The Canadian Iroquois-class destroyer HMCS Algonquin (DDH 283) departs from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii to participate in exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2006.
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Economics 101 for Obama & Hillary
By: Doug Edelman | Submitted on: 02/19/08EDITORIAL - As we evaluate the proposals of the Presidential Candidates, one must remember that the Government PRODUCES nothing, EARNS nothing and HAS nothing that it doesn’t first APPROPRIATE from the producing public. Whatever it GIVES to someone, it must TAKE from someone – in THAT sense the government IS a Zero Sum Game!! The more the government gives to the dependent, the more they must take from the producers. If you’re a producer – watch your wallet. If you’re a dependent – GET A JOB!
All the figures below come from directly from the Budget of the United States:
Medicare & Social Security ALONE account for nearly 1/3 of the entire budget. Medicaid is nearly another 7%. Education/Employment/Social Services accounts for yet another 4.5%. That totals around 45% of the ENTIRE BUDGET for just these giveaways! The true business of the Government takes around HALF the current budget, and would operate at a significant surplus (and would need less revenue) without these giveaways! And with a surplus, we would pay down the debt and eliminate the interest payments which eat another 8.5% of the annual budget!
ENTIRE NATIONAL DEFENSE BUDGET is less than 20% of the annual budget, and most of that would be spent to maintain the standing military whether at war or peace. (So when liberals complain that the Iraq War is breaking us, they’re talking about maybe a couple hundred billion out of 3+ Trillion, or like 8% of the budget.)
International Affairs – INCLUDING FOREIGN AID represents 1% of the budget. Transportation is under 3%. Justice System 1.5%. Community Development, around 2%. Science & Technology, under 1%. THESE are the real business of Government, in addition to the provision of our defense and security.
Even without adding billions in new social programs as proposed by both Obama and Clinton, our economic fate is tenuous at best in a shifting demographic. As the number of dependent people increases, the balance point shifts on the teeter totter, and soon the dependent will outweigh the producers – at which point the whole house of cards falls.
All the figures below come from directly from the Budget of the United States:
Medicare & Social Security ALONE account for nearly 1/3 of the entire budget. Medicaid is nearly another 7%. Education/Employment/Social Services accounts for yet another 4.5%. That totals around 45% of the ENTIRE BUDGET for just these giveaways! The true business of the Government takes around HALF the current budget, and would operate at a significant surplus (and would need less revenue) without these giveaways! And with a surplus, we would pay down the debt and eliminate the interest payments which eat another 8.5% of the annual budget!
ENTIRE NATIONAL DEFENSE BUDGET is less than 20% of the annual budget, and most of that would be spent to maintain the standing military whether at war or peace. (So when liberals complain that the Iraq War is breaking us, they’re talking about maybe a couple hundred billion out of 3+ Trillion, or like 8% of the budget.)
International Affairs – INCLUDING FOREIGN AID represents 1% of the budget. Transportation is under 3%. Justice System 1.5%. Community Development, around 2%. Science & Technology, under 1%. THESE are the real business of Government, in addition to the provision of our defense and security.
Even without adding billions in new social programs as proposed by both Obama and Clinton, our economic fate is tenuous at best in a shifting demographic. As the number of dependent people increases, the balance point shifts on the teeter totter, and soon the dependent will outweigh the producers – at which point the whole house of cards falls.
Doug Edelman is a conservative political commentator and a contributing editor for The Conservative Voice. His work is also seen on News By Us, The American Daily, The Post Chronicle, New Media Journal, Capitol Hill Coffee House, Small Government Times etc. For the support of his family, however, he is also an IT Consultant/Contractor and owner of a Computer Services Business. He has taught PC Maintenance & Repair and Networking at his local Community College, and maintains a blog at http://edeldoug.blogs.com/.
