Feb Budget Deficit Largest on Record

Donnie and the gop think they can run up the debt, then play with the fed to make the eco numbers look good. As usual , they cut taxes on the rich then complain when when the Dems refuse to cut social programs to balance their insane appetite to feed the rich cows.

How many times have we seen this repeated ?
Their lemming supporters, many of whom depend upon social programs from the fed which holds up the red states, are oblivious to what goes on every time a Republican admistration is in Office.

Their idea of a good president is inversely proportional to how corrupt they are. Donnie Dushe should be their favorite as soon as the economy tanks. He’s now pitting lies about puerto rico vs subsidies to farmers whose poverty he is creating, while denying climate change which is costing the feds billions. He’s playing America like a monopoly board game. Deal with it lemmings.

 

Quote: He’s playing America like a monopoly board game

IMO, he's playing the game TETRIS, and here are the falling Tetriminos;

Bleu; Rising interest rates
Red; Rising oil prices
Gray; Deficits
Orange; Lower GDP forecast
Black; Putin/Kim Jong-un
White; The Truth!
Green; "Liberal" Media
Purple; Mueller Report
Yellow; Trade deficits
Brown; Corporate downsizing/relocation/lay-offs
Pink; Affairs/ass grabbing/allegations


Thus, anything that will negatively affect his economy, his presidency, and his base, he'll try to unblock himself with the following matching colors;

Blue; Criticizes Powell, threatens to fire him, wants him to freeze/cut rates.

Red; Wants the Saudis to increase production, "low oil prices is like a tax cut", he said.

Grey; "Our Defense spending is crazy".....shows his fiscally concern, however....

Orange; "According to White House projections, it's steady at 3% for the next 10 years"

Black; Kisses, hugs, and comradeship

White; Lies, exaggerates, makes false claims, etc., etc., etc.

Green; Twitter attacks, kicks/keeps them out of WH Briefing Room

Purple; It's a witch hunt!

Yellow; They've been taking advantage of us/ignores trade in services.

Brown; Publicly criticizes the CEO's

Pink; Denies or paid them to stay quiet

Well folks, the falling Tetriminos will soon get stacked up

 

Game over!

 

OK, Kode, I've just had another fun experience....

Hereafter I will put you on IGNORE, and I suggest that you do the same for me if you like. Then I won't run the risk of 'offending' you. You will be the only poster I have put on IGNORE so I hope you appreciate the distinction. Have a lovely day, and, goodbye....

 

The Economic Numbers do look good. You are no longer arguing the opposite, you are now conceding that point with a flaccid explanation, not ideal, but progress.

Well, after a good start you devolved into incoherent buzzword salad.

Sad!

GREAT AGAIN: The Latest: Hiring rebounds as US adds a solid 196,000 jobs.

“Hiring rebounded in March as U.S. employers added a solid 196,000 jobs, up sharply from February’s scant gain and evidence that many businesses still want to hire despite signs the economy is slowing. The Labor Department says the unemployment rate stayed at 3.8%, near the lowest level in almost 50 years.”

 

If the economy under Obama was so good in his first year in office, why has growth slowed during his second.

All attributed to the Obama economy and budget good to Sept 2017.

 

To be fair, they are trying to encourage saving by raising rates and it's not going very well. The interest free period you aptly describe, blew a bunch of bubbles that immediately began to leak as soon as the Fed began to tighten. They are running for the hills now, making it clear they are in way over their heads. We have rising auto loan delinquencies, falling housing permit totals, and home price growth falling to a 6-year low.

The destruction of the economy comes during the easy money stage, the recession during tightening is the healing process as mis-allocated hot money is drained from the economy and sensible levels of saving resume.

 

It’s not going well because regardless of the low unimployment rate, most Americans have little in the bank to begin with and live from paycheck to paycheck. Their confidence in affordable healthcare which Trump is putting in jeopardy is shaken. People know that without affordable healthcare, they are an illness from bankruptcy. This is one president who can cause a recession with his mouth..threatening Obamacare and shutting down the border each would bring about a recession.

Therefore, interest rates up of down have little effect now. Americans are getting dumber with the extravagantly high cost of secondary education and they can’t afford training to get the jobs they want. There is a huge discrepancy between all the high skill jobs needed and those qualified to take them. We have plenty of blue collar workers, not enough engineers and skilled labor. It’s too expensive.

 

If they're "living from paycheck to paycheck" and are "an illness (away) from bankruptcy", then it sounds like that is the perfect argument that people need to be SAVING MONEY instead of blowing it on non-essential crap and 'toys' they can't afford. $1,000 'smart' phones and expensive 'data plans' come immediately to mind.... I see them all the time... people who pretty obviously don't have 'a pot or a window', pawing around all day on their phones, oblivious to everything -- including any suggestion that they might try to prepare themselves for the jobs that would allow them to indulge their spending preferences.

But how do you explain the concept of "can't afford" to two generations of very badly-educated Americans who can't even do 4th-grade arithmetic in their heads...? . They're the same ones who would jump at the opportunity to vote for a socialist-moron like "Ocort" (Ocasio-Cortez), if she were old enough to run for the presidency....

 

The last time I can remember a sound, successful economic policy and 'recovery' was when President Reagan and Fed. Chairman, Paul Volcker worked together to restore VALUE to the American Dollar, instill strength and vitality in our economy, and ultimately, to reduce inflation to almost nothing!

Yes, it did involve two years of 'pain' for the economy to shake out all the worthlessness, pudge, and crap, and return to sound economic principles, and some people who lived on "the float" were allowed to float away. Interest rates did increase, and they put VALUE back in our currency, while others, like the Mexican Peso, nosedived, along with gold prices, oil prices, etc. DEFLATION, which is so 'dreaded' today, actually worked to save and restore a healthy economy in the very early 1980's....

Today, the stock markets are wholly and thoroughly addicted to cheap, imaginary money in unending supply. The conflict, of course, and I'm sure you are well-aware of it, is that the Fed had to run up a 'balance-sheet' north of four trillion dollars in order to rescue those it considered "too big to fail" in the 2007 - 2009 recession. It SHOULD have let everyone who bet on fraud and criminal practices to go ahead and go bankrupt, but they didn't. So, now we've got a "FRAUD BALLOON" economy, based on capricious decisions made by a klatsch of big-wigs in an international central-banking cartel. How long before the whole rotten, misbegotten, fraudulent thing can't "kick the can" anymore and falls on its face...? Will we ever restore true value to the American Dollar again, or is it PLANNED that we should fail... in order to advance a huge, international "levelling effect"...?

If so, I see both Russia and China waiting, with smiles on their faces....

 

I think that was what our current Fed had in mind, but rather than taking the bit in their teeth and running ahead, we saw capitulation and an immediate weakening of the markets at the slightest tightening.

Volcker took over in 1979 and raised rates through 1981, breaking the back of inflation through two recessions.


As the second recession dragged on, many thought he had gone too far, but the Reaanomics took hold and was followed by the Reagan boom.

Now if you look at the Fed's recent tightening, they already have the CPI back about where it was when Volcker was done. I think they were surprised at how quickly it capitulated and that they would like to not see an outright dip in 2019.

We are not dealing with the inflation forces of the late seventies. I watched folks trying to build large tracks of real estate with the prime interest rate over 20%. There is no such commitment to growth today!

Nobody has the stomach for that. Here's another thought to consider: Basic Macroeconomics states that the fair market price of currency is that price where Foreign Trade is balanced. By that measure, our currency is still massively overvalued! And do you think anyone has the stomach to return to trade balance by reducing the value of our currency, again, I think not.

Politics is the art of the possible. I think the Fed was right to stop tightening, because we still haven't recovered, I suspect, from late Clinton Crash.


Some people put a ruler on the bottom of the dip in 2001, line it up to the dip on 2009, and then extend it with the warning that that is the line we have to drop to again to finally work through this. My goodness, I hope not, but, I guarantee you that Trump, The Fed, and everyone with a brain has drawn this line. By 2023-2024 the transition from the aging boomers to echo-boomers should largely be complete and we should be back to the kind of vigorous real growth you describe.

Yup. Almost no one went to jail. I think the Fed is just going to use that $4T as an inflation extinguisher as needed, and right now selling it off to extinguish inflation is not needed.

If the De-Growthers can get their hands back on the levers of power, that is one of their goals. Re-electing Trump gets us to 2024 and that's probably as far as we can reasonably project at the moment.

They shouldn't be smiling too much, they are both in the grips of demographic suicide.

 

I have gained much respect for your economic perspicacity, @Zorro . You are one of the few who post here about economic matters who REALLY seems to know what you're talking about. I hope to continue learning from you....

 

Thank you for all the work it must be to put together this analysis (with proof). You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.

The good news here is that Democrats have finally become fiscal hawks.

 

Yeah, that is pretty funny!

 

Sure, you can live without a phone in this day and age. Smart phones are cheaper when you consider the cost of long distance phone calls and all the other services they provide. Check your math.

 

And the result was two recessions, increased deficits and beginning of the wealth moved to the upper class from the middle class. Reagan had the most corrupt administration ever.

 

The blind leading the blind.

 

Lol you can’t be serious

 

Well, I learned a few things from Zorro, such as;

HIS FACT: Over the last month, Trump lowered the debt by $87,821,457,874.58

On Feb 28th, 2019 Total Public Debt Outstanding was $22,115,526,445,599.07
On March 1st, 2019 Total Public Debt Outstanding was $22,027,704,987,724.49
Thus, the debt declined by $87,821,457,874.58......MAGA!

Source; Treasury Direct
Debt to the Penny
https://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/debttothepenny.htm

And for anyone's info, on April 4th, 2019, Treasury Direct Total Debts amounted to $22,028,147,661,589.79, thus, peanuts above March 1st $22,027,704,987,724.49......due to a debt ceiling limit.

---------------------------

Now, hopefully, Zorro will learn something from me, such as;

On Dec 8th, 2017, Trump also lowered the debt by $51 billion

Treasury Direct
Debt to the penny

Dec 7th, 2017, Total Debt; $20,541,101,511,244.25
Dec 8th, 2017, Total Debt; $20,492,887,195,569.14
Thus, the debt declined by $51,214,415,675.11 MAGA, MAGA, MAGA, MAGA!

And on Dec 29th, 2017, Treasury Direct Total Debt amounted to $20,492,954,574,011.86, thus, peanuts above Dec 8th, 2017$20,492,887,195,569.14......DUE TO A DEBT CEILING LIMIT

Question; What happened after Congress raised the limit?

Answer; https://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/resources/faq/faq_publicdebt.htm#DebtLimit

The Civil Service Retirement And Disability Fund And Government Securities Investment Fund Related To The Debt Limit

How does the debt ceiling affect the CSRDF?
The CSRDF is invested in special-issue Treasury securities, which count against the debt limit. In 1986, Congress provided Treasury statutory authority to take certain actions in the event that the outstanding debt reaches the debt limit. Specifically, the statute authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to determine that a "debt issuance suspension period" exists and, once he has done so, Treasury can (1) redeem certain existing investments in the CSRDF, and (2) suspend new investments by the CSRDF.

What impact will these actions have on Federal employees and their retirement benefits?
By law, the CSRDF will be made whole once the debt limit is increased. Benefits for retired and disabled Federal employees will not be affected by this action and will continue to be paid. Once the United States has exhausted the extraordinary measures it has available to preserve lawful borrowing authority without exceeding the debt limit, however, the U.S. Government will be limited in its ability to make payments across the government.

--------------------------

NOTE: By law, the CSRDF will be made whole once the debt limit is increased.

IN OTHER WORDS, once the debt limit is increased, Steven Mnuchin will go back to borrowing money, and then, Mnuchin will return the amount of money he borrowed from the CSRDF, and once again, the debt will continue to rise.

Feb 08, 2018 Total debt $20,494,637,976,880.62
Feb 09, 2018 Total debt $20,669,079,408,408.12

WITHIN 24 HOURS, Trump increases the debt by $175,441,431,567.50 ($175.4 billion)

and the Debt will continue to rise.....

Feb 20, 2018 Total Debt $20,760,158,076,330.68

Feb 28, 2018 Total Debt $20,855,671,542,905.95

Over the month of FEB 2018, and/or after Congress raised the limit, the Debt increased by $361 billion.

 

Yup
While raising it a Trillion, he lowers it on the backs of the middle class. Trump cheats at literally everything for his own benefit. Anyone who thinks differently, has blinders on their eyes and earplugs in their ears. Does anyone really think this guy can add or subtract ?

 

And so next, you're going to tell us what part of what @Zorro posted that was actually wrong...? This ought to be good.... Are you going to challenge the FRED chart information...?

Maybe now we can witness a "cage fight" between a seasoned investor and a dyed-in-the-wool-Obama-loving socialist. I'll make the popcorn!

 

What are you claiming? Explain your point. I'm middle class. My taxes are down and my real disposable income is up. What is your evidence that Trump lowered the debt in March "on the backs of the middle class"?

It appears you have memorized a bit of jargon and then used it incorrectly.

 

My math? Oh, it's adequate, although I've never made a 'killing' in the stock market (but I haven't lost any money in "the big casino", either....)

My phone? It's an old, durable, very useful thing called a "feature-phone", which I routinely do lots of texting on, as well as occasionally making and receiving phone calls, voice messages, etc. Full keyboard of course, in flip-architecture that's easy to carry. I always use the excellent speakerphone utility when making/taking calls because nobody should ever be putting a cellphone device next to his skull! Anyway, it takes pictures (useful for comparison shopping at brick-and-mortar stores) and fun images, too. I can email the photos and other images anywhere in the world. If I wanted to, I could use the phone for internet, but I've got five computers running Windows 10 and a Samsung Android tablet for everything I do on the 'net, and, I've got more interesting uses for my time than pawing around on a little rectangle all damned day and night....

Oh, and costs? The phones (I got two of them years ago) cost $99 each. The Verizon 'package' I have for TWO people, including all the cellphone and texting that we can possibly use comes to a combined bill of $50 per month, plus taxes. Sure, I could afford the most glamorous, hooptie, bleeding-edge smartphones made (several, I suppose... in different colors), along with the fattest data plan. But why...? Sorry, I just had to 'rub it in' a little bit....

 

The Left has been assuring us of that since election night going on 3 years ago.

Horseshit.

Yes, the academy takes them on a taxpayer funded ride that lands them tens of thousands of dollars in debt and unemployed or at an entry level job, because college filled their head with mush rather than real world job skills.

If they got a degree in Interpretive Dance or Queer Studies rather than in a real trade that's on them. What is your solution? I think students should be able to bankrupt out of student debt, with half of the taxpayers expense clawed back from institutions they spent it at. This will give the Institutions incentives to make sure they are providing real job skills whereas now they have no skin in the game.

Well-paying blue collar jobs are skilled labor. If you doubt that have a day laborer attempt to repair your next HVAC, plumbing problem or change out your water-heater, if you're an idiot.