The Current Events, News, and Politics Thread
#4343
Pro Libertate: "He's a Constitutionalist" (SECOND UPDATE, October 16)
#4345
Not Open To Debate
Lew asks Congress for debt increase, says it
So the representatives from our representative government are telling us how it's going to be, while the IRS wants to know how we pray in order to get tax exempt status, and the Justice department is bugging the Congressional cloak room. That must mean a Socialist is president...
So the representatives from our representative government are telling us how it's going to be, while the IRS wants to know how we pray in order to get tax exempt status, and the Justice department is bugging the Congressional cloak room. That must mean a Socialist is president...
#4347
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man widdling; shot and killed. family gets 1.5 million in wrongful death suit.
POLICE SHOOTING REVIEW BOARD FINDING: "The use of deadly force by Officer Birk resulting in the death of John T. Williams was unjustified,"
#4351
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Some good news for a change...
I thought it would be nice if some people had a reason to take a break from the wailing and gnashing of teeth and recognize that "things are better than they were (using some of our favorite metrics)."
Government jobs have shrunk rapidly at the state and local levels and have tapered off to about zero net growth vs 5 years ago. [Attachment 1]
The Federal government has shrunk relative to GDP while the private sector has largely recovered from the brutal recession - enough to "carry the baton" while the government sector has been a net drag on economic growth. [Attachment 2]
Even the Federal fiscal deficit is on pace to drop significantly from its recessionary peak and - barring a recession or significant economic slowdown - should drop to a level in line with historical averages (about 4% of GDP).
I know, I know. There are tons of reasons to be grumpy and bitter and disconsolate and to rail against the tyranny of oppressive government. But, every now and then, it's okay to take stock of some positives.*
* This assumes you consider shrinking Federal fiscal deficits, reduced government employment, reduced Federal government as a percentage of real GDP, and recovery of the private sector relative to real GDP contributions a positive thing.
Government jobs have shrunk rapidly at the state and local levels and have tapered off to about zero net growth vs 5 years ago. [Attachment 1]
The Federal government has shrunk relative to GDP while the private sector has largely recovered from the brutal recession - enough to "carry the baton" while the government sector has been a net drag on economic growth. [Attachment 2]
Even the Federal fiscal deficit is on pace to drop significantly from its recessionary peak and - barring a recession or significant economic slowdown - should drop to a level in line with historical averages (about 4% of GDP).
I know, I know. There are tons of reasons to be grumpy and bitter and disconsolate and to rail against the tyranny of oppressive government. But, every now and then, it's okay to take stock of some positives.*
* This assumes you consider shrinking Federal fiscal deficits, reduced government employment, reduced Federal government as a percentage of real GDP, and recovery of the private sector relative to real GDP contributions a positive thing.
Last edited by Braineack; 10-08-2019 at 09:48 AM.
#4352
I thought it would be nice if some people had a reason to take a break from the wailing and gnashing of teeth and recognize that "things are better than they were (using some of our favorite metrics)."
Government jobs have shrunk rapidly at the state and local levels and have tapered off to about zero net growth vs 5 years ago. [Attachment 1]
The Federal government has shrunk relative to GDP while the private sector has largely recovered from the brutal recession - enough to "carry the baton" while the government sector has been a net drag on economic growth. [Attachment 2]
Even the Federal fiscal deficit is on pace to drop significantly from its recessionary peak and - barring a recession or significant economic slowdown - should drop to a level in line with historical averages (about 4% of GDP).
I know, I know. There are tons of reasons to be grumpy and bitter and disconsolate and to rail against the tyranny of oppressive government. But, every now and then, it's okay to take stock of some positives.*
* This assumes you consider shrinking Federal fiscal deficits, reduced government employment, reduced Federal government as a percentage of real GDP, and recovery of the private sector relative to real GDP contributions a positive thing.
Government jobs have shrunk rapidly at the state and local levels and have tapered off to about zero net growth vs 5 years ago. [Attachment 1]
The Federal government has shrunk relative to GDP while the private sector has largely recovered from the brutal recession - enough to "carry the baton" while the government sector has been a net drag on economic growth. [Attachment 2]
Even the Federal fiscal deficit is on pace to drop significantly from its recessionary peak and - barring a recession or significant economic slowdown - should drop to a level in line with historical averages (about 4% of GDP).
I know, I know. There are tons of reasons to be grumpy and bitter and disconsolate and to rail against the tyranny of oppressive government. But, every now and then, it's okay to take stock of some positives.*
* This assumes you consider shrinking Federal fiscal deficits, reduced government employment, reduced Federal government as a percentage of real GDP, and recovery of the private sector relative to real GDP contributions a positive thing.
#4355
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The graph shows:
the Federal fiscal surplus (+) or deficit (-), NSA, in millions of dollars
divided by
the gross domestic product, NSA, in billions of dollars
all divided by 10 to even the units of measure and produce a figure in percentage
I think the STLFR actually produces a simplified chart to represent this now, but I had created and saves this one a long time ago.
A deficit is a negative value. Most people just invert the result to make it more intuitive to sync with normal conversation. A surplus is a net positive figure and a deficit is a net negative.
#4359
Radical right-wing authoritarianism (fascism is a distinct form of it) has about as much to do with "Social Democrats" as Pol Pot or Mao.
Seriously, the second anyone tries to lump fascism in with communism or socialism* (All of which are actually distinct contradictory entities [Lesser so with communism/socialism granted, but communism and socialism are their own distinct beasts nonetheless] on their own anyways) let alone trying to lump any of those in with modern politics regardless of the political position, you know they are nothing more than either a partisan hack desperately trying to score political points willing to lie through their teeth, someone who has a serious lack of education, or someone who is seriously delusional.
*: Education is good**. http://www.diffen.com/difference/Communism_vs_Socialism
(Edit) **: Excellent read on a topic related to this, as it's pretty clear you are confusing communism(economics) vs Communism(political): http://www.romm.org/soc_com.html
Last edited by blaen99; 05-21-2013 at 10:51 PM.