Quote Originally Posted by BanginJimmy View Post
There is plenty of reason to believe that the surplus of FY2001 turned into a deficit in FY02 because of 2 things. The first is that the US was in a small recession caused by the dot com bubble bursting. The second, is the 9/11 attacks resulted in another small recession.

I like this reference from University of California-Santa Barbara better because it also shows govt revenue.
Federal Budget Receipts and Outlays






The only TARP funds that have not been repaid are the funds given to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. All other funds have been paid back, with interest.

Its very hard to tell if deficits will come down. Right now we are paying some of the taxes and fees for Obamacare, but the real spending hasnt started yet. Every model I have seen for the effects of Obamacare have been from biased organizations and come under pretty heavy criticism.

What we do know is that employers that do have the flexibility to do so, are going to adjust their practices to reduce their exposure to Obamacare. Dardin Restaurants recently said they were testing that policy in select regions now.





For a business yes, for govt its not nearly that simple. Because a govt cannot create wealth, only take it away from those that do, it stands to reason that policies that take more wealth out of the economy will hurt the economy.
that link is powerful, although estimates, it kinda relates to what i mentioned, the govt, still under the president, will slowly chip away at the deficit. the recession had alot to do w/ how the economy is period, regardless of the president, there's been alot of 'fix a flat' issued and realizing that's not going to work, or that in some cases it did and they can build on it.

truthfully, as long as the whole 'obamacare' thing doesnt significantly affect my pockets, i dont mind helping where i can, i mean hell my check gets taxed like a mofo right now esp since i claim 0, but it's helping out the less fortunate, that's overall how i see that situation. everybody is not fortunate to be able to pay for good healthcare.

as far as the business side of thing, i'd like to think the same principle sticks. in essence he had to 'spend' on the banks and auto industry in order to help produce jobs, i dont know how many jobs or even if it was significant enough, but it was enough for the auto companies to pay back w/ interest right, so that principle, helped w/ that situation.

at the end of the day i hope whoever is in office doesnt screw anyone over and not be a asshole about what they gota do.