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Posts Tagged ‘National Debt’
January 4th, 2011 at 2:16 pm
U.S. National Debt Jumps Past $14 Trillion Mark

According to the U.S. Treasury, on December 31 the National Debt stood at a whopping $14,025,215,218,708.52, breaking the $14 trillion mark for the first time in our nation’s history.  As CBSNews.com reported yesterday: 

It took just 7 months for the National Debt to increase from $13 trillion on June 1, 2010 to $14 trillion on Dec. 31. It also means the debt is fast approaching the statutory ceiling [of] $14.294 trillion set by Congress and signed into law by President Obama last February.

Congress must get serious about implementing significant across-the-board spending cuts and it should use the pending vote on the debt ceiling to ensure that happens.  Furthermore, we need to stop the bleeding by forcing Congress and the president, via a constitutional amendment, to present and pass a balanced federal budget annually without raising taxes.

December 16th, 2010 at 10:15 pm
Re: Trimming the Fat in the Federal Budget
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On Tuesday, we told you about the potent case for cutting federal spending being made by Nick Gillespie and Veronique De Rugy over at Reason. Because, as the new omnibus spending bill makes clear, Democrats are congenitally incapable of entertaining the idea of reigning in expenditures, the plan has become the target of criticism for The New Republic’s Jonathan Chait. His response is worth reading, as is Gillespie’s comprehensive rejoinder, but one of his central arguments stands out for its unseriousness:

Another way of putting this [the budget situation] is that, to maintain the current level of services in the federal budget, we would need to spend $5.5 trillion. Gillespie and de Rugy would propose instead to spend $4.2 trillion in 2020. That’s their prerogative. I’m sure they could find at least $1.3 trillion in spending that they don’t like. But the point is that you would have to eliminate a lot of functions of the federal government, and/or reduce a lot of social benefits.

The definition of modern liberalism may be to believe that it would be a hardship for the federal government to get by on over $4 trillion a year. And if budget cuts are a non-starter under this rationale, it’s hard to see when they would be palatable to liberals (how much do you want to bet that national defense is the exception?)

Are we to believe that Mr. Chait is convinced that such bracing austerity would rip the national safety net asunder? And that every activity currently undertaken by the federal government is too sacrosanct to be pruned? There’s a mathematical equation for such worship of the state … and its product is Nancy Pelosi’s approval rating.

October 22nd, 2010 at 12:48 pm
New CAGW Ad: In Year 2030, Chinese Laugh at U.S. as Reckless Spending Destroys Our Nation

Check out this new and powerful ad from our friends at Citizens Against Government Waste, which is “a chilling look at one potential future scenario” if the United States continues on its destructive fiscal path.

 

Learn more about this ad and CAGW’s inspiration for doing it here.

October 19th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
Ramirez Cartoon: Deep In Debt
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Below is one of the latest cartoons from two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Ramirez.

View more of Michael Ramirez’s cartoons on CFIF’s website here.

September 8th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
CFIF’s OneMoreVote.org Campaign Featured in Politico’s “Playbook,” MSNBC’s “First Read” and The Hill’s “On The Money”

The Center for Individual Freedom yesterday lauched its OneMoreVote.org initiative designed to stop the reckless spending  in Washington.  The campaign was featured in Politico’s “Playbook, MSNBC’s “First Read” and The Hill’s “On the Money”:

Politico’s Playbook:

OUT TODAY: “The Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) is announcing the launch of the ‘One More Vote’ campaign and website: OneMoreVote.org. The initiative is a grassroots-driven, online enlistment of activists across America focused on pressuring Congress and the administration to enact fundamental spending and budget reforms. … The One More Vote campaign name and concept is a nod to the Balanced Budget Amendment reform effort, a measure that fell just one vote short of passage. On Twitter: @OneMoreVoteCFIF.”

MSNBC’s First Read:

Per a source, “The Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) is announcing the launch of the ‘One More Vote’ campaign and website: OneMoreVote.org. The initiative is a grassroots-driven, online enlistment of activists across America focused on pressuring Congress and the administration to enact fundamental spending and budget reforms.”

The Hill’s On the Money:

 More from fiscal hawks this week…

The right-leaning Center for Individual Freedom launches on Tuesday the “One More Vote” campaign, seeking to require supermajorities in both the House and Senate for passage of any budget that projects a deficit, any tax hike and any debt limit increase. The name is a reference to the balanced budget amendment, which fell short of Senate passage by one vote in 1997.  http://bit.ly/9agHwr

If you haven’t already joined this growing movement, please do so here.

August 5th, 2010 at 11:32 am
Everything You Need to Know About Pelosi and Company’s Commitment to Deficit Reduction

From a story today in The Hill:

Four House Democrats who have proposed significant spending cuts were chastised at a recent caucus meeting for targeting programs senior appropriators had deemed vital, according to lawmakers and aides.

Reps. Gary Peters (Mich.), John Adler (N.J.), Jim Himes (Conn.) and Peter Welch (Vt.) introduced an amendment to the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development spending bill that would cut a dozen programs — totaling $1.4 billion — that had been added on top of President Obama’s initial budget request.

It was an effort to target a few government programs to chip away at a massive budget deficit — just as House leaders, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), have ordered committee heads to do.

Read the full story here.

June 18th, 2010 at 1:17 pm
The U.S. “Is In Need of a Tectonic Shift in Fiscal Policy”

That’s the conclusion of former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who, in an op-ed published today in The Wall Street Journal, warned that “perceptions of a large U.S. borrowing capacity are misleading,” and “an urgency to rein in budget deficits” can’t come soon enough.

Greenspan notes that public debt has soared out-of-control in the last 18 months, from $5.5 trillion to $8.6 trillion.  Yet, “the typical symptoms of fiscal excess,” notably inflation and a drastic rise in long-term interest rates, remain “remarkably subdued.” The former Fed Chairman writes that such a phenomenon is “regrettable, because it is fostering a sense of complacency that can have dire consequences. … Beneath the calm, there are market signals that do not bode well for the future.”

Greenspan isn’t the first person, nor will he be last, to warn that the nation’s “current federal debt explosion is being driven by an inability to stem new spending initiatives” and that merely “incremental change” in fiscal policy “will not be adequate.” Indeed, everyday Americans concerned about the U.S. debt crisis and who have never before engaged in the political process are literally taking to the streets demanding a policy of fiscal restraint.

If only the Obama Administration and Congress would listen.   As Greenspan put it, the United States “is in need of a tectonic shift in fiscal policy. … Our economy cannot afford a major mistake in underestimating the corrosive momentum of this fiscal crisis.”

June 9th, 2010 at 1:01 pm
Ramirez Cartoon: Future Generations Completely Covered In Debt
Posted by Print

Below is one of the latest cartoons from Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Ramirez.

April 16th, 2010 at 12:47 pm
Ramirez Cartoon: The Exploding National Debt
Posted by Print

Below is one of the latest cartoons from Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Ramirez.

View more of Michael Ramirez’s cartoons on CFIF’s website here.

January 28th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
Senate Votes to Expand Debt Limit by $1.9 Trillion
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Today, the Senate  voted to expand the U.S. debt limit to a record $14.3 trillion, or more than our total economic output last year.  We will soon spend more than we produce.

Here is the roll call vote.  No Republican voted for the measure.

January 26th, 2010 at 5:45 pm
Vote Alert: Coburn Amendment to Debt Hike
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The following was distributed to all Senate offices today:

Key Vote Alert: H. J. Res. 45, the Coburn Rescission Amendment

Center for Individual Freedom Urges All Senators to Vote “Yes” on the Coburn Rescission Amendment

On behalf of its 250,000 activists and supporters nationwide, the Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) urges all Senators to vote “Yes” on the Coburn amendment to H. J. Res. 45, the statutory debt limit increase.

CFIF supports numerous aspects of the amendment, including the more than $120 billion in federal spending reductions through the consolidation of duplicative government programs.

For example, the federal government currently has over 20 programs dedicated to reducing obesity. Because President Obama has pledge to “eliminate wasteful redundancy” in our federal budget, all Senators should support the Coburn amendment to reduce the nation’s bloated budget.

As the Senate considers yet another $1.9 trillion increase to our national debt, it only makes sense that our political leaders should take some strides toward reducing wasteful and duplicative spending. The Coburn amendment is one of many steps needed to reduce our staggering national debt.

For these reasons and more, CFIF urges all Senators to vote “Yes” on the Coburn amendment. Moreover, CFIF also opposes the $1.9 trillion debt limit increase and calls on Congress to further cut spending rather than recklessly add to the nation’s out-of-control debt.

Update: The Coburn amendment was defeated by a 37-57 vote.

January 19th, 2010 at 1:02 pm
One Year Later, By the Numbers…

On year ago tomorrow, Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States.  Where exactly are we as a nation one year later?

The Associated Press has put together an interesting compilation of numbers to help answer that question.  Highlights of the AP piece, which is titled “A By-the-Numbers Look at Obama’s First Year,” include:

– 13 million—Number of people 16 and older unemployed as of January 2009.
– 14.7 million—Number of people 16 and older unemployed as of December 2009.
– 7.7 percent—Unemployment rate January 2009
– 10.0 percent—Unemployment rate December 2009
– $787 billion—Cost of economic stimulus approved by Congress.
– $10.6 trillion—Outstanding public debt Jan. 20, 2009
– $12.3 trillion—Outstanding public debt Jan. 14, 2009.

Read the entire piece via Breitbart.com here.

December 18th, 2009 at 11:05 am
CFIF Video: Congress’ Gift to America – A Soaring National Debt

Every year around this time, we witness extraordinary acts of goodwill and generosity.  But this year, the “gift” Congress is giving to the American people is more debt.  In this week’s Freedom Minute, CFIF’s Renee Giachino discusses Congress’ decision to raise the debt ceiling and what that means for hard-working American families. 

Watch the video below:

 

November 13th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
Breaking the Glass Ceiling of Debt

Uninhibited by the mounting debt being incurred through present and future spending, the White House is pressuring Congress to raise the legal cap on the country’s debt limit.  Rebecca Christie of Bloomberg reports:

The Obama administration is confident Congress will raise the country’s debt limit by year end to avert a showdown similar to the one that shuttered parts of the government in 1995, administration officials said.

The White House wants an increase of at least $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion, according to a person familiar with the deliberations between lawmakers and the administration. Record budget deficits are pushing the national debt closer to the $12.1 trillion statutory limit.”

One would think a debt ceiling of $12.1 trillion would be a high enough threshold that – if reached – would prompt lawmakers to question the necessity (and sanity) of going over it.  One would be wrong.  What’s more, the Obama Administration is signaling that it doesn’t really care how Congress gets around to extending the nation’s credit line, as long as it does so before anyone has to choose between less spending or less work for federal employees.

The administration officials said the White House is open to any legislative vehicle that will raise the debt limit, by any amount.”

November 7th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
CFIF Video: No Ceiling on Reckless Gov’t Spending

In this week’s Freedom Minute, CFIF’s Renee Giachino discusses Congress’ ever-growing trend of reckless government spending and what the nation’s growing debt means for America’s families and furture generations.

Watch the video below.