US Revenue and Expenses

[delldude]

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[777 fixer]

Since the theme of that article seems to be about entitlment spending let me point out something most of us already know. Niether party appears to be willing to talk about changes/cuts in those programs. The Republicans seem to think that all they have to do to put our financial house in order to cut NEA, Planned Parenthood, PBS, Americorps, etc. Even Tea Party darling Rand Paul euns in the other direction when the subject comes.

 

[delldude]

I know, its the same old song. Eventually and its very close, those programs and about everything financial will go out the window. Then what?

I think Paul Ryan has several good ideas.....one of which is extending retirement age higher for a certain age groups way out from retirement now.
I'm sure you know of people who "can't" work living on SSI which I think needs serious looking into.
Medicare was a fiasco from day one.....
Great society, ain't it great?

 

[777 fixer]

One thing that needs to go, farm subsidies.

 

[Ms Tree]

I have not looked into the farm thing. How does that work. I get the general idea that the Fed gives the farmers money to make the ends meet. With no subsidies, what happens to the farms? Do they go under? Would that allow the other farms to charge more? If cost go up, don't we still end up paying for it? Will the larger ones buy up the smaller ones? I guess my main concern is how does this affect/effect our food source?

 

[777 fixer]

I have not looked into the farm thing. How does that work. I get the general idea that the Fed gives the farmers money to make the ends meet. With no subsidies, what happens to the farms? Do they go under? Would that allow the other farms to charge more? If cost go up, don't we still end up paying for it? Will the larger ones buy up the smaller ones? I guess my main concern is how does this affect/effect our food source?

Ten percent of the biggest farms get 72% of the subsidies. There's this myth that subsidies are keeping family farms that are barely making it afloat. Well the truth is most subsidies go to businesses or people who really don't need them.

http://farm.ewg.org/addrsearch.php?s=yup&stab=US&zip=&last=Rockefeller&first=&stab=NY&i=Search+Recipients&fullname=&stab2=AL

 

[Ms Tree]

How much food do the top 10% make? Would they be able to survive with out the subsidies?

 

[delldude]

One thing that needs to go, farm subsidies.

Dude.....I think I'm in love here.................... 😛

 

[SparrowHawk]

I don't disagree except for the fact they are so entrenched in the farmbelt. The subsidies are the crack cocaine of agribusiness. It alters the free market world wide. Yet it's usually The Republicans who are the most ardent supporters. They are just two wing on the same bird of prey

 

[777 fixer]

Dude.....I think I'm in love here.................... 😛

I'm flatered, but I don't swing that way. 😉

 

[777 fixer]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/33e08484-48b8-11e0-9739-00144feab49a.html#axzz1FwsULmWX

The trillion dollar question is will anything actually happen.

 

[delldude]

I'm not up on farm subsidies at this point in time but I remember when I was younger, friends had a 250 acre farm which they did not harvest anything. All they had to do was mow the fields and the government paid them a price per acre for not planting corn or some other thing. The fed would fly over in small aircraft to see if they mowed the fields and didn't plant. All the neighboring farmers did it. I'd bet they still do this all over the country.
It was claimed this stabilized corn or whatever prices by not overproducing.

I thought it was stupid.

 

[777 fixer]

I think Paul Ryan has several good ideas.....

I've heard that Paul Ryan's plan does not address defense spending. So much for everything being on the table.

 

[Ms Tree]

It also does nothing to address the loop holes in the tax code. All he is doing is cutting spending from those who cal least afford it while not touching SS, medicare and defense. I guess he wants to get re-elected more than he wants to fix the problems ... just like every other politician.

 

[SparrowHawk]

It also does nothing to address the loop holes in the tax code. All he is doing is cutting spending from those who cal least afford it while not touching SS, medicare and defense. I guess he wants to get re-elected more than he wants to fix the problems ... just like every other politician.

Interesting Article - NOTE: It's OP-ED

In Washington, Rep. Paul Ryan didn't talk about Britain or cruise missiles when he unveiled his path-breaking budget proposal last week. But the new House Budget Committee chairman could not have been clearer: In coming years, the Big Three entitlement programs -- Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security -- will consume the United States' budget. By sometime around 2050, if increases in the costs of those programs continue unchecked, they will eat up every single tax dollar collected by the federal government.

Now, the United States spends about 10 percent of GDP on entitlements, versus about 5 percent on defense. Two decades from now, entitlement spending will hit 15 percent of GDP. And well before that, the amount we spend on interest on the debt will pass defense spending, too. As the debt increases, there will be continuing political pressure to cut non-entitlement spending, with defense, as always, the biggest target.