In the long term the US economy can be bankrupt by Tweety Trump. Supporters and Fox News is blind to the cracks in Tweety's "sugar high" economy.
"After 2 Years, Trump Tax Cuts Have Failed To Deliver On GOP's Promises"
The GOP tax cut did not pay for itself, as promised, nor did it deliver a sustained boost to economic growth.
""As Growth Slows To 1.9%, The Economy Is Falling Short Of Trump's Target"
Scott Horsley October 30, 2019 Heard on Morning Edition
"GM, Ford and others cut thousands of jobs and closed factories to save billions in 2019"
Michael Wayland Updated Mon, Dec 23 2019
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/23/automakers-cut-jobs-close-factories-to-save-billions-in-2019.html
Manufacturing, once the engine of USA, is declining fast under Tweety's leadership. USA was once the automaker giant.
I sense Tweety can bankrupt the USA, Bond ratings could plummet, maybe "CCC." This is unlikely, and would take several bad years, so let's see in 2028 where we are.
US Corp debt is a drag on the Tweety economy at ~$10T/47%. US government deficits ~$1T/year due to bad tax cuts.
The tax cut is reaching some, an average of about $5K, but NOT reaching true middle class households, where "Pew defines the middle class as those whose annual household income is two-thirds to double the national median, which was $57,617 as of 2016. By that definition, a middle-income three-person household earns about $45,000 to $135,000.Sep 28, 2018" . . . Also deceptive! This was what people PERCEIVED and said in a questionnaire response!
These income numbers depend a LOT on where we live, and it's my sense that ~$100K is NOT a Middle Class income number, rather it is lower, probably less than ~$50K IN 2019 BUYING POWER.
"U.S. middle-class incomes reached highest-ever level in 2016, Census Bureau says"
By Heather Long Economics correspondent Sep 12, 2017 [Why would buying power be more in 2019?]
"The incomes of middle-class Americans rose last year to the highest level ever recorded by the Census Bureau, as poverty declined and the scars of the past decade's Great Recession seemed to finally fade.
Median household income rose to $59,039 in 2016, a 3.2 percent increase from the previous year and the second consecutive year of healthy gains, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday. The nation's poverty rate fell to 12.7 percent, returning nearly to what it was in 2007 before a financial crisis and deep recession walloped workers in ways that were still felt years later."
Tweety Trump has said he thinks trucker salaries of ~$41K is Middle Class. Tweety talks out of his a** lots.
I'll bet the true 2019 Middle Class income is ~$50K/yr many, many more times than ~$135K/y.
Fox News, Tweety, and the GOP want us to believe every Middle Class family gets ~$5K. Not true. Wealthier people get the ~$%, regular, ~$40K income people get about ~$2,200. Lies and deception get politicians re-elected, of course.
"PolitiFact: Ivanka Trump mostly accurate that disposable income has risen by $5,205"
The talking point is gaining steam
"Ivanka Trump said, "Since the passage of Tax Cuts, real disposable personal income per household has increased $5,205."
Mathematically, the number is accurate, but it’s worth noting some context she left out. The $5,205 figure is an average, so it is likely skewed by large gains among wealthier Americans. In addition, this statistic has been rising pretty consistently since early 2013, when Obama was in office, even during periods where it was not boosted by a large tax cut.
The statement is accurate but needs additional information, so we rate the statement Mostly True."
The rich get richer all the time, and it is still true under Tweety's 2017 tax cuts.
"The $5,205 figure is an average, so it is likely skewed by large gains among wealthier Americans."
American consumer credit card debt with 26% interest rates on unpaid balances is $4T.
"50% Of Americans Have Maxed Out Credit Cards, Here's How To Dig Yourself Out Of Credit Card Debt"
Camilo Maldonado Senior Contributor Personal Finance 26 March 2019
"Unsurprisingly, total U.S. credit card debt reached an all-time high of $870 billion at the end of 2018, according to the latest data reported by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York."
I do not think any advice will cause the American "fatalistic" addiction to instant gratification.
There are steps to take, but it's the addiction that overwhelms people. Americans see poor people on TV all over the world and in the photos in materials they read.
Therefore, Americans fear they could be poor some day so they surround themselves with more and more and more "stuff."
THAT is the social psychology I see in credit card debt. INSTANT GRATIFICATION!
The advertisers and social media are too much to fight, they have won! Consumers don't win this fight. Americans buy, buy, buy and all of the credit card debt goes up and up and up.
"It’s easy to see how credit card debt can quickly spiral out of control. What’s more difficult to see is a way out. If you find yourself racking up credit card and aren’t sure how to get started, there are a few steps you can take to begin to change the situation."
College is averaging $100K/year, the Afghan war has cost ~$2T!
Add Tweety's idiotic, unpredictable trade wars against almost every country.
"For those who know their history, Trump’s ‘America First’ trade approach is not reassuring"
By Editorial Board December 25, 2019
"MOMENTOUS AS it was, President Trump’s impeachment on Dec. 18 might not go down in history as the most significant happening in the last month of the 21st century’s second decade. Rather, that honor might be shared among three other events: bipartisan agreement on a revised trade deal with Canada and Mexico; Mr. Trump’s “phase one” trade agreement with China; and the U.S.-blessed collapse of a key World Trade Organization (WTO) agency that adjudicates international trade disputes. Their short-run impact might be limited and, in the case of the Canada-Mexico and China deals, temporarily stabilizing. But don’t be fooled. The big picture is that the United States is abandoning its postwar commitments to free, open, law-based trade in favor of a new approach: Might makes right."
These are bad things and can hurt in the long run. Time will tell. My sense is these three will be part of a number of issues which I list above to leads the USA into some form of "bankruptcy."
Add Tweety's idiotic, childish, uninformed impulsiveness. Tweety has even mentioned devaluing the dollar! THAT would be a very bad impulse, but not one we can overlook.
Add the stupid and wasteful "theft" from the US Treasury as Tweety took money from Congressional appropriations for his Wall; I say it is "theft" because it is illegal for a President to usurp Congress powers of appropriations, and a breach of the appropriations process;
Another stupid thing is USA habit of being afraid of everyone, fear mongering by the Military Industrial Complex, FEAR MONGERING LOBBYISTS, so the President budgets, and Congress appropriates, about $1T/yr for DoD EVERY YEAR!, and USA has spent ~$2T for the Afghan war alone ("the necessary war" - WTF!-we love wars!)!
The DoD Finance/Acquisition Leaders, the "System" have proven they cannot manage that much money as it is wasted and literally lost!
"Use-it or lose-it: DoD dropped $4.6 million on crab and lobster, and $9,000 on a chair in last-minute spending spree"
By: Kyle Rempfer March 12, 2019
"The federal government found a way to spend $97 billion in a single month last year, of which more than $61 billion can be attributed to the Pentagon.It’s not a new phenomenon. In the last month of every fiscal year, federal agencies work to spend all that’s left in their annual budgets. If they don’t, the agencies worry they’ll be appropriated a smaller share by Congress next year, hence the “use-it or lose-it” spending sprees.
Rather than spend money on frivolous items, federal agencies like the Defense Department should admit their offices can be run on less, according to Adam Andrzejewski, founder and CEO of OpenTheBooks.
OpenTheBooks is a nonprofit aimed at bringing transparency and efficiency to the federal budget. They released a report this March detailing fiscal 2018 use-it-or-lose-it spending habits.
The military spent the most, by far, which isn’t surprising, Andrzejewski told Military Times"
No one wants to fix this problem. Rather Congress and DoD just continue the waste, and political pressure swings and misses talking about cutting spending and / or raising taxes, but never facing the true problem of unmanageable budgets, and a dumb process for budgeting
It's common in business to spend all your budget by the end of the year for tax reasons and for company management reasons. BUT, I don't care if every business lives by the budget rule: if you don't spend all your budget, you get less next year!
THAT business rule is often driven by tax implications, accounting standards, and maybe some other business nuance I am not smart enough to know. BUT that rule should never be used with tax dollars! Add this end of year idiocy to the antiquated one-year-at-a-time budget for DoD, and you have an extremely stupid budget management scenario! A 5 year budget for trillions of dollars OBVIOUSLY makes more sense.
"The U.S. deficit hit $984 billion in 2019, soaring during Trump era"
Spending increases, tax cuts and political apathy fueled the surge.
"In 2011, the GOP-controlled House of Representatives pushed to pass a constitutional amendment that would require balanced budgets. And the Obama administration created a deficit commission looking for ways to slow the growth of government debt. But those efforts have fallen away, and budget experts believe the country will see trillion-dollar annual deficits far into the future."
What's the answer?
"Trump administration officials did not defend the marked deficit increase, but they cast blame on Congress for not doing more to reduce expenditures. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin called on lawmakers “to cut wasteful and irresponsible spending.” "
Oh, really? How about forgetting the billion dollar Wall no one needs? How about raising taxes on the rich and corporations to reduce trillion dollar deficits now we know tax cuts for the rich and corporations and increased spending on weapons we don't really need (the Military Industrial Complex wins every year, telling us we need more, newer, and always more expensive weapons!) led to record deficits?
"Consumer debt hits $4 trillion"
Published Thu, Feb 21 2019 - Updated Thu, Feb 21 201911:37 AM EST
Jessica Dickler@jdickler
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/21/consumer-debt-hits-4-trillion.html
"Americans are diving deeper and deeper into the red.
As of this month, outstanding consumer debt exceeded $4 trillion for the first time, according to the Federal Reserve.
Relatively strong holiday spending, particularly in November, and increasing credit card debt added more than $41 billion in outstanding balances at the end of 2018, according to LendingTree, a loan comparison website, which analyzed the data from the Fed.
In addition, a steady rise in student loan balances, as well as an increase in the cost of automobile financing in the fourth quarter, contributed another $80 billion."
More on our impending bankruptcy, let's focus on credit card debt which can only go up, especially at 27% interest for people who cannot pay off their balance each month!
"Now, more than 1 in 3 people — or 86 million Americans — said they’re afraid they’ll max out their credit card when making a large purchase, according to a WalletHub credit cards survey. (Most of those polled considered a large purchase as anything over $100.)
At the same time, credit card interest rates have never been higher. The average card interest rate is currently 17.41 percent, according to CreditCards.com’s latest report. That’s up from 16.15 percent one year earlier and 15.22 percent two years ago."
What does it take for the US to have it's bond rating to go down, or for the dollar to devaluate?
"It is unusual for the government to run such a large budget deficit during a period of economic growth, because spending on unemployment and other benefits tends to contract and tax revenue often grows. But the White House and Congress have contributed to the deficit’s surge by enacting large spending increases and passing the 2017 tax cut law. The budget deficit was $665 billion in 2017.
U.S. debt is considered one of the safest investments in the world and interest rates remain low, which is why the government has been able to borrow money at cheap rates to finance the large annual deficits. But the costs are adding up. The government spent about $380 billion in interest payments on its debt last year, almost as much as the entire federal government contribution to Medicaid.
Budget experts have also warned that a lack of focus on the deficit could make it much harder for the U.S. government to respond to the next economic crisis, because policymakers will have less flexibility to enact new spending programs if they are devoting hundreds of billions of dollars to interest payments on the debt.
Tweety Trump is the smartest guy on planet Earth so don't expect him to listen to "experts" on the economy, and how deficits can hurt us eventually. Long term thinking is not a "thing" for Tweety. Tweety is an instant gratification guy, and America has bought into instant gratification too.
"The government recorded four straight years of budget deficits that exceeded $1 trillion around the time of the Great Recession, with the worst overrun occurring in 2009 when the deficit reached nearly 10 percent of the U.S. economy, the highest level since World War II. A growing economy and steps taken by the Obama administration and Congress shrank the deficit to 2.4 percent of the economy in 2015, but it slowly began expanding again, largely because of spending increases. In 2019, the deficit was 4.6 percent of the economy.
There are "left" leaning economists who say don't worry. Surprising to me that conservatives aren't the oes barking for balancing the budget.
"Some economists, particularly on the left, warn against expressing alarm over the widening deficit, arguing that because inflation remains low there is little reason to fear higher deficits."
Here's some hypocritical stuff from the GOP and Trump. How can these twits be so f**king tribal?!
"Republican policymakers have made little noise about the deficit under Trump, a contrast with their dire predictions about rising red ink under President Obama.
In 2013, when federal debt totaled $16.7 trillion, Trump tweeted: “Obama is the most profligate deficit & debt spender in our nation’s history.” The federal government is now more than $22 trillion in debt, according to the White House.
Vice President Pence called the debt increases under the Obama administration “atrocious.” Mick Mulvaney, the president’s acting chief of staff, held “Spending, Debt and Deficit” town halls during the Obama administration and repeatedly criticized lawmakers of both parties for increasing the deficit, including through funding relief for Hurricane Sandy."
These GOP dorks, Pence, and Trump are freaking crazy! That is all I can conclude! They are selling us down the river with their snake oil business acumen.
"3 Reasons Why Countries Devalue Their Currency"
By Adam Hayes 6 July 2019
The three are increase exports, cut trade deficits, and reduce "sovereign" debt burdens.
"Key Takeaways
- Currency devaluation involves taking measures to strategically lower the purchasing power of a nation's own currency.
- Countries may pursue such a strategy to gain a competitive edge in global trade and reduce sovereign debt burdens.
- Devaluation, however, can have unintended consequences that are self-defeating."
"Will US dollar devaluation be Trump's next sudden move?"
By Francis A. Scotland, Opinion Contributor — 10/04/19 05:00 PM EDT 135The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the view of The Hill
https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/464240-will-us-dollar-devaluation-be-trumps-next-sudden-move
"President Trump Donald has waged war on the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) for more than a year, launching salvos of tweet-bombs laced with criticism and ridicule. Trump’s main points have been that the Fed is too hawkish, and the U.S. dollar is too strong."
So what will he do?
" . . . A move by Trump to proactively de-value the U.S. dollar would be the monetary policy equivalent of the nuclear option, a weaponization that could set in motion an ugly currency war and a race to the bottom."
