FrancisMarion
10-19-2012, 07:22 AM
Post and Courier, The (Charleston, SC)
October 19, 2012
Section: Editorial / Opinion
Page: 13
Obama, Romney duck biggest issue: Huge national debt
BY MARK SANFORD It's hard to believe the last of the presidential debates will take place on Monday night. It worries me not because I'll miss the debates, but because of what hasn't been debated.
In the previous forums both President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney have avoided any material debate on spending, and the media have been co-conspirators in their line of interest and questioning. Call me paranoid, but indeed, once is an event, twice is a coincidence and three times marks the start of a trend.
.....
Yet Romney has not led on this, either. He promises to restore the $716 billion Obama would take over the next 10 years from Medicare, he promises to add to military spending and agrees with Obama in protecting those in, or near, retirement from being impacted by changes to Social Security.
It won't be so easy. Consider the enormity of the problem. In 13 years. Let me say that again. In 13 years, the Congressional Budget Office estimates our government cash flow will only be enough to support entitlements and interest. That means either eliminate the entire rest of the federal government or borrow to pay for it. Put another way, the gap between federal government taxes and spending (the fiscal gap) is 5.4 percent of GDP. There are limits to how much any of us can borrow. South Carolina homeowners and Greek government officials alike can attest to this, but to avoid more borrowing you would have to cut all of defense or Social Security - or raise taxes by the same amount. Yet we are having debates centered on how neither candidate would cut anything for the middle class!
Are you kidding me? If this spending math trap isn't dealt with, the middle class is about to get shot in the head with the most lethal of all of government's unintended, but predictable, effects - inflation. Ben Bernanke has very publicly staked out a position that guarantees it as he on a monthly basis now debases each dollar held by the, in fact, not-so-protected American middle class. American professors Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff wrote a startling book a few years back entitled, "This Time it's Different," .... continued at link
Mark Sanford, a Republican, represented South Carolina's 1st District in the U.S. House from 1995-2001 and served as governor from 2003-11.
Read more at link: http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_theme=cpcb&p_topdoc=1&p_docnum=1&p_sort=YMD_date:D&p_docid=14203E6759E18CA0&p_text_direct-0=document_id=%28%2014203E6759E18CA0%20%29&p_product=CPCB
By the way its interesting this was archived by this newspaper the same day it went out.
Don't forget who Sanford's chief of staff was.
October 19, 2012
Section: Editorial / Opinion
Page: 13
Obama, Romney duck biggest issue: Huge national debt
BY MARK SANFORD It's hard to believe the last of the presidential debates will take place on Monday night. It worries me not because I'll miss the debates, but because of what hasn't been debated.
In the previous forums both President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney have avoided any material debate on spending, and the media have been co-conspirators in their line of interest and questioning. Call me paranoid, but indeed, once is an event, twice is a coincidence and three times marks the start of a trend.
.....
Yet Romney has not led on this, either. He promises to restore the $716 billion Obama would take over the next 10 years from Medicare, he promises to add to military spending and agrees with Obama in protecting those in, or near, retirement from being impacted by changes to Social Security.
It won't be so easy. Consider the enormity of the problem. In 13 years. Let me say that again. In 13 years, the Congressional Budget Office estimates our government cash flow will only be enough to support entitlements and interest. That means either eliminate the entire rest of the federal government or borrow to pay for it. Put another way, the gap between federal government taxes and spending (the fiscal gap) is 5.4 percent of GDP. There are limits to how much any of us can borrow. South Carolina homeowners and Greek government officials alike can attest to this, but to avoid more borrowing you would have to cut all of defense or Social Security - or raise taxes by the same amount. Yet we are having debates centered on how neither candidate would cut anything for the middle class!
Are you kidding me? If this spending math trap isn't dealt with, the middle class is about to get shot in the head with the most lethal of all of government's unintended, but predictable, effects - inflation. Ben Bernanke has very publicly staked out a position that guarantees it as he on a monthly basis now debases each dollar held by the, in fact, not-so-protected American middle class. American professors Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff wrote a startling book a few years back entitled, "This Time it's Different," .... continued at link
Mark Sanford, a Republican, represented South Carolina's 1st District in the U.S. House from 1995-2001 and served as governor from 2003-11.
Read more at link: http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_theme=cpcb&p_topdoc=1&p_docnum=1&p_sort=YMD_date:D&p_docid=14203E6759E18CA0&p_text_direct-0=document_id=%28%2014203E6759E18CA0%20%29&p_product=CPCB
By the way its interesting this was archived by this newspaper the same day it went out.
Don't forget who Sanford's chief of staff was.