"discretionary" spending is bullshit. It's all "discretionary."

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Having a dominant military is just as discretionary as social security.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

I understand the “pyramid scheme”of social security and the like. But how does a tax cut affect those, if they aren’t changing the funding (my employer and I are still contributing the same amount). I’m sure this is something I missed in Econ 101. It just seems that we’re worried about deficits now, but when we were bailing out the banks and GM, no one cared about increased deficits.

Tax cut doesn't change or impact social security in any way as FICA is a different tax.

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

That's because the financial system was on the brink of collapse and we were diving into the worst economic recession since the 1930s. That is the only time it actually makes sense to run up a big deficit.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

They also were really smart deals by the government especially the auto bailout given the national security implications, along with the employment implications, of doing nothing.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Entitlements are on auto pilot and do not require Congressional approval for the spending. All discretionary items require Congressional approval to be funded. It is a huge distinction because it is next to impossible to change entitlements until payroll revenue sources dry up. At that point, entitlements are automatically cut as we saw with the disability fund last year.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

The children of today in 30 years will just kick the can down the road to next generation. The bill never comes due.

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Social security is its own animal. It is an off budget item with a dedicated funding stream and automatic spending mechanism. Unlike all ERISA plans and pensions, it does not have to by funded to a government mandated level. As such, it has become a paygo system. The unfunded liability is estimated at $50T. That is why folks label is a pyramid scheme. It literally is.

In any other part of our legal system, the trustees would be in jail. Fear not, it is so important politically that it will always get funded and probably with deflated dollars akin to the internal devaluation that happened in Greece.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

Entitlements will be changed at some point. Who knows how big the fucking disaster will be before Congress does something.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

pretty much every Western economy will be in the same boat. This is one of the reasons why Europe is taking in migrants and why we need to have a continuous flow of immigration.

Japan may end up being the 1st country to hit this wall, and immigration isn't a solution for them.

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

Yup. It will be when faced with a benefit cut because the “fund” has dried up and ongoing payroll contributions are not enough to cover benefits. The law mandates a cut in benefits to match revenues. At that point, you simply raise payroll deductions.

This is due to happen around 2035.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

I'm all for me paying lower taxes while Trump voters suffer and hopefully die, but I honestly don't get the hysterical rhetoric.

1) $150B a year in a $20 Trillion economy is basically a dixie cup full of quarters. It's a meaningless amount.

2) For every MNC that has insinuated they will engage in at least some increased capital spending, 5 others had already declared increased stock repurchases -- before the bill even passed. That's what happened in 2004. (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... -investors)

3) MNCs were already sitting on literal mountains of cash. Why would they invest any more if they weren't already?

4) If a company is paying little or no tax overseas, why would they bother to voluntarily pay even the reduced amount?

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Soccer 1,2,3
Spanish Honor Society 1,2,3,4
Forensics 1,2,3,4

"Smiles with Nostrils"

"...no Hmong, go find some blacks"

Danny, MNC’s can’t access the $2T plus in cash parked overseas without paying the full load 35% federal income tax. They are sitting on cash that they can’t use without a huge hit. That is exactly why the biggest change in the code is the move towards a territorial tax system.

And if companies are sitting on unused cash, then the entire ecomonic system is operating below capacity. We should all want that cash back in the hands of investors and have it reallocated to more productive uses.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

military = jobs program

Army -> Congress, sirs, we don't need tanks!
Congress -> 500 tanks for you!
Nowhere, USA -> woo hoo jobs to make things no one needs!

Patriotism?

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

A Congressional slush fund for sure under the guise of USA USA!

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Hawaii (fuck) You

Cutting defense contracts would decimate the economies of multiple Southern states. Let's do it.

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nothing south of I-80 matters

Hardcore American South

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either market those arms overseas or find civilian equipment to manufacture. Lockheed made a go at the aviation market 45 years ago with the L1011 (a very underrated plane and something that was actually better than the more commercially successful DC-10 it was compared to), perhaps they can try their luck in that again.

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

Eliminate our military and sell materiel to foreign nations. Brilliant plan!

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

we have 2 oceans and thousands of miles to isolate us from force projection of most nations. It is logistically impossible to invade the US without first conquering Canada and or Mexico. Think about the logistics that went into invading across a 40 mile stretch of water in 1944, then move forward to a time where no nation that poses a threat to us has a true blue ocean navy.

Also, at $150 billion, we would still have the world's largest military budget.

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

All that excess military money should be spent on rebuilding bridges and roads.

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Bridges? Pfft. You can't sell those.

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nah we should just spend another $800 million on upgrading a 12 mile stretch of track so Amtrak can derail on it day 1

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

Hello Dark Ages.

Just look at Japan over the next few decades as that is our future

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

I hope you both realize that the high rates of property and sales tax we pay are because of yesterday's mistakes. If anything, the bill is overdue and we're suffering.

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Weird game shows and even weirder porn?

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