The Purge

[highfigh]

No, tripling is due to the tax cut, reduction of revenue, or most of it. Same with Bush 2 cuts, reduction of revenue, and going to war on top of it.

If reduction in tax AND cuts in spending had been simultaneous, the debt wouldn't have tripled. Calling that budget 'balanced' like putting a skinny kid on one end of a teeter totter and a fat kid on the other.

"It's the economy, stupid- no new taxes", followed by "DOH!".

 

[Mikado463]

So, you don't know.....

LOL, whose number do you believe in ? add to that, what's your definition of 'plenty', being a liberal I'll bet you accept 'plenty' ......

 

[Mikado463]

So how much "Gov't waste"

here's what appears to be a small tidbit you can chew on ..........

$42 Billion Broadband Boondoggle Brought Internet to Zero Homes | The Daily Economy

Amid its waste and graft, the BEAD program actually slowed down private investment in rural areas.

thedailyeconomy.org

 

[Trell]

LOL, whose number do you believe in ? add to that, what's your definition of 'plenty', being a liberal I'll bet you accept 'plenty' ......

Now you're trying to weasel yourself out, but I'll bite.

One huge area of waste is US health care, private as well as public. This is because you don't have universal health care, and below is one example of waste that is more than 20%. In general is that US health care costs are f*cked up totally along with poor outcome in terms of metrics like life expectancy, maternal death or infant mortality.

 

[Trell]

here's what appears to be a small tidbit you can chew on ..........

$42 Billion Broadband Boondoggle Brought Internet to Zero Homes | The Daily Economy

Amid its waste and graft, the BEAD program actually slowed down private investment in rural areas.

thedailyeconomy.org

That seems more like fraud than waste.

 

[Mikado463]

Now you're trying to weasel yourself out, but I'll bite.

One huge area of waste is US health care, private as well as public. This is because you don't have universal health care, and below is one example of waste that is more than 20%.

Again, LMAO, look at what I first responded to you, the '80/20 rule' and what number do you have in your post above !

It's past your bedtime, go eat your milk and cookies and go to bed ..........

 

[Trell]

LOL, whose number do you believe in ? add to that, what's your definition of 'plenty', being a liberal I'll bet you accept 'plenty' ......

Here's another with respect to health care costs:

>>>...
Some readers may ask why, if I believe that private health insurance is so problematic, I didn’t support Bernie Sanders’s call for a single-payer system. The answer is political realism; it wasn’t going to happen, while an enhanced Affordable Care Act could and did (and now we’ll see if it survives.)

Back to government-financed health care: Am I saying that all is well with Medicare? No. True, in recent years the program has had remarkable, unheralded success in controlling costs, on a scale orders of magnitude larger than anything Muskaswamy are likely to achieve:

And the Biden administration finally — finally! — gave Medicare the ability to negotiate over drug prices, which is a serious cost saving.

But the program faces a threat of rising costs due to, you guessed it, privatization: a growing number of seniors have bought Medicare Advantage plans, which funnel taxpayer money through private insurance companies, and there’s growing evidence that these plans have become a major source of, well, waste, fraud and abuse. The Wall Street Journal reports $50 billion in outlays for diseases doctors no longer treat. Some estimates suggest that overbilling by Medicare Advantage plans may cost taxpayers more than $100 billion a year; United Healthcare lost a big lawsuit over that practice. ...<<<

The Fraudulence of “Waste, Fraud and Abuse”

History repeats itself, the first time as farce, the second as clown show

paulkrugman.substack.com

 

[Trell]

Again, LMAO, look at what I first responded to you, the '80/20 rule' and what number do you have in your post above !

It's past your bedtime, go eat your milk and cookies and go to bed ..........

You must have some reading comprehension problem as I referred to your '80/20 rule', but I actually gave some health care numbers in that image. As you see the US health care system is not something I will wish upon a nation.

Why did you leave out the image showing administrative costs in your reply to me? Just for you I'll post it again. It's from the same Krugman article posted above.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I'm not saying that what he did worked as stated. The thing about Economics- agreement across the board is damned near impossible unless discussed in the simplest terms.

From the link,

"ERTA lowered the tax rate for top earners from 70 to 50 percent, reduced tax rates across the board by 23 percent (to be phased in over three years), and enacted numerous other changes that reduced individual taxes." and

"In addition to greatly simplifying the tax code (reducing tax shelters and the number of tax brackets), the act lowered the top tax rate for individuals from 50 to 28 percent and lowered the top corporate tax rate from 50 to 35 percent. The legislation also raised the lowest tax rate from 11 to 15 percent, making it the first time in history that the lowest and highest tax rates had been raised and lowered, respectively, at the same time."

Reaganomics | Definition, Impact, Results, Ronald Reagan, Supply-Side Economics, Free-Market Economics, Trickle-Down Economics, Voodoo Economics, Economic Policy, & History | Britannica

Reaganomics is the popular term for the economic policies of U.S. Pres. Ronald Reagan. The word is a portmanteau of ‘Reagan’ and ‘economics’ and was first attributed to radio broadcaster Paul Harvey. It has been used by both Reagan’s supporters and critics.

www.britannica.com

Also let's not forget the tax breaks, deductions that is great for the rich is also receiving, hence, income is reduced to the government.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Now you're trying to weasel yourself out, but I'll bite.

One huge area of waste is US health care, private as well as public. This is because you don't have universal health care, and below is one example of waste that is more than 20%. In general is that US health care costs are f*cked up totally along with poor outcome in terms of metrics like life expectancy, maternal death or infant mortality.

View attachment 72113

Is that all? That is cheap. I want larger medical bills.

 

[Trell]

Is that all? That is cheap. I want larger medical bills.

You wish!

 

[mtrycrafts]

You wish!

Are you reading my mind?

 

[Mr._Clark]

Meanwhile, the purge (squash transparency edition) continues.

>>>The inspector general of the US Agency for International Development was fired on Tuesday, a day after his office released a report critical of the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the agency, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.

Paul Martin was informed by an email from the deputy director of the Office of Presidential Personnel on Tuesday evening that his position as inspector general of USAID was “terminated, effective immediately.” . . .

The administration is required under the law to provide 30 days’ notice to Congress before firing an inspector general and provide case-specific reasons for getting rid of watchdogs. . . .

In a report Monday, the USAID OIG said that the Trump administration’s reduction of USAID personnel and its sweeping freeze on foreign assistance had made it more difficult to track and respond to potential misuse of $8.2 billion in US taxpayer-funded humanitarian assistance.<<< (emphasis added)

https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/11/politics/usaid-inspector-general-fired-trump/index.html

There's a non-trivial argument that this type of restraint on the executive branch is unconstitutional. However, if Trump wins this argument, Bernie Sanders or AOC would also have this power if elected.

If Trump somehow pulls off an end run on the 22nd amendment, it could pave the way for a 3rd, 4th, and 5th Obama term in office.

These types of changes in the power of the executive branch would long outlive Trump, and the next person to wield the power might be the polar opposite of Trump.