THE G.O.P. TAX CUT IS DRAINING THE TREASURY EVEN FASTER THAN EXPECTED

[RandomGuy]

America's burn rate is speeding up—leaving Congress just a few weeks to raise the debt ceiling again.


One of the many things confirmed by the great tax-bill melodrama of 2017 is that Republicans only pretend to care about “fiscal responsibility” when Democrats are in power and tax cuts aren’t on the line. With the opportunity to slash the corporate rate nearly in half, cries of “I won’t endorse a bill that adds one penny to the deficit!” evaporated, and tacking on $1.5 trillion became no big deal. Tax cuts, we will soon be reminded, don’t grow on trees, and the social safety net must be pared back in exchange. For now, though, Republicans are still in the trickle-down honeymoon phase, seeing in every corporate press release more confirmation that America has been made great again. Which makes it somewhat ironic that the Treasury is now burning through its cash reserves at an even more spectacular rate.

According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the federal government will run out of money even sooner than expected, thanks to the new tax legislation, which is estimated to lead to a fall in revenue of $136 billion in 2018. A default on debts had originally been forecasted for late March or early April. But now, because of the new withholding tables, “withheld receipts are expected to be less than the amounts paid in the comparable period last year.” That, combined with the fact that the Treasury generally issues a high number of tax refunds in February and March, means that the $272 billion in cash the Department had on hand as of Tuesday will quickly dwindle. If the debt ceiling isn’t increased by the first half of March, the C.B.O. cautioned on Wednesday, “the government would be unable to pay its obligations fully,” and would be forced to delay payments, default on its debts, or both.

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/02/the-gop-tax-cut-is-draining-the-treasury

[boutons_deux]

Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP, VA, IRS, the entire safety net, etc, all going to be butchered as soon as Ryan can do it.

[Expert]

ALL CAPS EMERGENCY HAS BEEN INITIATED PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT TO FLEE THE SCENE

:madrun "HELP NO ONE IS READING MY REPOSITORY SHIT"

[RandomGuy]

ALL CAPS EMERGENCY HAS BEEN INITIATED PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT TO FLEE THE SCENE

:madrun "HELP NO ONE IS READING MY REPOSITORY SHIT"

Just pointing out Republican policy failures. U mad?

[Expert]

Just pointing out Republican policy failures. U mad?

NO I AM NOT MAD

[boutons_deux]

This is why Repugs have no qualms about the debt they created to finance the oligarchy's wealth.

Conservatives and business leaders worried about the deficit take aim at Social Security and Medicare

the drumbeats for cuts in social insurance benefits have been sounding louder.

As is traditional, the call for cutbacks is placed in the context of concern about rising federal deficits.

Just two weeks ago,

five economists and thinkers at the conservative Hoover Institution evoked the "debt crisis" (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-debt-crisis-is-on-our-doorstep/2018/03/27/fd28318c-27d3-11e8-bc72-077aa4dab9ef_story.html) in the pages of the Washington Post.

They attributed the crisis to "sharply rising entitlement spending" in coming years. :lol

"To address the debt problem, Congress must reform and restrain the growth of entitlement programs and adopt further pro-growth tax and regulatory policies," :lol

House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin (http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-medicare-ryan-20171208-story.html) and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida (http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-gop-social-security-20171130-story.html) started calling for benefit cuts even as the tax bill was making its way through Congress.

"The real problem with our deficit is the uncontrolled growth of our entitlement programs," Dimon wrote. :lol

"The extraordinary growth of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security is jeopardizing our fiscal situation."

For the record, the Congressional Budget Office projects (https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/115th-congress-2017-2018/reports/53651-outlook.pdf) that Social Security will rise from an average share of 4.9% of gross domestic product now to an average of 5.5% over the next 10 years.

Medicare and Medicaid together will rise from 5.4% now to an average of 6.3% in the same period.

To place these figures in context, the CBO also expects GDP to nearly double in that time period, to $29.8 trillion.

As is invariably the case,

the brief against "entitlements" is peppered with misconceptions and outright untruths.

Indications that businesses of any size will use their tax cuts to make capital investments are hard to find.

The Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank, in a series of surveys of businesses (http://macroblog.typepad.com/macroblog/2018/03/what-are-businesses-saying-about-tax-reform-now.html) in its region (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee), found that the vast majority of respondents have made no plans to increase capital investment in 2018 or 2019 as a result of the tax cuts.

"If anything," the Atlanta Fed says, "these firms have revised down their expectations for this year."

http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-deficits-entitlements-20180409-story.html#nws=mcnewsletter

iow, America (of the lower 80%) is fucked and unfuckable.

The increasingly wealthy (politically powerful) oligarchy will continue to crush the 80%.

[RandomGuy]

NO I AM NOT MAD

I would be mad too, if my political party had picked such a shitty president.

Not sure what it is about Republicans that they prefer inept morons. Reagan, Bush Jr., and now Trump.

[Expert]

I would be mad too, if my political party had picked such a shitty president.

Not sure what it is about Republicans that they prefer inept morons. Reagan, Bush Jr., and now Trump.

Yours picked Hillary. When you get beat by a reality TV star with an already shitty reputation, you really need to go back to the drawing board.

[SpursforSix]

I would be mad too, if my political party had picked such a shitty president.

Not sure what it is about Republicans that they prefer inept morons. Reagan, Bush Jr., and now Trump.

Lol. "Your"..."my"...political party. You think any of the elected fucks gives a shit about you?

[ElNono]

lol caps

[Spurtacular]

Another plagiarized OP.

[Pavlov]

Another plagiarized OP.lol no

[Spurtacular]

lol no

Which part of it did he write?

"lol"

[Pavlov]

Which part of it did he write?

"lol"lol it wasn't plagiarized.

You don't know what the word means.

[SnakeBoy]

I would be mad too, if my political party had picked such a shitty president.

Not sure what it is about Republicans that they prefer inept morons. Reagan, Bush Jr., and now Trump.

I would be mad if "my party" kept losing to inept morons.

[Spurtacular]

lol it wasn't plagiarized.

You don't know what the word means.

Tell us what if any part he came up with.

[Pavlov]

Tell us what if any part he came up with.Tell me the part that's plagiarized.

There is none.

Full attribution.

[Spurtacular]

Tell me the part that's plagiarized.

There is none.

Full attribution.

Sourced. Text not attributed TBH.

[Pavlov]

Sourced, not properly attributed TBH. That's plagiarism, bro.What is the official attribution process for vBulletin?

Show me all the rules that apply here.

[Spurtacular]

What is the official attribution process for vBulletin?

Show me all the rules that apply here.

Show me the official rules for determining plagiarism on a vBulletin.

:lol L's in bulk.

[Pavlov]

Show me the official rules for determining plagiarism on a vBulletin.There are none, which also works against you.

lol

[Spurtacular]

There are none, which also works against you.

lol

So there's no such thing as plagiarism on vBulletin, according to you.

:lol L's in bulk.

[Pavlov]

So there's no such thing as plagiarism on vBulletin, according to you.Certainly not when an article is fully attributed. Only a butthurt idiot holding a grudge would try to say it is plagiarism.

[Spurtacular]

Certainly not when an article is fully attributed. Only a butthurt idiot holding a grudge would try to say it is plagiarism.

Sourcing is not attributing. Copy/paste OP is the essence of plagiarism.

[Pavlov]

Sourcing is not attributing. Copy/paste OP is the essence of plagiarism.lol you're the only one who thinks it's plagiarism, and that's because you're holding a grudge against the dude.

[Spurtacular]

lol you're the only one who thinks it's plagiarism, and that's because you're holding a grudge against the dude.

More conjecture :lol

Here you go, bro:

https://i.imgur.com/dU70A2x.jpg

[AaronY]

OMG ALLCAPS!!! ITS PANIC TIME PEOPLE!!

[Pavlov]

More conjecture :lolNope, you're the only one who has called it plagiarism.

It's a solid conclusion.

Feel free to find someone else who does.

[Spurtacular]

Nope, you're the only one who has called it plagiarism.

It's a solid conclusion.

Feel free to find someone else who does.

"Solid conclusion"

:lol You've admitted you don't have adequate support to make your assessment on plagiarism. And you're going on and on while engaging in your typical conjecture. I think we know who has the "grudge" and "butthurt" motivating him.

[Pavlov]

"Solid conclusion"

:lol You've admitted you don't have adequate support to make your assessment on plagiarism. And you're going on and on while engaging in your typical conjecture. I think we know who has the "grudge" and "butthurt" motivating him.

You're the only one saying it's plagiarism.

That's all.

[Spurtacular]

You're the only one saying it's plagiarism.

That's all.

:lol Thinking that card means anything.

[Pavlov]

:lol Thinking that card means anything.

It means you're the only one here who thinks it's plagiarism.

You care a lot about it.

But you're wrong.

[Spurtacular]

It means you're the only one here who thinks it's plagiarism.

You care a lot about it.

But you're wrong.

You've already admitted this claim is not supported.

:lol Reliving your L's.

[Pavlov]

You've already admitted this claim is not supported.Actually I admitted yours was wrong.

[Spurtacular]

Actually I admitted yours was wrong.

The transcript speaks for itself.

[Pavlov]

The transcript speaks for itself.Yep, you're the only one who has ever complained about plagiarism in the ST political forum.

And you're wrong.

[Spurtacular]

Yep, you're the only one who has ever complained about plagiarism in the ST political forum.

And you're wrong.

You've already taken the full L on this, bro. Denial ain't gonna change that.

[Pavlov]

You've already taken the full L on this, bro. Denial ain't gonna change that.Nah, but you really need to declare victory all the time. It's hilarious.

[Spurtacular]

Nah, but you really need to declare victory all the time. It's hilarious.

You can beg for your L to go away all you want. It's already in the books.

[Pavlov]

You can beg for your L to go away all you want. It's already in the books.Whose books?

[Xevious]

OMG ALLCAPS!!! ITS PANIC TIME PEOPLE!!

OMFG