blueliner7
Banned
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- Sep 2, 2017
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I did read it, so can everyone else. You sure you want to go with that?
Maybe you should read it
"The FY 2017 budget of $582.7 billion complies with the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, giving the department both funding stability and protection from the damage of sequestration in FY 2016 and FY 2017. Within the confines of this negotiated amount, the budget request reflects the priorities necessary for our force today and in the future to best serve and protect our nation in a rapidly changing security environment. The base budget of $523.9 billion includes an increase of $2.2 billion over the FY 2016 enacted budget of $521.7 billion. As specified in the budget agreement, DoD’s FY 2017 overseas contingency operations budget is $58.8 billion, nearly the same as the FY 2016 enacted level of $58.6 billion. The combined request represents a total increase of $2.4 billion, or less than one percent over FY 2016 enacted levels."
2016 was already hobbled this just continues it.
I did read it, so can everyone else. You sure you want to go with that?
Go with what?
You said you quoted the second paragraph, but you didn't. I'm writing this off as a mistake on your part. You may want to reconsider your stance here.
You said you quoted the second paragraph, but you didn't. I'm writing this off as a mistake on your part. You may want to reconsider your stance here.
You said you quoted the second paragraph, but you didn't. I'm writing this off as a mistake on your part. You may want to reconsider your stance here.
You said you quoted the second paragraph, but you didn't. I'm writing this off as a mistake on your part. You may want to reconsider your stance here.
2007 budget deficit Republican control $161B
2008 budget deficit Democrat control $400B
2009 budget deficit Democrat control $1,400B
2008 spending increase Republican President Democrat [sic] Congress 9%
2009 spending increase Democrat [sic] President Democrat [sic] Congress 18%
Not all sharing is equal.
Amtrack looses millions of dollars every year. Why are we doubling down on a loser?
Roads lose money every year, too.... It's called investing in infrastructure. It's what countries do, and the investments often "lose money." It's a legitimate government function, which is why no country relies on the 'free market' to provide it.
So far, mismanaged is winning. As I have written countless times, the semi-automatic expansion of programs for the elderly (mainly Social Security, Medicare and long-term care under Medicaid) is slowly crowding out many other government programs, from defense to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The paradoxical result is that government spending will grow larger even while it grows less effective.
Hundreds of billions of dollars worth of commerce takes place on our road ways every years. The same can't be said for Amtrack.
There's the little problem of the Great Recession, the largest we've seen since the Great Depression. And if we're going to cherry pick years, why not go back to, say, 2000 - 2003?
Roads lose money every year, too....
Yes too bad the Democrats didn't pass the correct policies so it wasn't as bad and to mitigate the damage and get us into a full recovery.
If you want to make a point with those numbers then post them and we can see how the Republican policies did mitigate the damage and enable us to get into a full recovery and how their one year $400B rapidly fell to a paltry $161B. The Democrats didn't even come close. Perhaps you can explain how the Republicans shared in their 9% spending increase then their 18% spending increase and their $1,400B deficit and $1,000B+ for the next four years.
How does I-10 running from Jacksonville FL to LA "lose money every year"? We collect a LOT of road use taxes through fuel taxes, gas taxes, heavy trucks pay excise taxes on tires and additional fees and permits. And how do you arrive at this apples to oranges comparison to AmTrack?
Nearly as much of the cost of building and maintaining highways now comes from general taxes such as income and sales taxes (plus additional federal debt) as comes from gasoline taxes or other “user fees” on drivers. General taxes accounted for $69 billion of highway spending in 2012.
Roads pay for themselves less and less over time. In the 1960s and early 1970s, gas taxes and other fees on drivers covered more than 70 percent of the costs of highway construction and maintenance.
On our persistent deficits there's enough blame for everyone. This article tells the story clearly.
The ‘progressives’ are to blame, too, for mismanaging our government
The Republicans-as-villains story is a half-truth.
What has been missing in Washington for the past two or three decades is a serious debate about the role of the federal government. What programs are effective and justified? Who deserves government benefits, and how much? The issue is not whether we’ll have big government or small government. To flip what President Bill Clinton once said: The era of small government is over. Actually, it was over many decades ago. The real issue is whether we’ll have effective big government or mismanaged big government.
So far, mismanaged is winning. As I have written countless times, the semi-automatic expansion of programs for the elderly (mainly Social Security, Medicare and long-term care under Medicaid) is slowly crowding out many other government programs, from defense to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The paradoxical result is that government spending will grow larger even while it grows less effective.
The conventional wisdom in Washington is that the Republicans are responsible for this mess. Their fixation with sizable tax cuts leaves government perpetually dependent on massive borrowing. There is much truth to this. We cannot afford large tax cuts. Just the opposite: We need tax increases, slowly introduced, to cover government’s existing deficit, roughly $700 billion in the current fiscal year.
Still, the Republicans-as-villains story is a half-truth. The other half is the refusal of Democrats — “liberals” and “progressives” — to cut almost any Social Security and Medicare benefits. They’re essentially off-limits, even though life expectancy has increased and many elderly are well-off. Plausible cuts need not be draconian. Extending the eligibility age for full Social Security benefits by a year would reduce spending by 7 percent. . . .
A politically driven article whose premises is founded on a single piece of economic forecasting. :yawn:
Yes, just turn it all over to the GOP whose policies ran us into the bubble and then Great Recession, and they'll have a better idea of how to get out of the economic disaster their policies created! Makes total sense. Prolly more tax cuts and more deregulation, I expect, cause that's all they know how to do. GOP - Answer: MORE TAX CUTS. Doesn't matter the question.
That is not all the money that goes to building roads is it. The additional commerce and then taxes homeowners and businesses pay to have roads that connect their homes and businesses and vital services. Roads are vital infrastructure and Constitutionally mandated. Amtrak is not.Yep, and those taxes cover about half the cost of roads.
Who Pays for Roads? | Frontier Group
Roads don’t pay for themselves.
And it's not apples to apples.
You're demanding that Amtrack (or passenger rail) be revenue neutral, carry its own load.
But roads, which is the alternative, do not
That is not all the money that goes to building roads is it. The additional commerce and then taxes homeowners and businesses pay to have roads that connect their homes and businesses and vital services. Roads are vital infrastructure and Constitutionally mandated. Amtrak is not.
So how much did I-10 lose last year?
It most certainly is, roads are public works and publically owned, Amtrak is a private company.
For-profit company.
Public works.
After a number of major railroads went bankrupt, Congress took over passenger rail in 1970 with the creation Amtrak. Amtrak is structured like a corporation, but the government owns virtually all the stock. The government's rail company was supposed to become self-supporting, but it has never earned profits, and it has consumed more than $40 billion in federal subsidies over the decades. In 2014 it had revenues of $3.2 billion and expenses of $4.3 billion, and it received direct federal subsidies of $1.5 billion.
“Amtrak was created by the Government, is controlled by the Government, and operates for the Government’s benefit,” Kennedy wrote. Thus, in working with the Federal Railroad Administration to issue the “metrics and standards” for performance, “Amtrak acted as a governmental entity for purposes of the Constitution’s separation of powers provisions.”
So far, so good, Kennedy wrote for seven other members of the court. But they all agreed that was not the end of the matter.
Because the appeals court based its decision on its finding that Amtrak is a private entity, it did not address other claims by the freight industry that Amtrak’s actions were unconstitutional.
The lower court must now consider questions about how Amtrak’s board is appointed and whether there are due process concerns with giving Amtrak regulatory authority over its own industry, Kennedy wrote.
That is not all the money that goes to building roads is it. The additional commerce and then taxes homeowners and businesses pay to have roads that connect their homes and businesses and vital services.
Roads are vital infrastructure and Constitutionally mandated. Amtrak is not.
And BTW I support a reform of how we pay for roads so more of the cost is directly paid for by use. As car mileage has increased and we have more plug in hybrids and electrics cars are not paying what they should for road use. We should lower taxes on gas and apply a federal excise tax to new tires and on batteries that go into cars since we cannot directly monitor how much electricity the plugin is using.
So how much did I-10 lose last year?
It most certainly is, roads are public works and publically owned and federally mandated, Amtrak is a private company, the people using it should pay it's cost just as taxpayers pay the cost of the roads we all use.
It wasn't Republican policies or Congressman who totally defended Fannie and Freddie and encoureaged more of their reckless polices
and it wasn't the Republicans who turned what should have been anormal cyclical recession in a Great one and prevent a full recovery.
The Democrats took control of the government ELEVEN MONTHS before the recession.
And yes the Republicans demonstrated they know how to get out of a bubble economy busting, a huge stock market loss, a recession and even a 911 hitting just as we were coming out of the recession and how to get into a full recovery.
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