Do you only follow what the MSM and Democrats feed you? If it is, I advise you to pull your head out and read the actual numbers from the Treasury Department. The Trump tax cuts increased the revenue to the Treasury. Trump can't spend any money, all spending comes from the House of Representatives. Until you can admit that the deficit problem is not caused by the tax cuts (which were more than offset by the record numbers of people working and paying taxes) and were caused because Congress is incapable of limiting spending to be equal to or less than revenue coming in. I don't totally blame Democrats (although they do spend more than Republicans), the Republicans are just as guilty of overspending.
Too many Americans have followed the government example, that's why personal debt is so high. I have friends who took out student loans, carry balances on multiple credit cards and have big mortgages on their homes. I followed a different path. I learned from my parents and grandparents self-reliance and budgeting. My cars may not be the latest, fanciest models but they were paid for out right, no loans. I bought my house without a mortgage or loan of any kind. It's not the biggest, but I don't need a mansion. It is 133 years old and solidly built. They knew how to build to keep warm in the winter and cool in the summer without fancy furnaces or air conditioning systems. I paid my way through college on my own, no student debt. I may not fit your definition of rich, but most of them just break even when you take into account their assets minus their debts. I have my assets and no debts, so I guess I win.

You think climbing into further and further debt without a cap is the way to go? This came about from the GOP, when ironically they're the ones who usually do the overspending, quite the catch catcher's can. Since Clinton, and under Bush's tax breaks we've been in the red ever since. The best thing Biden can do for us is to go back to that tax base under Clinton. It's always right on track of the republicans not bringing up the debt until the democrat gets back in office, interesting huh.

We all have to balance our books and stay within budget, I think the government should too. But I also thinkit's a good idea to include emergency funds when needed and certainly not just for war.

I have condensed your response for brevity for I have found brevity good even though I'm not good at it. I do appreciate your words and agree with your thoughts. I only wish to "tweak" here and there.

Concerning my knowledge of money, please note I try to use the term "currency " because money denotes value.
Gold is money, silver is money, years ago the dollar was indeed money, but no more. Money should maintain it's value in respect to the goods we need. Our dollars do not.
We have been robbed by the immoral act of inflating the so-called "money" supply. Our dollar bill is worth about 4 cents compared to it's buying power of 1920.

You say several causes and then list several things (non of which I disagree) however I would term them effects.
They all can be traced back to the immoral act of inflating our currency. Folks loose focus on a future, a good life when every time they go to buy needed things for the family their dollars don't go as far.
They are trapped in despair.
They see the criminal element living high, they begin to see the family unit as a d**g.
They are trapped in despair by a silent k**ler, the k**ler of hopeless because no matter how hard they might work, they get further behind.
All because of an immoral act they can't see and know nothing about.

I hear you on the liberal/conservative thing. Even today's conservative argues about how much rather than a certain program even being funded at all.
In my opinion we have not had a capitalist govt in a long while.

You say the things going on are not fiscally viable to which I totally agree. So what to do?
Most of the moral issues you brought up are recent, rising to the surface generationally which makes us feel they are sudden even though the foundation has been slowly crumbing for years.
Many facts and statistics show the black families in good shape before Johnson's war on poverty.

To sum all this up, man I hear you and agree with everything you say. However I still see the immoral act of inflating our well-being out from under us is the root cause.
And the only way to stop said act is to hold government's foot to the fire with a gold standard.

Humm, I see you picked the first, most liberals know nothing about the second and care little about the third.
But the first option, that one always pushes a liberal's buttons.

As "you know it or should" there is a growing gulf(a Biblical term for gap FYI) between the rich and the rest of us today. This is not a new thing because there has always been the two groups, however the part about it growing is new.
I say not a new thing when viewed on the macro level because there were certainly rich folks in the 1800's, but what's different today?
Today the rich are getting richer by investing while in the 1800's they became rich by producing.
But what's the difference you might ask? Glad you asked.

The gold standard is the difference. When our currency was based on gold a man could put $1,000 in the bank, wait 5 yrs, draw an equatable interest, take the $1,000 and buy the same amount of goods as he could have when the money was placed in savings.
As"you know it or should" those were days when saving made sense. But not today! Today it's much smarter to buy today and pay off latter with inflated dollars.
But what about the rich over this long period of time (macro)? They used to get rich by producing which increased employment. Remember the old saying "a rising tide lifts all ships", but not now. They are getting rich by playing the game better.
Which game? Awh again thanks for asking. The game of getting the biggest portion of govt printed money. They roll it into the stock mkt, rather than paying higher wages, they build elaborate pension funds encouraging others to invest in these funds.
The rich move their big handout into hard assets, the poor feed the kids. Remember the old adage about he who owns the gold.... The rich are suppressing hard asset mkts so they can stock up using the dollars they win by playing the game.. But sorry you didn't wish to speak on that topic.

So where are we now? We're all trying to make ends meet with more and more dollars which are worth less and less. (In another post I show how a pre-64 quarter used to buy a gallon of gas and it still will having a value of around $5.00)

As you know it or should Rome was brought down because it debased the coins paid to their soldiers, no difference today.
I do believe the old saying "the only thing man learns from history is that man doesn't learn from history."

I'm quiet sure you will come up with a few of your other causes that I should know about, but when you peel the onion layers of history and economics, currency debasement is always at the core.

Mitch says he is guilty.
Former President Donald Trump's actions preceding the r**t at the U.S. Capitol were a "disgraceful dereliction of duty" and there is "no question, none," that he "is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day," and Trump could still face criminal or civil punishment, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a strongly worded address after the Senate's v**e for acquittal.

However, McConnell, who v**ed Trump was not guilty, said Trump could not constitutionally be found guilty as a former president, adding he does not believe the Senate should "grab power the Constitution doesn't give us."

Trump, though, "didn't get away with anything yet," McConnell said.

"Unless the statute of limitations has run, he is still liable for everything he did while he was in office," McConnell said. "He didn't get away with anything yet. Yet. We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil litigation. And former presidents are not immune from being accountable by either one."


If Trump was still in office, however, "I would have carefully considered whether the House managers proved their specific charge . . . the question is moot because former President Trump is constitutionally not eligible for conviction."

However, McConnell left no doubt he believes Trump incited the r****rs who attacked the Capitol as it was confirming the E*******l College's v**e for President Joe Biden.

"[Trump] was angry he lost an e******n," McConnell said. "The people who stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their president."

That belief, he added, was "a foreseeable consequence of the growing crescendo of false statements, conspiracy theories, and reckless hyperbole which the defeated president kept shouting into the largest megaphone on planet Earth."


The issue, he added, was not because of Trump's "intemperate language" J*** 6, but "also the entire manufactured atmosphere of looming catastrophe, the increasingly wild myths, myths about a reverse landslide e******n that was somehow being stolen, some secret c**p by our now-president."

McConnell also stressed the legal system and E*******l College spoke, but that just "opened a new chapter of even wilder and more unfounded claims."

"The leader of the free world cannot spend weeks thundering that shadowy forces are stealing our country and then feign surprise when people believe him and do reckless things," McConnell said. "This was an intensifying crescendo of conspiracy theories orchestrated by an outgoing president who seemed determined to either overturn the v**ers' decision or else torch our institutions on the way out."

Trump's "unconscionable behavior" did not end when the r**t started, he added.

"We know he was watching the same live television as the rest of us," McConnell continued. "A mob was assaulting the Capitol in his name. These criminals carried his banners, h*****g his f**gs and screaming their loyalty to him."

And, McConnell said Trump was the only person who could end the violence, but even though former aides, loyal allies, and more called on him to end the violence, Trump "did not act swiftly; he did not do his job; he didn't take steps so federal law could be faithfully executed and order restored."

Instead, according to public reports, "he watched television happily, happily," McConnell said, and even when it was apparent Vice President Mike Pence was in serious danger, "the president sent a further tweet attacking his own vice president."

Further, even with "police officers bleeding and broken glass covering Capitol floors, he kept repeating e******n **es and praising the criminals," McConnell said.

Trump's associates, he added, have tried to use the 74 million Americans who v**ed to reelect him as a "human shield" against criticism.

"Anyone who decries his awful behavior is accused of insulting millions of v**er: That's an absurd deflection; . 74 million Americans did not invade the Capitol," McConnell said. "Hundreds of r****rs did."

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Read Newsmax: McConnell: Trump 'Didn't Get Away With Anything Yet'
Urgent: Do you approve of Pres. Trump’s job performance? V**e Here Now!

Hey thanks for the affirmation. I don't think one has to look far and wide to find the results of my statement.
I've been observing this site for several months and posting for a little over a month.
Folks here never seem to discuss the merits of a program, they just sling mud back and forth concerning the "how much" or "how big" of the program.
Why is this?
I think it's maybe because this generation has never considered the merits of a given program because the program out dates them. It was in effect when they were born or when they first became a free thinker, so therefore it is an ingrained way of life.
They know no different, they've never considered the difference, therefore they've never thought the big picture all the way to it's end.

Something to Consider
By E.P. Unum
February 9, 2021

Before reviewing this essay, you may find these numbers interesting:
As reported by the CDC ... here are the total number of US deaths by year and the change from the previous year

> Year 2017 2,818,503 Americans died

> Year 2018: 2,839,205 deaths (20,702 more than the previous year 2017)

> Year 2019: 2,855,000 deaths (16,300 more than the previous year 2018)

> Year of the p******c ...2020..,.there were 2,913,144 deaths (57,641 more than the previous year 2019)

Let this sink in for a minute. There were zero deaths from C****-** reported during 2018 and 2019… and the jump from 2019 to 2020 was only 57,641?

But, We have been told C***D is responsible for 440,000 + deaths.

Shouldn't the calendar year 2020 number be a hell of a lot higher? Hold that thought for a minute….

So the question now becomes: how many people died FROM C***D and how many died (of other causes) WITH C***D?

Perhaps there is a more reasonable explanation such as the possibility that the CDC is not finished reporting the final tabulations of the number of deaths through 2020. That, of course, is a possibility, but this is February 2021 and clearly, if the number of deaths was 440,000 higher they surely did not all occur in November or December 2020, so why the delay?

More importantly, let’s consider these possibilities:

Perhaps the reporting of deaths by the media was intentionally misleading, a very well-orchestrated plan intended to create fear and upheaval in the middle of an e******n year and on the heels of an ill-advised failure to remove a sitting President of the United States based on false accusations. Or, perhaps C***d ** was an unimaginable set of events that just fell into place with the United States front and center. Let’s dispense with this possibility straight away: Can you tell me another nation with more reported deaths than the U.S?

Let’s consider for a moment the following sequence of facts:

C***d started with messages from the CDC and the eminent and distinguished Dr. F***i of the NIH announcing in January 2020 to the media on TV and on TV talk shows that the “U.S. had nothing to worry about” and there was “no reason to wear masks” to telling us in late February and early March of 2020 that “masks are a necessity” and “we face a real p******c”

Enter the media and social media platforms, democratic mayors, governors, and, most importantly, democratic members of Congress who, every day, 24/7 in concert with the mainstream media, do the following:

> Scare people with a v***s. Force them to wear masks and place them in quarantine. Demand that v****g in the national e******n be handled by mail while allowing people to stand in line and shop at Home Depot, Loews, Target, Walmart, Costco. Bed Bath & Beyond, and other "BigBox" stores

> Count the number of deaths every second of every day, in every News Headline. By the way, ninety-nine and six-tenths (99.6%) of the people who contract the v***s, recover. About one to two-tenths of one percent who get the v***s, die, and most all of them have other medical problems. Did you catch that? Less than 1/2 of a percent die.

> Closed businesses yielded 35,000,000+ instantly unemployed. 100 years ago, in the midst of the Spanish Flu Epidemic which k**led over 50 million people worldwide, businesses and schools were never shut down.

> Remove entertainment and prohibit recreation, closing parks, gyms, bars, restaurants, sports. When sports are permitted, tell the limited number of people who are present at the events or who are watching at home that they should be wearing masks and refrain from cheering or shouting because that “tends to spread the v***s.”

> No dating. No touching. Isolate people. Dehumanize them.

> Close Temples and Churches. Prohibit worship. Create a vacuum and let depression, anxiety, hopelessness, and desperation set in.

> Close schools from elementary through university, shut down all extra-curricular activities, and implement virtual online learning with no regard as to the impact this has on our children and how they learn, and no regard for the need for them to interact and have human contact.

> Ignite hatred and civil unrest in the streets resulting in the l**ting of businesses, injuries, and deaths to innocent bystanders and police attempting to maintain order.

> Highlight the cries to defund the police, empty the prisons because of the v***s, arrest those you catch l**ting and causing damage, but, then immediately release them without any bail, and continue to fill the streets with criminals.

> Allow A****a and Black L***s M****r to vandalize property as if they are freedom fighters. Undermine the rule of law, condone r**ts, l**ting and attack all law enforcement,…but tell the government to order police to stand-down.

> Terminate the Keystone XL Pipeline, restrict fracking and oil and gas exploration thereby eliminating America’s Energy Independence which took us decades to achieve, driving up costs to business and consumers, and immediately putting tens of thousands of Americans on unemployment lines. Then, abandon building the wall on the U.S. southern border which has effectively controlled immigration and invited thousands of migrant people from South America to assemble and illegally enter the United States…all at a time when we have tens of millions unemployed and still dealing with C***d.

So, the acid-test question is this: Is it possible that we are all being played by those who want to achieve power and destroy America?

This is nothing new. We have had socialist and c*******t movements in our country for many years…indeed, several decades. But the ones we have in our midst today are insidious and have been the result of decades of abdicating responsibility for our education system and ignorance of just how Marxist and C*******ts develop footholds inside a nation.

No longer do we teach our children about American Exceptionalism and what America has meant to the world.

No longer do we focus on American achievements in science, medicine, technology, and engineering or the arts and literature.

Instead, it seems all that we hear is how bad America is. We allow d********g, inflammatory research like the N.Y. Times endorsed 1619 Project to be installed as a mandatory curriculum in our elementary and high schools, and professors at our universities to substitute factual history with their personal flair for condemning America as an imperialist nation which ignores the needs of the poor in favor of the wealthy. They denigrate capitalism as the root of all evil and ignore that capitalism has been the economic system that has created the greatest individual and collective wealth and prosperity in the history of the world.

They teach our students that socialism and c*******m is a preferable system because it espouses “equity for all”, but they never once mention that socialism has never worked in any country that has tried it, and that the only people who have benefitted from socialism are those at the top who achieved their wealth and power on the backs of those who produced it.

It is important to reflect on these immutable facts: America is a nation that was born just 245 years ago. We have been in existence for only 245 years, a pimple on the ass of an elephant to give some perspective. There are nations on this planet who have been in existence for several thousands of years, whose history dwarfs ours. Yet, in that finite period of time, we have produced the single greatest system of government based on principles of individual liberty and respect for, trust, and belief in God, the greatest economy and wealth known to man, the finest military in the world, and twice in the 20th century, we saved the world from the horrors of F*****m and the N**i’s, rebuilding 19 countries in Europe and the entire nation of Japan in aftermath of the devastation of World War II.

I submit to you that what has t***spired throughout 2020 is how you destroy a nation from within, and in very short order. It is a blueprint for the destruction of America and all you need to do is a quick review of the Executive Orders enacted by President Joe Biden to understand how these are weakening our nation. President Biden did not develop these edicts. It is my considered opinion that this is the work of Barack Obama, Susan Rice, Bernie Sanders, John Kerry, George Soros, and the cabal of power-hungry dev**ees of the Elite New World Order.

Will this diabolical plan work? I guess that depends on you and me.