless lightened by humorous asides between him and Simpson. "It is truly going to destroy the country from within."

"The rest of the federal government, including fighting two wars, homeland security, education, art, culture, you name it, veterans, the whole rest of the discretionary budget, is being financed by China and other countries," said Simpson. China alone currently holds $920 billion in U.S. IOUs.

Bowles said if the U.S. makes no changes it will be spending $2 trillion by 2020 just for interest on the national debt. "Just think about that: All that money, going somewhere else, to create jobs and opportunity somewhere else," he said.

Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe was one of those leaders who sat in rapt attention during the presentation, one of the first in public by the commission leaders. "I don't know that I ever heard a gloomier picture painted that created more hope for me,"

Source: www.newsmax.com...

I love it when the Gov't wakes up to something us little guys already knew. On my SHOCK!? Give me a break. The only ones who don't believe Obama is attempting to (and doing a good job of it) ruining the country---- are the defenders of him and his administration HERE on ATS!

Obama is ruining our country ON PURPOSE! By weighing us down with massive debt and crippling our means to maximze our work force. I dare say one of the first steps/attacks by our enemiers! YES, I SAID IT. PROVE ME WRONG!

Go ahead, start blaming Bush-proving your head is DEEP in the sand. Time to get together to gets these PUTZ's out of there. I forsee terrible times ahead for us-as I am sure you all (most) do too.

Anyone want to try an paint a rosey picture for our future-especially if Obama and the Dems win this November and in 2012.

Anyway, Obama's OWN commission that he established to advise him on this topic. I bet he doesn't even comment on it, let alone act on ANY of their recommedations.

Wake up people- the hand of death is closing around our necks!

Edited to try to find my answer elsewhere, so not to muck up this thread.

[edit on 12-7-2010 by Tragic]

reply to post by anon72


It is really sad . We voted for change and we not only get the same but a stronger version of it. As far as the OP , you can play party pooper all you want just remember it is the individual not the group.

yeah they could have me the debt czar, or whatever his title is, and I coulda told you the same thing.

I'm sure I need the money more than him.

Though his multi-million dollar house probably needed re-furnishing.

You want a rosy picture? Of course, you do not want a rosy picture and only meant to goad Obama supporters into defending the house of cards that has somehow remained standing as long as it has. House of cards are destined to crumble, and it takes far less than a big bad wolf to huff and puff to blow that house down. It is folly to expect to find shelter from the storm while hiding in a house made of cards.

It is folly to blame Presidents and Congress for the apathy and embrace of expedience that we the people have embraced for more than 100 years in this nation. We cannot have one foot in the door, and one foot out the door and pretend we are going somewhere. Either we step back into the house of cards and hold our collective breath, or we leave such fragile structures and begin to re-build.

Re-building is not contingent upon waiting for approval from a government hell bent on controlling us. Why ask permission from such an authoritarian state when the answer is easily predicted. The answer will be no. Thousands of people came from all across The United States after Katrina to help those in need in New Orleans, and the federal government did all they could to stop that from happening. For the many who asked the federal government permission to help the victims of Katrina, the answer was no. Now for those thousands of people who ask the federal government to help out with the BP fiasco, the answer is no.

I have heard it said that it is better to not ask for permission and to apologize later. In the matter of the federal government I say no permission to act is necessary, and apologizing later is out of the question. We do not now, or did we ever, need permission to do what is our fundamental right to do. We do not now, nor did we ever, have to apologize for exercising our basic and inalienable rights.

Free markets do not operate on the foundation of permission to operate. If you think you need a license to do business, then you think you need permission to do business. If you think you need a bank account in order to create wealth, then you think you need permission to create wealth. If you think that banking institutions are necessary to a free market, then you may as well believe in unicorns and credit fairies. If you understand that all markets respond to the simple law of supply and demand, then you understand the most important principle of business. If you understand that all successful businesses maximize their income and minimize their outgo, then you understand the basic principle of success.

If you think you are liable for the so called "Personal Income Tax", then chances are you have never even bothered to look at the law to begin with. If you think the Federal Reserve controls you, then you do not understand what inalienable rights mean. If you believe that fearing your oppressors is prudent, then you understand neither prudence nor oppression. If you think life is easy, then you don't understand life. If you think expedience is the wise course of action, then you will not fight your oppressors until it becomes expedient to do so, and it will not become expedient to do so until long after you have been financially ruined. If you think it is prudent to wait until ruin happens before acting, then much like the victims of Katrina, you will, in all likelihood, become a victim.

Originally posted by anon72
Obama is ruining our country ON PURPOSE! By weighing us down with massive debt and crippling our means to maximze our work force. I dare say one of the first steps/attacks by our enemiers! YES, I SAID IT. PROVE ME WRONG!

He's added slightly over $2 Trillion to the national debt which was standing at around $11 Trillion at the end of 2008. Part of that $2 Trillion was the deficit between lower tax receipts and spending that Bush had mandated for 2009. Another large part is the change in accounting for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, which are included in the budget for the first time instead of having the costs hidden. Right now, we are still in the first fiscal budget year of the Obama administration (Oct. 2009 - Sept. 2010) and the increase over Bush's final budget year is just $400 Billion. These are facts that can be easily verified by figures from the US Treasury and many other official sources when you don't limit your research to right wing talk radio.

US Federal Budgets

US Budget 1996 Forward

US Budget FY2009

reply to post by mythatsabigprobe


Thanks for proving my point.

You said it yourself- he alone contributed 2 trillion and is only to get higher. Just go ahead and send in your absentee ballot already-marked for Obama. LOL

As I said, We're Screwed-mostly because people are ignoring the warning sighns/calls.

reply to post by anon72


Reading challenged? Math too hard? I'm sorry I can't explain it with pictures of lolcats.

Well, looks like the Obama defenders are busy somewhere else on ATS or on vacation.

Good.