I had forgotten tomorrow is a holiday. Generally I don't don't trade the last day of the trading week because of derivative madness. Guess I got lucky today.
The economy
- Thread starter Rastafarian
- Start date
Watching the Artemis pre launch, countdown and launch yesterday was awesome. Was watching on CBS live. The emotions expressed by the past astronauts was special and heartfelt, especially the female who was part of the broad cast.
We may be leading currently in the space race, but China is reportedly moving fast by teaming with Russia for rocket launching
It sure seems like there was a lot of lost time after the astronaut moon landing 50+ years ago.
we all, well maybe not all, are concerned about the debt. But let's be clear, back in 2000 it was manageable. It took Bush2, Obama, trump1, Biden, and trump 2 to get us to $39 trillion. And, during that period we had Democrat and Republican controlled Congress. We can argue about which was worse, and that might be a great academic exercise, but leaders and members of both parties are complicit in our current dilemma
Non farm payrolls come in muich better than expected. 59,000 expected vs 178,000 actual.
Unemployment rate comes down to 4.3% from expected 4.4%
Market initially rallied on the news but quickly sold back off after realizing in the grand scheme of things it's meaningless right now with WTI oil at $112 a barrel and geopolitical tensions roaring.
Unemployment rate comes down to 4.3% from expected 4.4%
Market initially rallied on the news but quickly sold back off after realizing in the grand scheme of things it's meaningless right now with WTI oil at $112 a barrel and geopolitical tensions roaring.
Sure they are but if you entered office in 2025 knowing this, would you pass a bill that restricts revenue and adds $4.1 trillion over 10 years if you wanted to be fiscally responsible? Spending cuts to health care and a chaotic tariff policy will not offset this and will be ended when a new administration takes over anyway.
And when you add the obscene amount of new spending for defense and border security, you haven't learned anything at all from the past.
With his age and narcissism, I don't think he cares at all about how he's damaging this country, as he seems to only be interested in his legacy.
I am a major deficit hawk. In the post she says homelessness could be ended with $45 billion. How do you end homelessness? I want it to end. Do you round people up and put them in camps?
I believe it's based on previous HUD estimates of how much it would cost to place the homeless currently in shelters into permanent housing, but the bigger point is we should be directing these additional funds into our own communities, especially if you call your movement America First.
I am not opposed to that. Homelessness is a huge problem for everyone.
Probably best for a different post,but homelessness is as much a psychological issue as it is a financial issue.
I've seen some fascinating docs that have studied this. Most homeless people don't want to be in homes. They have family,they have outlets, they just don't/confirm to the norms that would allow this. Obviously many have drug alcohol,mental health issues as well.
I was in Vermont last summer and they had an area that was wooded and designated as a public campground, it had water and restroom facilities. They had clinics come through monthly for medical care. This was largely where the unhoused people lived. It was safer, and they were in an area that was not imdowntown or in tourist areas. Seems like an interesting way of addressing the needs.
Humans have always had a segment of the population who did not want to live within society. Often they would be hermits, or similar. Feels like many of the unhoused are similar.
We in the US seem to believe our way is the only way. Does any human who is not brain dead not live in the bubble of their own brain and related bias?
I believe we've had this conversation before..but...you do realize that when trump came into office in 2025, the budget for that fiscal year was passed in 2024 and signed then by Biden - the fiscal year began 1 Oct 25. In the Biden budget, the 10 year deficits, if I recall correctly were estimated at $3billion. When in 2025, the BBB was signed, it came into effect and reduced that projected deficit by $600Billion. (again, I might not have the numbers exactly right, but the concept is the same)
Do not take my statement above as any kind of validation that Trump is fiscally responsible...since 2001, no president or Congress has been fiscally responsible.
Should we be spending more on anything, IMO, the answer is "NO". We desperately need some plan for reducing the deficits and ultimately the debt. But as we have discussed many, many times no one in DC, be they Republican or democrat, seems to be interested.
I know you really want all this to be trump's fault, and part of it is, but not all of it, by any means. Also, don't lose track of the fact that the Congress approves the budget and sends it to the president. So, there's significant blame for our high spending that should head that way. Also, whenever all the calls for more spending be it healthcare, child care, etc come from our elected officials, we need to just ask "where is that money coming from" and, as we have seen over the years, the answer is not "tax the rich". Those taxes might pay for more spending, but doesn't make contributions to the debt.
if we're going to build housing for the homeless, how about the single mother who pays her rent and is struggling to survive?
That was sort of my point earlier. You have to make some of these folks stop being homeless. They just aren’t suited for civilization norms.
I think government housing unfortunately is the only way to deliver truly affordable housing. You have to take profit out of the equation. Now usually the government is so inefficient that they are more wasteful. My solution would be for local municipalities to higher real estate developers at a set percentage fee to develop the houses and the government owns them. Cheaper debt etc, but with private efficiency.
Name a way that is better? Who allows over a million immigrants a year to enter their nation legally? I wonder why that is??? It's called the Bill of Rights and the chance at individual freedom. Not, Socialism. Just look at England. An absolute disgrace of a country. France and Russia could overrun England within weeks. That's how week England is.
that would be great, government control of housing. I can't think of any program the government has screwed up, can you?
I hear you. I just don’t know another realistic was to solve the problem. Municipalities aren’t going to reduce zoning/architectural requirements anytimsoon.
I literally agreed with you that it wasn't all Trump's fault in my first sentence but then made the case that he knew that coming in and is making it obscenely worse.
By the way, he posted what he plans to cut to pay for the extra spending on whitehouse.gov.
Because he cares for us:
$510 million - Grants for farmers and agricultural research
$82 million - Loans for rural small businesses (Fully eliminated)
$61 million - Support for farmers and food markets (Fully eliminated)
$240 million - School meals and food education for children abroad (Fully eliminated)
$659 million - Community building grants
$47 million - Support for minority-owned businesses (Fully eliminated)
$449 million - Economic development grants for communities
$1.6 billion - Weather forecasting, fisheries, and coastal protection (NOAA)
$993 million - Scientific research and technology standards
$150 million - Support for American exports and trade
$2.2 billion - Broadband and internet access programs
$8.5 billion - Funding for public schools
$1.5 billion - Vocational training and adult education (Fully eliminated)
$2.7 billion - College access and higher education support
$15.2 billion - Roads, bridges, and infrastructure projects
$1.1 billion - Home energy efficiency and clean energy programs (Fully eliminated)
$1.1 billion - Scientific research funding
$386 million - Environmental cleanup programs
$150 million - Cutting-edge clean energy research
$4 billion - Help paying home heating and cooling bills for low-income families (Fully eliminated)
$768 million - Refugee resettlement assistance
$819 million - Care and shelter for migrant children
$775 million - Local anti-poverty programs (Fully eliminated)
$5 billion - Public health programs, mental health services, and disease prevention
$5 billion - Medical research (NIH)
$129 million - Healthcare quality and safety research
$356 million - Emergency preparedness and disaster response
$1.3 billion - FEMA community disaster preparedness grants
$707 million - Cybersecurity protection for critical infrastructure
$52 million - Airport and transportation security
$40 million - Protection against chemical and biological weapons threats
$53 million - Funding for homeland security operations
$3.3 billion - Community development block grants for local neighborhoods (Fully eliminated)
$1.3 billion - Affordable housing construction grants (Fully eliminated)
$393 million - Programs to reduce homelessness
$529 million - Housing assistance for people living with HIV/AIDS (Fully eliminated)
$489 million - Housing and services for Native American communities
$50 million - Grants to help communities build more housing (Fully eliminated)
$60 million - Enforcement of fair housing and anti-discrimination laws
$58 million - Homebuyer and renter counseling services (Fully eliminated)
$45 million - Renewable energy development programs (Fully eliminated)
$1.7 billion - Grants for local law enforcement and public safety
$20 million - Civil rights mediation and legal access programs (Fully eliminated)
$1.6 billion - Job training for at-risk youth (Fully eliminated)
$395 million - Jobs program for low-income seniors (Fully eliminated)
$234 million - Worker safety and labor protection programs
$101 million - Enforcement of equal pay and workplace anti-discrimination laws
$46 million - Programs to combat child labor and forced labor abroad
$2 billion - International humanitarian aid
$1.2 billion - Food aid for hungry families abroad (Fully eliminated)
$4.3 billion - Global health and disease prevention programs
$2.7 billion - Funding for the United Nations and international partnerships
$642 million - International economic and treasury programs
$315 million - Democracy and anti-corruption programs abroad
$486 million - Grants for public transit projects
$4.2 billion - Electric vehicle charging infrastructure
$372 million - Airline service for rural and small communities
$145 million - Grants for sustainable and equitable infrastructure
$204 million - Loans and investment for underserved communities
$1.4 billion - IRS taxpayer services and enforcement
$100 million - Air pollution monitoring and reduction programs (Fully eliminated)
$1 billion - EPA grants to states for environmental protection
$2.5 billion - Clean drinking water and wastewater infrastructure funds
$90 million - Grants to reduce diesel pollution (Fully eliminated)
$3.4 billion - NASA space and earth science research
$297 million - NASA technology innovation programs
$1.1 billion - International Space Station operations
$143 million - STEM education programs
$309 million - Small business development and entrepreneurship programs
$170 million - Small Business Administration operations
$158 million - Loans for small businesses
Wonder what is offsetting the rise in energy prices?
That chart tells me that our European "allies" should be 100% committed to helping get the straits open.
P.S. Natural gas prices are $2.82 after starting the year at $3.97
Your definition of a president who "cares for us" is more spending and more debt that is only partially offset by more taxes on the rich.
Your solution is for local governments to hire developers who won't be allowed to make a profit?
How so? People on this board and throughout the country are always talking about how the government should do things differently.
I suspect that you're talking about things like national healthcare and gun control. But other countries are less diverse and I doubt that you want that.
I think most people believe I'm against national healthcare but that's only partly true. I would support some sort of minimal national healthcare where everybody pays (not just the rich). IMO it has to be minimal because otherwise it would discourage people from being self sufficient. You might have a different opinion which is OK. My argument is that people think it would be higher quality and materially less expensive if the government ran it. The only evidence that's true is from the people who are biased in favor of national healthcare. It's like asking teachers is we need to spend more in order to improve educational outcomes.
I've been pretty clear that things are DIFFERENT in other countries. Not necessarily better or worse.
So they should have the burden of entering a stupid war that’s only purpose was to distract from the rape and abuse of children Trump and his buddies committed?
how about America start functioning like a working democracy and holding its leaders accountable? Prosecute those who committed crimes. Impeach those who start an illegal war and commit war crimes.
the only reason they are feeling the consequences are because of our presidents stupidity. Why should they bail us out?
Your definition of caring is only the rich benefit while the rest get nothing so we can maintain our hegemony over the rest of the world with more spending than the amount you complain about. Let them eat cake says bdgan. We must prostrate ourselves before our mad king at all times, for his desires are tantamount. .
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You pay the developer a fee to deliver the housing. The local municipality could finance it with bonds well below market interest rates. The housing would not pay property taxes because the municipality owns it. They could then charge well below market rents making it affordable. The municipality would then have an asset on its books. So I think this is a win win.
The trade deficit seems to yo yo back and forth month to month. I don’t think we have seen a long term trend of imports decreasing on a large scale.
We really need to be investing in infrastructure.
great idea, but here's a thought...the gov't issues bonds well below market interest rates - first, who buys bond well below market interest rates? the government then pays interest on the bonds: the government then loses money by not requiring property taxes on fair value: finally, they charge well below market rent...and, you pay the developer a fee?
So, how is this good for the taxpayer?
Government bonds have a much lower interest rate than typically development loan debt. They don’t lose money by not charging property taxes. Why pay taxes to yourself? Churches and other nonprofits don’t pay property taxes. The rent would be charged so that the asset break even accounting for all expenses. But without a profit component and taxes rent would be substantially below market rate. The taxpayer is not harmed because the government owns the asset and it pays for itself. Currently the tax payers is asked to subsidize rents. At least this way an asset is created vs just handing out money.
you pay a developer a fee to develop the asset. The government doesn’t have the expertise to do that.
Military spending was 4.6% of GDP when Clinton took office.
Clinton cut defense spending during his tenure. Some say it left us unprepared for 9/11.
It was 4.9% of GDP under Obama in 2010.
Spending was 3.4% of GDP last year (before the Iran war).
I have mixed feelings because I think national defense is the #1 job of the national government. On the other hand we're approaching a $40 trillion debt and it's growing fast. I fully support Trump pressing NATO to do more to defend itself. I don't think we can afford to be the world's policeman.
I'd probably agree to an extra $150 billion to replenish much of what we've lost in Ukraine & Iran and maybe another $100 billion to grow. But certainly not $1.5 trillion.