I took your suggestion. Google gave me quotes from rightwing R David Schweikurt saying "Did you know there's over $1.5 trillion in unspent, unobligated funds sitting in government accounts?" I'm not sure that's trustworthy. Unspent, maybe. But surely earmarked for Congressionally approved programs and projects.
The unobligated fundng numbers have been going up. $2.1 T in 2026 estimated. AI gave back a breakdown between Mulit-Year funding and X-year (no expiration) funds as $201B of it being Mulit year and the rest X year funds.
I’m a fiscal conservative and find the GOP to be laughable hypocrites. At least the Dems are honest about their spending. The GOP cry and cry about dem spending, but when they control the White House they increase the deficit.
Well, the question you posed in this Poll was whether we agree with the assertion that Trump wants to cut federal gasoline taxes. I don't think that is debatable. Trump has expressly stated that he wants to do so. (Although he also stated just today that he doesn't really care about the average American's financial situation when it comes to our current dealings with Iran., so it is hard to know just exactly what he wants.)
Wait, wut?!
I believe Federal Highway fund has been augmented from general tax revenues in recent years. This would make more reliant on general taxes--- bad idea. He made a turd sandwich, its time for him to eat it.
His war by choice is why we are here with gas prices double what they were with sleepy Joe in office. Drumpf, the dumbest mfer in the world shouldn't also be the leader of the most powerful country in the world. Yet here we are.
The question posed was "Do you agree or disagree with Trump's plan to cut gasoline taxes?"
Read the title of the thread. You composed it. I see that you used the word "plan" down below it, but that was not as noticeable to me.
and let's see, didn't you accuse me of trying to find some vaguely thing to offset or something like that?
of course if you don't get $30 billion in revenue it's gone...But the fact that you eliminate the revenue for a year it does not necessarily add to the debt or cut road or bridge construction...nothing more, nothing less
earmarked has bad connotation among some, but yes you're right money is designated in authorization and appropriations bills. But, think about it, the government can't think ahead for a year, do you really think they know exactly what specific projects they will contract 5 years out?
both parties have increased deficits and debts since 2020. But you need to understand that what becomes debt or deficit under one president may, and most likely was, appropriated in the administration of the previous one. Meaning money that was approved by Congress under trump shows up in federal accounts when it was spent, and it was spent during Biden admin. Same for every admin.
I fully understand how obligations work. That was a bunch of words to excuse the spending behaviors of every GOP president of my lifetime. And I used to fall for it. I was all in on trickle down, that the GOP would balance the budget and more. Never happened. And I’m eligible for AARP.
It creates demand for the government issued currency. If taxes funded government spending deficit spending wouldn’t exist.
How does the United States government run deficits without taxes to fund that spending?
An idiotic windfall for oil companies. They get expensive oil for free that they can replace with cheap oil later as opposed to us selling them the expensive oil that we can buy back at lower prices later.
Yeah, our government wasn’t trillions of dollars in debt before Trump took over.
So explain why the $500M - half a billion per year - allocated to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting was soooooo important. Not enough "slack" for the govt to keep funding NPR???
Probably the same reason we are seeing less rainbow and blm flags. No one gives a crap about their extreme views.
So....if I have an account where I'm stashing money to buy a house in the next five years - while, at the same time, I'm maxing out my credit cards - and I have to take money out to pay for a problem with my van down by the river, I haven't actually changed my financial situation at all.
Great point. I hadn't thought of that.
Unobligated for the moment may mean you can temporarily use it for something else (if the law allows that) but it has to be returned when the time comes to spend it for its intended purpose.
Sure. But what's wrong with that?
You're not wrong. The best explanation of this that I've ever seen can be found in this book: Debt: The First 5,000 Years, by David Graeber.
In the unlikely event that we have a crash that makes having physical gold a great place to be, what do you do for change?
| Unit | Spot Market Value | Approx. Scrap Payout |
| Per Gram | $151.69 | $118 – $142 |
| Per Troy Ounce | $4,715.29 | $3,600 – $4,400 |
I'm a totally reasonable guy, and I agree with you and have posted it many times -probably before your time here. There is no fiscal control in our government...the $2trillion deficits are unsustainable and everybody knows it. Yet our government - both parties - spend a lot of their time on things which are more politically beneficial for them than working on issues important to the American people.
ok, I'll bite, how does the government pay the difference between revenues and expenses..this year for example?
you're 100 wrong. I'm not a trumpist. I wish he had not run again because I truly believe he's bad for the country, if only for the fact that democrats seem to actually hate him and this hate stops us from getting things that need to be done, done.
People call you out partially because you seem to only find these incorrect statements in anti trump posts, and never the posts from any of the board MAGA's (or seemingly never, don't doubt there have been some).
would you accept that the current administration believed that it was no longer necessary? So that would be $500M that would not require deficit borrowing.
are you a government? You're comparing your situation to a government that has $billions to $trillions of dollars sitting around unspent and up to 10 years to spend it...oh and the government will appropriate even more money in the next budget.So....if I have an account where I'm stashing money to buy a house in the next five years - while, at the same time, I'm maxing out my credit cards - and I have to take money out to pay for a problem with my van down by the river, I haven't actually changed my financial situation at all.
