i was going to say that credit cards are spending money you don't have (i checked saturday's comic before the blog updated.) economics work differently at a federal level then at a personal level.
How about we prosecute some of the companies that took from certain government officials the money we didn't have?
Oh, right, silly me, the conservative way is to not even allow their funding cut when they require arbitration for rape in contracts that has them throwing girls into shipping crates after being gang-raped.
But we saved taxpayer money on ACORN! Yessiree! Wouldn't want those employees calling detectives after we tell them we have a child prostitution ring, or making up more outrageous stories than ours as we video tape them illegally.
Sorry, I can't write anything today. The duck keeps staring at me and getting bigger and bigger, and that screaming is really distracting. I wish it would stop.
*Serious face* Actually, Americans have been spending exactly what they have, or even more, for decades. It's part of what's helped cause the crap storm we're in now. Yes, the economy and revenues went up, but now that the ride is over, many people simply don't have the reserves to wait it out. Remember, kids: 15-25% of your income should be going directly into your savings.
Well, most of our worst increases in debt have been during wars. Not to mention the fact that comparing the Federal budget to a family budget is a facetious comparison.
A family can save money for emergencies, a family can factor in things like student loans and such. The Federal Government can't bank surplus money, they are expected to either spend it or send it back to the tax payers. Not to mention that tax cuts can underfund or force alterations to existing projects that are being funded over time.
The difference between investing in capacity and running day-to-day operations is as important to an organization like a government as it is to a family.
Investing in a home, education and your health is just like building water mains, electrical systems and fire departments. You can and do wisely go into debt for these, whether you're a family or Congress.
May I assume that today's "comic" is a protest about pissing away one or two trillion dollars on land wars in Asia?
rewinn: I assume you're kidding about that, since we all know that money spent on killing non-white people doesn't count in the budget, and hasn't since at least Vietnam (probably sooner).
And, as Iron Dragon correctly points out, what the Federal government does and what families do are not directly comparable. Two primary reasons for this are that (1) the government can always just print more money, families can't; and (2) people die but countries don't.
(BTW, since I have a graduate degree in economics, I have to throw this into the conversation: that is known as the "fallacy of composition", i.e., "what's good for a piece is good for the whole". After all, how many times will I get to say that?)
WV: nothi. What Tinkley thinks to himself as he passes out from too much research -- "I got nothi..."
9 comments:
"many Americans simply won't spend what they don't have"
(*brays laughter for thirty minutes straight*)
...Well, at least this time Tinsley didn't forget to tell a joke. 'Scuse me, I gotta go make a payment to my credit card.
Hey, Tins, tell us who was President the last time we had a surplus! Here's a clue.
i was going to say that credit cards are spending money you don't have (i checked saturday's comic before the blog updated.) economics work differently at a federal level then at a personal level.
How about we prosecute some of the companies that took from certain government officials the money we didn't have?
Oh, right, silly me, the conservative way is to not even allow their funding cut when they require arbitration for rape in contracts that has them throwing girls into shipping crates after being gang-raped.
But we saved taxpayer money on ACORN! Yessiree! Wouldn't want those employees calling detectives after we tell them we have a child prostitution ring, or making up more outrageous stories than ours as we video tape them illegally.
Sorry, I can't write anything today. The duck keeps staring at me and getting bigger and bigger, and that screaming is really distracting. I wish it would stop.
...Oh, it's me. I still wish it would stop.
DJ3000: "Looks like those clowns in Congress have done it again. What a bunch of clowns."
Mallard: "How does it stay on top of the news like that?"
*Serious face*
Actually, Americans have been spending exactly what they have, or even more, for decades. It's part of what's helped cause the crap storm we're in now. Yes, the economy and revenues went up, but now that the ride is over, many people simply don't have the reserves to wait it out.
Remember, kids: 15-25% of your income should be going directly into your savings.
Well, most of our worst increases in debt have been during wars. Not to mention the fact that comparing the Federal budget to a family budget is a facetious comparison.
A family can save money for emergencies, a family can factor in things like student loans and such. The Federal Government can't bank surplus money, they are expected to either spend it or send it back to the tax payers. Not to mention that tax cuts can underfund or force alterations to existing projects that are being funded over time.
The difference between investing in capacity and running day-to-day operations is as important to an organization like a government as it is to a family.
Investing in a home, education and your health is just like building water mains, electrical systems and fire departments. You can and do wisely go into debt for these, whether you're a family or Congress.
May I assume that today's "comic" is a protest about pissing away one or two trillion dollars on land wars in Asia?
rewinn: I assume you're kidding about that, since we all know that money spent on killing non-white people doesn't count in the budget, and hasn't since at least Vietnam (probably sooner).
And, as Iron Dragon correctly points out, what the Federal government does and what families do are not directly comparable. Two primary reasons for this are that (1) the government can always just print more money, families can't; and (2) people die but countries don't.
(BTW, since I have a graduate degree in economics, I have to throw this into the conversation: that is known as the "fallacy of composition", i.e., "what's good for a piece is good for the whole". After all, how many times will I get to say that?)
WV: nothi. What Tinkley thinks to himself as he passes out from too much research -- "I got nothi..."
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