The U.S. Economy Added 2.65 Million Jobs in 2015

[DonDadda59]

That's good for the second best year since 1999. And unemployment claims fell to their lowest level since 1973. All this despite China's economic meltdown and the overall downturn in the Global economy.

America right now = The Teflon Economy. :bowdown:


U.S. adds 2.65 million jobs in 2015 for 2nd best year since 1999


In the face of global fears, the U.S. economy is still gaining speed.
American employers added 292,000 jobs in December. Economists surveyed by CNNMoney predicted 211,000 jobs would be added.

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/dam/assets/160108083501-unemployment-rate-since-2009-780x439.png



For all of 2015, the economy added 2.65 million jobs, the second best year of jobs gains since 1999.

The unemployment rate stayed at 5% for the third straight month. That's near what most economists consider "full employment." Unemployment is down by half from its peak of 10% in 2009.

Americans saw their paychecks go up too. Wages grew 2.5% in December from a year ago, matching the annual gains in October, which were the best in six years. However, compared to November, wages fell a penny.

Wages have been one of the last indicators to turn the corner in the U.S. recovery and they're finally gaining momentum. Growth in November was solid too.

http://money.cnn.com/2016/01/08/news/economy/us-economy-jobs-second-best-year-since-1999/?iid=TL_Popular

Reuters- U.S. Payrolls Surge in December (http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-economy-idUSKBN0UM0FG20160108)



We couldn't lose right now even if we tried to throw the game. :rockon:

[Velocirap31]

Good news for America means good news for the rest of the world. Especially Canada.

[UK2K]

The unemployment rate is down... yet there are the fewest percentage of workers in the labor force since 1977.

Government math.

Nice that we added so many jobs though. I keep wondering how long it will take for the economy to recover, this is a step in the right direction.

[Norcaliblunt]

Just wish we could add more jobs rebuilding America's crumbling infrastructure and modernizing this bitch. Building mag lev trains, repairing and modernizing the interstate system, desalinization plants, irrigation canels, nuclear fission, hydroponic vertical farming, hospitals, etc.

[UK2K]

I just we could get more jobs rebuilding America's crumbling infrastructure and modernizing this bitch. Building mag lev trains, repairing and modernizing the interstate system, desalinization plants, irrigation canels, nuclear fission, hydroponic vertical farming, hospitals, etc.

That's what I've been saying for years...

Why are we not having public works projects, removing graffiti, fixing roads and sewer systems, etc...

That keeps people in work, keeps them paid, and keeps them from having gaps in their resumes.

Instead we spend government money on stupid shit.

[Stout]

That's what I've been saying for years...

Why are we not having public works projects, removing graffiti, fixing roads and sewer systems, etc...

That keeps people in work, keeps them paid, and keeps them from having gaps in their resumes.

Instead we spend government money on stupid shit.
Military spending is one of the biggest culprits.

[DonDadda59]

Just wish we could add more jobs rebuilding America's crumbling infrastructure and modernizing this bitch. Building mag lev trains, repairing and modernizing the interstate system, desalinization plants, irrigation canels, nuclear fission, hydroponic vertical farming, hospitals, etc.

Barry O provided the federal money to build an interstate high speed rail system back in '09. Republican governors inexplicably turned it down (One of them, Scott Walker (http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/6674/wis._labor_greens_unite_to_fight_gov.-elect._walkers_no-track_mind_on_), is now running for president :lol ).

http://www.citylab.com/politics/2013/11/how-republicans-killed-americas-high-speed-rail-plan/7458/

http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/blogs/william-vantuono/did-republicans-kill-americas-high-speed-rail-plan.html

[nathanjizzle]

republicans always talking shit about our country and how great it is not.

[Akrazotile]

Just wish we could add more jobs rebuilding America's crumbling infrastructure and modernizing this bitch. Building mag lev trains, repairing and modernizing the interstate system, desalinization plants, irrigation canels, nuclear fission, hydroponic vertical farming, hospitals, etc.


I am with you on most of these. I dont think we need to repair existing things that dont REALLY need repair just for the sake of adding jobs, but I agree we could add a lot of new modernization to the infrastructure which would add jobs just the same.

[chosen_one6]

If we spent less money on military bullshit and less time butting heads because of what party we're affiliated with, we could get things done. But people are too f*cking stupid to pull their heads out of their asses, so we just sit, stalled out, not making any real progress.

[UK2K]

Military spending is one of the biggest culprits.
I can think of a lot more useless things.

[UK2K]

Barry O provided the federal money to build an interstate high speed rail system back in '09. Republican governors inexplicably turned it down (One of them, Scott Walker (http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/6674/wis._labor_greens_unite_to_fight_gov.-elect._walkers_no-track_mind_on_), is now running for president :lol ).

http://www.citylab.com/politics/2013/11/how-republicans-killed-americas-high-speed-rail-plan/7458/

http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/blogs/william-vantuono/did-republicans-kill-americas-high-speed-rail-plan.html

Remember that 'shovel ready job' stimulus?

Whatever happened to all that money? What, $800 billion was it?

Inexplicably my ass. Theres a reason it was voted down.

For these types of projects to be a success, we have to remove government corruption. Until then, it's just a feel good lie that does nothing but benefit friends of politicians.

The article you posted is ridiculously biased by the way. I tried to read it, but it's more of an opinion piece than an actual article.

There's been dozens of proposed high speed rail system that have been shot down, yet, you found this ONE to try and make a political argument. Very mature.

[DeuceWallaces]

I can think of a lot more useless things.

I can't.

[shlver]

Military spending is one of the biggest culprits.
Military spending is not stupid shit. the DoD is the largest employer in the world, not to mention the government contracts given to private corporations. Military funding funds research and technological advancement. As long our GDP grows, I believe we should stabilize or slightly increase the percentage of GDP in order for the United States to continue military dominance.

[Akrazotile]

I can't.


:roll:


The government spent THREE MILLION DOLLARS on a study whose grand conclusion was that lesbians are fat.



But Deuce is mad about the military.

[~primetime~]

:roll:


The government spent THREE MILLION DOLLARS on a study whose grand conclusion was that lesbians are fat.



But Deuce is mad about the military.
that's like one tire on a stealth bomber

[~primetime~]

https://coxrare.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/bar-chart-defense-spending.jpg


I mean...we could probably take it down a few billion

[DonDadda59]

Remember that 'shovel ready job' stimulus?

Whatever happened to all that money? What, $800 billion was it?

Inexplicably my ass. Theres a reason it was voted down.

For these types of projects to be a success, we have to remove government corruption. Until then, it's just a feel good lie that does nothing but benefit friends of politicians.

There was no 'vote'. :lol

And that 'shovel ready' stuff was bullshit (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-no-such-thing-as-shovel-ready-projects/). BUT construction workers experienced the best pay raises (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/construction-workers-top-list-of-jobs-with-the-best-pay-rises-in-2015-a6802781.html) across all job sectors and made up a huge chunk of most of the job gains in 2015. Plenty of shovels were put to work and well compensated last year.

Hold this W, America. :rockon:

[Akrazotile]

that's like one tire on a stealth bomber

Well.

Stealth bombers need tires.

And stealth bombers have value.

I'd rather have a stealth bomber in my garage than a stack of charts correlating obesity and carpet munching :confusedshrug:

[~primetime~]

Well.

Stealth bombers need tires.

And stealth bombers have value.

I'd rather have a stealth bomber in my garage than a stack of charts correlating obesity and carpet munching :confusedshrug:
yeah I'm not saying we aren't blowing money on much more useless shit elsewhere...just sayin, we spend a fck ton on military that could probably be better spent on healthcare, education, etc

[dunksby]

Obama is bad, if you say otherwise, I will say it louder and repeat it so much that you either concede or shut up.

[Akrazotile]

https://coxrare.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/bar-chart-defense-spending.jpg


I mean...we could probably take it down a few billion


But dude. We supply the military for all our allies. We ARE the free world's military. Nobody else spends on it bc they know its useless to get their own military ideas, cause we run shit.

If the US disappeared tomorrow, do you know how quickly the bars on the rest of that chart would shoot up?? :oldlol:

Faster than a 13 year old's boner at the playboy mansion.

[UK2K]

There was no 'vote'. :lol

And that 'shovel ready' stuff was bullshit (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-no-such-thing-as-shovel-ready-projects/). BUT construction workers experienced the best pay raises (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/construction-workers-top-list-of-jobs-with-the-best-pay-rises-in-2015-a6802781.html) across all job sectors and made up a huge chunk of most of the job gains in 2015. Plenty of shovels were put to work and well compensated last year.

Hold this W, America. :rockon:

Last year? You bring up a proposal from 2009, I respond with numbers from the same period, and you talk about wages last year...

Where did the money go? It was $800 billion dollars, where did it go?

http://b-i.forbesimg.com/timworstall/files/2013/11/InfraSpending.png

The money was going to be used for infrastructure repairs and spending, but yet, government spending on infrastructure dropped through the floor. So where did the money go?

Sure, wages are going up now 7 years later. Its about time.

[shlver]

https://coxrare.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/bar-chart-defense-spending.jpg


I mean...we could probably take it down a few billion
Why?
http://i.cdn.turner.com/money/news/economy/world_economies_gdp/images/economies-social.png
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Research/Files/Articles/2012/9/sequestration-singer/Military-Expenditures.jpg

[UK2K]

yeah I'm not saying we aren't blowing money on much more useless shit elsewhere...just sayin, we spend a fck ton on military that could probably be better spent on healthcare, education, etc

Sure we do, but if we didn't, we wouldn't exists as a country anymore.

No one cares about fat lesbians or shrimp running on treadmills. We do care about preserving our way of life though.

[UK2K]

Why?
http://i.cdn.turner.com/money/news/economy/world_economies_gdp/images/economies-social.png
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Research/Files/Articles/2012/9/sequestration-singer/Military-Expenditures.jpg

Because its all they know when someone points out the staggering costs of welfare and illegal immigration.....

Deflect to our military budget.

[~primetime~]

I care more about healthcare and education than the military or defending other countries. Healthcare here is pretty bad, could probably fix it up just selling one stealth bomber. I'm not saying we should cut military spending completely, just take it down a notch.

If WW3 is around the corner then that is different...we don't need to spend that mch fighting fcking ISIS.

[bladefd]

Military spending is not stupid shit. the DoD is the largest employer in the world, not to mention the government contracts given to private corporations. Military funding funds research and technological advancement. As long our GDP grows, I believe we should stabilize or slightly increase the percentage of GDP in order for the United States to continue military dominance.

Lots of military spending is wasteful though. One example - every year the pentagon loses $250 million and nobody knows where it goes. It is attributed to inefficient spending. That is a problem. We already spend something like 700 billion every year on the military (excluding any top secret programs that are not public). That is more than next 12 or 13 countries combined. That is outrageously out of control. We are spending as much, if not more, per capita now than the cold war at its prime.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cd/PerCapitaInflationAdjustedDefenseSpending.PNG/500px-PerCapitaInflationAdjustedDefenseSpending.PNG

[UK2K]

I care more about healthcare and education than the military or defending other countries. Healthcare here is pretty bad, could probably fix it up just selling one stealth bomber. I'm not saying we should cut military spending completely, just take it down a notch.

If WW3 is around the corner then that is different...we don't need to spend that mch fighting fcking ISIS.

Si vis pacem, para bellum.

And we don't spend that much fighting ISIS, but we do spend that much assisting our allies in fighting ISIS (or arming the wrong militias, whichever is more important at the time).

[shlver]

I care more about healthcare and education than the military or defending other countries. Healthcare here is pretty bad, could probably fix it up just selling one stealth bomber. I'm not saying we should cut military spending completely, just take it down a notch.

If WW3 is around the corner then that is different...we don't need to spend that mch fighting fcking ISIS.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/U.S._Federal_Spending_-_FY_2011.png

New F-35 Prices: A: $95M; B: $102M; C: $116M
http://breakingdefense.com/2014/11/new-f-35-prices-a-95m-b-116m-c-102m/

Uh, no; we can't fix it up by selling a stealth fighter.:hammerhead:

[shlver]

Lots of military spending is wasteful though. One example - every year the pentagon loses $250 million and nobody knows where it goes. It is attributed to inefficient spending. That is a problem. We already spend something like 700 billion every year on the military (excluding any top secret programs that are not public). That is more than next 12 or 13 countries combined. That is outrageously out of control. We are spending as much, if not more, per capita now than the cold war at its prime.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cd/PerCapitaInflationAdjustedDefenseSpending.PNG/500px-PerCapitaInflationAdjustedDefenseSpending.PNG
0.00041%* of the entire budget is out of control wasteful spending?

[Derka]

It cost budget dollars to make that stealth fighter we're selling. Even if we get back what it cost to make it, it pretty much just paid for itself.

[~primetime~]

'selling a stealth bomber' was exaggerating obviously, not sure it is even possible to sell one...let's say moving $50B from military to other places more in need...healthcare and education

[ThePhantomCreep]

The unemployment rate is down... yet there are the fewest percentage of workers in the labor force since 1977.

Government math.

Nice that we added so many jobs though. I keep wondering how long it will take for the economy to recover, this is a step in the right direction.


Nope, you simply can't comprehend that our LFPR falls and rises based on demographic/societal shifts. It is not the true indicator of economic health you desperately wish it was.

LFPR (January 1956): 59%
LFPR (January 1980): 63.9%

Using dumbass right-winger logic, the economy was better under Jimmy Carter than Eisenhower. Good luck getting Fox and Friends to agree with that.

[Akrazotile]

I care more about healthcare and education than the military or defending other countries. Healthcare here is pretty bad, could probably fix it up just selling one stealth bomber. I'm not saying we should cut military spending completely, just take it down a notch.

If WW3 is around the corner then that is different...we don't need to spend that mch fighting fcking ISIS.


Those are fair opinions. My issue with healthcare and education is that the current premises of these institutions are extremely faulty, and the predominant changes that need to be made don't involve money. They involve principles. So just throwing money at them in their current state just results in a lot of wasted money.

If we had the right idea about these things then maybe it would make sense to put more social spending into them. Or maybe we would find out that they don't really require lots of money to run properly.

[Derka]

Lots of military spending is wasteful though. One example - every year the pentagon loses $250 million and nobody knows where it goes. It is attributed to inefficient spending. That is a problem. We already spend something like 700 billion every year on the military (excluding any top secret programs that are not public). That is more than next 12 or 13 countries combined. That is outrageously out of control. We are spending as much, if not more, per capita now than the cold war at its prime.

The numbers on their own are staggering, but a bit of context helps. Truth is that the world today is a far more dangerous, more unpredictable place than it was during the Cold War years.

We've left behind the days when (relatively) rational nation-states were the only actors on the global security stage. Terrorist outfits, rogue regimes...all manner of unpredictability has been introduced into the equation. Nations have to defend themselves against new threats that don't wear uniforms and declare war by handing a note to the Ambassador as gentlemen do.

[UK2K]

Nope, you simply can't comprehend that our LFPR falls and rises based on demographic/societal shifts. It is not the true indicator of economic health you desperately wish it was.

LFPR (January 1956): 59%
LFPR (January 1980): 63.9%

Using dumbass right-winger logic, the economy was better under Jimmy Carter than Eisenhower. Good luck getting Fox and Friends to agree with that.

What happened in the 60's?

Speaking of dumbass. :applause:

[UK2K]

'selling a stealth bomber' was exaggerating obviously, not sure it is even possible to sell one...let's say moving $50B from military to other places more in need...healthcare and education

I am all for improving education. I think, after defense, that is the most important thing to the continued success of our country.

But where the money is going to come from is the million dollar question.

[ThePhantomCreep]

Because its all they know when someone points out the staggering costs of welfare and illegal immigration.....

Deflect to our military budget.


Defense spending dwarfs that of illegal immigration and safety programs. They're not even in the same stratosphere.

Posters like yourself and that pile of shit Akrazotile would rather deflect from our bloated military budget by complaining about food stamps, which mostly go to children and the elderly.

Someone posted a graph showing that Saudi Arabia spends more per capita on their military than we do. Well, they have a good reason to spend more--they're smack dab in the middle of a war-torn region. We're half a world away from it.

The Cold War = long over.

[Akrazotile]

I'm getting a rash of these messages all of a sudden:


This message is hidden because ThePhantomCreep is on your ignore list.


Did an otherwise civil discussion just get ruined by an angry retard showing up and crying and stamping his feet?


Yall gotta put this man on ignore. Will do wonders for your blood pressure.

[ThePhantomCreep]

What happened in the 60's?

Speaking of dumbass. :applause:


Women began flooding the workforce? You realize this makes my point, correct?

LFPR falls and rises based on demographic/societal shifts. It is not the true indicator of economic health you desperately wish it was.

Conservatives :facepalm

[UK2K]

Defense spending dwarfs that of illegal immigration and safety programs. They're not even in the same stratosphere.

Posters like yourself and that pile of shit Akrazotile would rather deflect from our bloated military budget by complaining about food stamps, which mostly go to children and the elderly.

Someone posted a graph showing that Saudi Arabia spends more per capita on their military than we do. Well, they have a good reason to spend more--they're smack dab in the middle of a war-torn region. We're half a world away from it.

The Cold War = long over.

You're right. In fact, to make even more money, let's sell our technological secrets to China and Russia, cause we don't need them. We can sell our aircraft carriers too, I guess North Korea may want them? Yeah, we'll sell it to them cause the Cold War is over, right?

Notice I said the cost of illegal immigration. I am guessing, since you don't have a legitimate argument against that, that's why you tried to play the 'you're heartless' game with the elderly and children line, eh?

[UK2K]

I'm getting a rash of these messages all of a sudden:




Did an otherwise civil discussion just get ruined by an angry retard showing up and crying and stamping his feet?


Yall gotta put this man on ignore. Will do wonders for your blood pressure.

Yea, I tried. But, had to do it.

[DeuceWallaces]

:roll:


The government spent THREE MILLION DOLLARS on a study whose grand conclusion was that lesbians are fat.



But Deuce is mad about the military.

And the military spent 30 million on a building in Afghanistan that's never been used. What's your point? Could probably cut the military budget in half without any repercussions.

Making America great again would probably be a lot easier through spending on education, healthcare, and urban infrastructure as opposed to talking tough and starting WWIII with Russia and China in a dick swinging contest.

[NumberSix]

#JobCreators

[Akrazotile]

And the military spent 30 million on a building in Afghanistan that's never been used. What's your point? Could probably cut the military budget in half without any repercussions.

Making America great again would probably be a lot easier through spending on education, healthcare, and urban infrastructure as opposed to talking tough and starting WWIII with Russia and China in a dick swinging contest.


The thing is, it doesn't take much money to educate. The premise that "we need to improve education" therefore "we have to spend more money on the education system" is a total fallacy. Yes, we need to improve education. That doesn't mean we need to throw more money at teacher's unions. I'd love to hear your ideas for education reform though, if you've got some to share.

The exorbitant costs of our current healthcare system could be dramatically slashed by Americans taking better, preventative care of their own health. But everyone's solution is just "throw more money at hospitals."

It doesn't take a lot of financial investment to learn, nor to stay healthy.

You can't train the world's most important military and provide research for all of the myriad technological arms of it without significant investment.

Education, healthcare, and military spending are not zero sum. Taking money from one and putting it into the other doesn't just create an equal shift in productivity relative to the amount of money.

[ThePhantomCreep]

You're right. In fact, to make even more money, let's sell our technological secrets to China and Russia, cause we don't need them. We can sell our aircraft carriers too, I guess North Korea may want them? Yeah, we'll sell it to them cause the Cold War is over, right?

Notice I said the cost of illegal immigration. I am guessing, since you don't have a legitimate argument against that, that's why you tried to play the 'you're heartless' game with the elderly and children line, eh?

Nice leap there. I guess I can stop taking you seriously now.

Inconvenient truth: There is no conclusive proof illegal immigrants are even a burden on the economy. For example, most economists agree that removing 8-9 million illegal immigrants from our labor force (5% of the overall total) would plunge us into a nasty recession. How are they are burden again?

A path to citizenship makes much more sense at this point.

[ThePhantomCreep]

I'm getting a rash of these messages all of a sudden:




Did an otherwise civil discussion just get ruined by an angry retard showing up and crying and stamping his feet?


Yall gotta put this man on ignore. Will do wonders for your blood pressure.

Ruined :lol

[Dresta]

Well, it's also how military money is spent that matters, not simply how much; there is no reason why America still needs so many bases and 10s of thousands of personnel stationed all over the world - there is plenty of room to cut back in this regard. It really ought to give up its pretences to Empire (which Americans never had the stomach for in the first place, and so they always half-arsed it, even though this was the worst possible option in many cases), and start focusing on not being the biggest debtor nation on the planet, with a gigantic trade deficit, and a dearth in manufacturing.

People celebrating the state of the US economy are really being premature: y'all remind me of Croesus, and how he, in his vanity and ignorance, ignored the sage advice of the wise and prudent Solon. It provides a good lesson to those who celebrate the most temporary and effervescent of triumphs:


"He who unites the greatest number of advantages, and retaining them to the day of his death, then dies peaceably, that man alone, sire, is, in my judgment, entitled to bear the name of 'happy.' But in every matter it behoves us to mark well the end: for oftentimes God gives men a gleam of happiness, and then plunges them into ruin."

Such people often end up looking like fools. Where do people think this chart is going?:

http://www.advisorperspectives.com/dshort/charts/indicators/ISM-Manufacturing-PMI-since-2000.gif

The country is clearly due another recession, and the FED has none of its "tools" for dealing with such occurrences. What's it gonna be then? Negative interest rates and more QE?

Plus, everyone is ignoring the quality of the jobs:

http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2016/01/waiter%20bartenders%20vs%20mfg%202015_1_0.jpg

These kind of jobs can be lost incredibly quickly, and these sort of imbalances are not sustainable.

[Dresta]

Nice leap there. I guess I can stop taking you seriously now.

Inconvenient truth: There is no conclusive proof illegal immigrants are even a burden on the economy. For example, most economists agree that removing 8-9 million illegal immigrants from our labor force (5% of the overall total) would plunge us into a nasty recession. How are they are burden again?

A path to citizenship makes much more sense at this point.
You're the chump who actually thinks consumer spending creates wealth. That's right everybody: get out your credit cards and max them out; we all wake up richer!!! All i have to do to get more stuff is to want it enough!! (oh wait)

No one with half a brain could take you seriously.

[ThePhantomCreep]

You're the chump who actually thinks consumer spending creates wealth. That's right everybody: get out your credit cards and max them out; we all wake up richer!!! All i have to do to get more stuff is to want it enough!! (oh wait)

No one with half a brain could take you seriously.

:biggums: Where'd you pull this strawman from? Rush's anus?

I said the lion's share of our GDP (up to 70%) comes from consumer spending, and that is 100% fact.

This is why it's beneficial for poorer people to earn more money--they're far more likely to recirculate their disposable income into the economy, which benefits society as a whole, whereas rich people are far less likely to do the same.

According to the International Monetary Fund, when the richest 20% of society increase their income by one percentage point, the annual rate of growth shrinks by nearly 0.1% within five years. By contrast, when the lowest 20% of earners see their income grow by one percentage point, the rate of growth increases by nearly 0.4% over the same period.

The trickle-down theory espoused by conservatives is completely and totally wrong. Reaganomics is a scam.

[Bosnian Sajo]

AMERICA, BITCHES!! :rockon:

[Dresta]

And the military spent 30 million on a building in Afghanistan that's never been used. What's your point? Could probably cut the military budget in half without any repercussions.

Making America great again would probably be a lot easier through spending on education, healthcare, and urban infrastructure as opposed to talking tough and starting WWIII with Russia and China in a dick swinging contest.
:bowdown:

What wisdom. Cut the military in half without 'any repercussions'

:roll:

Deuces "scientific" answer to the solving of all problems (just cut the military in half and throw money at everything else! That'll solve it all!!).

Awful. Just awful. You are aware that America already spends more money than any other country on healthcare? You do know that means the problem lies somewhere other than in the amount of money right? The same is true with Education (though not to the same extent).

The answers to these problems aren't "mo' money" you simple-minded old chump.

[bladefd]

:bowdown:

What wisdom. Cut the military in half without 'any repercussions'

:roll:

Deuces "scientific" answer to the solving of all problems (just cut the military in half and throw money at everything else! That'll solve it all!!).

Awful. Just awful. You are aware that America already spends more money than any other country on healthcare? You do know that means the problem lies somewhere other than in the amount of money right? The same is true with Education (though not to the same extent).

The answers to these problems aren't "mo' money" you simple-minded old chump.

I agree that cutting half is way too much.

As for healthcare..
-Single payer system would rein in some of insurance/healthcare costs
-What is still difficult is the issues of big Pharma & insurance company greed. They lobby too much to get what they want - Hillary Clinton is getting big money from big Pharma and so are many Republicans..

I would say they need to rein in some of the military spending. I wouldn't say half. Maybe 15% of total GDP should be allotted for military yearly.. That's just about $600 billion (currently estimated $700 billion so reel in maybe $100 billion). During a war, I can see it going up to $700 billion but we pulled out of Iraq and slowly getting out of Afghanistan. $600 billion is plenty of money.

I don't agree with war-mongering idiots like Fiorina or Christie or Cruz calling for even more military spending & bombing the crap out of the middle-east (nonsense like carpet-bombing the middle-east is very expensive considering the land area). Under Clinton, she may not ramp up military spending, but we will have at least 2 wars under her. They clearly want more wars. If they win election, we are screwed and will have more wars on our hands.

It is also time to cut a few programs. Do we really need the IRS? Maybe replace IRS with a smaller alternative with each state paying for it from their end & one small federal agency of 5,000 case workers/analysts in DC ensuring the states report properly.

[Hawker]

For those calling for military spending to be cut in the USA, do you realize that some countries actually encourage US involvement and presence in certain areas?

Australia and US have struck agreements to increase USA presence in the pacific and as long as Singapore is a major transportation and business HUB in the Pacific, USA will hold its presence there. Singapore WANTS USA to stick around to balance out China. This is more than likely not the largest expenditure of the military but you get my point. As long as countries are encouraging world involvement of the US military, they will have a presence.

There's some areas in the world where USA could reign it in but unfortunately the USA subsidizes some countries' military. Just remember that next time some holier-than-thou foreigner tries to use that as a criticism of America.

[DeuceWallaces]

:bowdown:

What wisdom. Cut the military in half without 'any repercussions'

:roll:

Deuces "scientific" answer to the solving of all problems (just cut the military in half and throw money at everything else! That'll solve it all!!).

Awful. Just awful. You are aware that America already spends more money than any other country on healthcare? You do know that means the problem lies somewhere other than in the amount of money right? The same is true with Education (though not to the same extent).

The answers to these problems aren't "mo' money" you simple-minded old chump.

My post was not meant to be scientific nor comprehensive, but to merely illustrate how much we spend on military affairs relative to other countries and other sectors. Of course, that point was only missed by trolls and the mentally disabled.

I would prefer the money be spent on science, education, the arts, urban infrastructure, social welfare, etc. That being said, our healthcare is inadequate, and although it is also expensive, I doubt spending less money is the answer.

[UK2K]

You're the chump who actually thinks consumer spending creates wealth. That's right everybody: get out your credit cards and max them out; we all wake up richer!!! All i have to do to get more stuff is to want it enough!! (oh wait)

No one with half a brain could take you seriously.
I bet if the illegals left nobody would take their jobs.

That's the thing, you don't even need to round them up, just make it a $5,000 fine to hire an illegal, and nobody will hire them. Not only will illegals slow their jumping the border roll (of course, as long as they get handouts, more will still come), but the ones here will be out of work.

The truth is, as long as our welfare system remains so easy to abuse, it won't stop.

[UK2K]

I agree that cutting half is way too much.

As for healthcare..
-Single payer system would rein in some of insurance/healthcare costs
-What is still difficult is the issues of big Pharma & insurance company greed. They lobby too much to get what they want - Hillary Clinton is getting big money from big Pharma and so are many Republicans..

I would say they need to rein in some of the military spending. I wouldn't say half. Maybe 15% of total GDP should be allotted for military yearly.. That's just about $600 billion (currently estimated $700 billion so reel in maybe $100 billion). During a war, I can see it going up to $700 billion but we pulled out of Iraq and slowly getting out of Afghanistan. $600 billion is plenty of money.

I don't agree with war-mongering idiots like Fiorina or Christie or Cruz calling for even more military spending & bombing the crap out of the middle-east (nonsense like carpet-bombing the middle-east is very expensive considering the land area). Under Clinton, she may not ramp up military spending, but we will have at least 2 wars under her. They clearly want more wars. If they win election, we are screwed and will have more wars on our hands.

It is also time to cut a few programs. Do we really need the IRS? Maybe replace IRS with a smaller alternative with each state paying for it from their end & one small federal agency of 5,000 case workers/analysts in DC ensuring the states report properly.
Agree with a lot of this, but...

If we went to a consumption tax, we could run the IRS with less than 5,000 people.

I see now where the IRS can revoke your passport if you owe over 50k. Anyone willing to make a wager on whether Al Sharptons passport gets revoked? Nah, it's only the ones they want to go after.

The IRS has morphed into a monstrosity and needs to go.

[Akrazotile]

Agree with a lot of this, but...

If we went to a consumption tax, we could run the IRS with less than 5,000 people.

I see now where the IRS can revoke your passport if you owe over 50k. Anyone willing to make a wager on whether Al Sharptons passport gets revoked? Nah, it's only the ones they want to go after.

The IRS has morphed into a monstrosity and needs to go.


:oldlol:

[BigNBAfan]

Dresta ethering menopausal fernboy and others as usual.

[KyrieTheFuture]

The numbers on their own are staggering, but a bit of context helps. Truth is that the world today is a far more dangerous, more unpredictable place than it was during the Cold War years.

We've left behind the days when (relatively) rational nation-states were the only actors on the global security stage. Terrorist outfits, rogue regimes...all manner of unpredictability has been introduced into the equation. Nations have to defend themselves against new threats that don't wear uniforms and declare war by handing a note to the Ambassador as gentlemen do.
Jesus


There is absolutely no dearth in manufacturing overall. Maybe this year in particular, but American manufacturing has basically grown continuously since well.....always

https://www.google.com/search?q=us+manufacturing+output&safe=off&client=ms-android-att-us&prmd=nisv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjWgZb9gJzKAhUH9WMKHT1bCtgQ_AUICCgC#imgr c=nUcou37XOZzztM%3A

You can see the jobs are going down, which really will just mean cheaper goods in all likelyhood. I dont know why people think these jobs, which werent exactly everyones first choice all the way back in 1950, would be fantastic to have 65 years after that point. Its like complaining about the loss of farming jobs. The economy changes, and always will change.

Nor is the US really the biggest debtor. In absolute terms, yes, but many many nations have a higher debt to GDP ratio. The debt is not really an issue.

Nor is the trade deficit. In fact, it doesnt really mean anything. It can be related to how much debt a country needs to take on. Other than that, economically it doesnt mean much. After all, for there to be nations with a trade surplus like germany, there must be nations with a deficit like the US.

Jesus H. Christ.

[BoutPractice]

The problem is everyone is looking at their economy in isolation.

Forget about partisan politics. The fact of the matter is, European countries have been envying America's consistent growth and decreasing unemployment rate for half a decade... whatever the cause for this economic performances might be is for you to determine, but relatively speaking it's hard to deny that America is doing better on those numbers than most other advanced nations.

The story in America is "why is the economy so screwed up?". But the story almost everywhere else is "why aren't we more like America ?"

Many European countries never got out of the crisis. Some of it may be due to the euro (case in point: the UK is doing fairly well, though not as good) some of it may be due to austerity, and some of it may be due to inherent strengths in the American economy that have been there for decades (flexible markets that adjust quickly, strong domestic consumption etc.) But unless they think GDP growth and a low unemployment rate are nothing to celebrate about (which is perfectly defensible) Americans should be happy with their situation compared with the rest of the world.

[Akrazotile]

The problem is everyone is looking at their economy in isolation.

Forget about partisan politics. The fact of the matter is, European countries have been envying America's consistent growth and decreasing unemployment rate for half a decade... whatever the cause for this economic performances might be is for you to determine, but relatively speaking it's hard to deny that America is doing better on those numbers than other advanced nations.

The story in America is "why is the economy so screwed up?". But the story almost everywhere else is "why aren't we more like America ?"

Many European countries never got out of the crisis. Some of it may be due to the euro (case in point: the UK is doing fairly well) some of it may be due to austerity, and some of it may be due to inherent strengths in the American economy that have been there for decades (flexible markets that adjust quickly, strong domestic consumption etc.) But unless they think GDP growth and a low unemployment rate are nothing to celebrate about (which is perfectly defensible)Americans should be happy with their situation compared with the rest of the world.


Good post.

And I do believe, as you mentioned, GDP growth and low unemployment are nice, but celebrating them misses some important points.

[pastis]

and how many of these jobs are permanent employment contracts? how many of these new jobs do you need to survive the month? do you need to work 38-40h our a week for 1500 bucks?

[Giaodollo]

How ineffective is the decentralized healthcare system that Obama created with thousands of insurance companies? Why not centralize it and let the government take care of it, or states