I wish Mrs. Clinton was your President. I am pretty sure she wouldn't mince any words telling Boehner & Co. to STFU. The GOP was in total control of the borrowing and spending spree that ran up US government debt from 2001 to 2007. They left an economic catastrophe in their wake and now presume to tell anyone how to fund a government?
Both parties have been on a spending spree since the 1930s. Both parties knew the day of reckoning would come but they knew they'd be out of office when the axe fell. The truth is the United States of America is broke. Flat out broke. The government has promised benefits, and incurred debt that together now totals more than twice the worth of the nation itself. Congress has spent every dime in Social Security, the Civil Service Pension Trust, the Railroad Pension Trust, and has taken out every dime it can from the employees 401k funds. The total of national debt, and promised benefits is now in the neighborhood of 80 trillion dollars. That's right, 80 trillion dollars.
If they had known people would live this long, they'd have never given them as high of Social Security checks as they got. Also, their cost of living raises were not tied to inflation. They were tied to the wage increases of the public. The average person draws out every penny they pay into Social Security in 6 to 6.5 years. Millions have been drawing it in retirement for multiple decades. My dad has been drawing it for 25 years.
Health care is going to be changed. The largest part of the money is going to have to be spent on people still in their productive working years. There is only so much to go around, and the nation cannot afford to let the productive people fall by the wayside while people who are nearing the end of their life suck up scarce funds. People who are of advanced age will be given medication to keep them comfortable until they die.
In the past, Congress always chose to raise taxes. Well, they can't raise them much. If they took every dime owned by the wealthiest 2.2 million Americans, it wouldn't be enough to run the government for a year. Not even one single year. The average consumer is on the ropes. If their taxes go up, they'll default on more loans, unemployment will continue to rise, and the nation will implode.
The bubble economy of the 90s was nothing but speculation, and hot air. The bubble burst, the pain has come. So many people still don't get that it wasn't real, and it isn't coming back. Greenspan warned more than once about the irrational exuberance in the stock market, and the housing market. Yet, he chose not to use the powers given to the Federal Reserve to do anything about it. He even supported the creation of the disastrous ARM. Congress stepped in to support the "Every American who wants their own home should have one.". It has brought great harm to Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac. The lenders knowingly made many bad loans because the government would take them into Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac. The taxpayers are now on the hook for hundreds of billions in bad mortgages. I think you should have to take an examination on investing before you start fooling around in the markets.
The feds could have seized the giant banks assets, gone after the mega billions in bonuses, and returned banks back to the business at hand. Many bank officers could have gone to jail. You must remember that congress is the one who repealed the Glass_Steagall Act in 1999. It gave the banks the freedom to engage in regular depository banking, and investment banking too. They used the publics money to gamble on investments, and they lost big. If you follow the money, you will find they gave tens of millions in campaign contributions to the current administration.
For years, Americans did not save money. They foolishly thought they didn't need too. I'm Rich! I'm Rich! The government will take care of me! Businesses must have investment capital to operate. The public did not supply the needed capital. That capital came from foreign corporations, and governments. Cash rich corporations bought out US corporations, and the jobs disappeared.
It didn't help that the two previous presidents both entered into trade agreements that gave away millions of good paying jobs. Yes, both parties voted for it. Who benefited the most from the stupidity? China, and the largest monoply in the world. That's right, Walmart.
Pain is going to come. It is going to be really bad. Sadly, it is going to be necessary. In the past, when elderly relatives could no longer support themselves, they moved in with different family members. Everybody who could had to pitch in to make it work. It was done time, and again in my own parents families. Right now, my dad lives well for an old retired man. How does he do it? Every month, he gets money from us. Does he deserve it? No, he's a mean, and hateful piece of human crap. Why do we do it? He needs the help, and society shouldn't have to foot the bill when the family can help out. Would I be driving a 17 year old truck if I didn't have to help support him? Have you lost your mind? I could travel, have a new auto, and go get massages from captain fuzzy tits.
If he dies, Fuzzy Tits, warm up the massage table! Here I come!