Government Shutdown

[Jimbuna]

No big surprise...same old same old.

[Ducimus]

Originally Posted by Oberon

Looks like a deal is close to being finalised, and Cruz has said that he won't block it, so the can will be kicked down the road until next year at least.

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

No big surprise...same old same old.

Applicable, and obligatory, and mind you, this was upload two years ago:

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Ducimus

Applicable, and obligatory, and mind you, this was upload two years ago:

Aye, snag is, I think that the hole has been dug so deep now that there is no way out of it.

[Ducimus]

Originally Posted by Oberon

Aye, snag is, I think that the hole has been dug so deep now that there is no way out of it.

That won't stop them from kicking the can a bit further, for as long as possible. I don't think our congress is capable of making any decisions on weighty matters.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Ducimus

That won't stop them from kicking the can a bit further, for as long as possible. I don't think our congress is capable of making any decisions on weighty matters.

But what can be done other than kicking the can? I don't think any American government can sell the prospect of the kind of belt tightening that hasn't been since in America since the 1920s/30s and still expect to keep their office.

[Ducimus]

Originally Posted by Oberon

But what can be done other than kicking the can? I don't think any American government can sell the prospect of the kind of belt tightening that hasn't been since in America since the 1920s/30s and still expect to keep their office.

In therein lays the problem with professional liars.. err i mean Politicians. They will only do what will keep them in office. If we had congressional term limits, maybe they'd be less obsessed with keeping that comfy seat. Of course congressional term limits ain't EVER gonna happen. That would have to get past congress, and their not about to limit themselves.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Ducimus

In therein lays the problem with professional liars.. err i mean Politicians. They will only do what will keep them in office. If we had congressional term limits, maybe they'd be less obsessed with keeping that comfy seat. Of course congressional term limits ain't EVER gonna happen. That would have to get past congress, and their not about to limit themselves.

I think that'd happen with any politician, term limits or not, the general public, and not just in America but over here too, have become so accustomed to a lifestyle of plenty and a government of spending that I don't know how they would react if suddenly the money stopped flowing, I mean, it's going to happen one day, and the longer it's left the worse it'll get, but at the moment it's such a big sum that the consequences would be rather terrible. I know the US has a high GDP and that will cover a bit of it, but to return the budget to zero debt, or even just to pre-2001 debt levels would take a phenominal effort that I don't think that not even the US public would be willing to bear it, especially in this emotionally charged partisan environment that the US is currently in.

[Armistead]

Originally Posted by Oberon

But what can be done other than kicking the can? I don't think any American government can sell the prospect of the kind of belt tightening that hasn't been since in America since the 1920s/30s and still expect to keep their office.

That's the problem, our system is so far gone we must kick the can, rather than go through the pain of fixing it. . Americans would rather keep passing the upcoming disaster to our kids.

[mapuc]

It seems like they have come to some kind of agreement.

See you in some other thread, when the next deadline approach between Jan and Feb, next year

Markus

[Ducimus]

Originally Posted by Armistead

That's the problem, our system is so far gone we must kick the can, rather than go through the pain of fixing it. . Americans would rather keep passing the upcoming disaster to our kids.

Personally, I'd rather we just get it over with rather then having it hang over our heads with this sense of impending doom.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Ducimus

In therein lays the problem with professional liars.. err i mean Politicians. They will only do what will keep them in office. If we had congressional term limits, maybe they'd be less obsessed with keeping that comfy seat. Of course congressional term limits ain't EVER gonna happen. That would have to get past congress, and their not about to limit themselves.

I've often wondered why there are term limits on the POTUS but not on the others.

As for congressional term limits, well that would be like turkeys voting for Christmas.

[Jimbuna]

BBC take on it:

Republican and Democratic leaders of the US Senate have struck a cross-party deal to end a partial government shutdown and raise the US debt limit.
Their bill must also pass the House, where a small group of Republicans are expected to join Democrats to send the bill to President Barack Obama.
The bill extends the federal borrowing limit until 7 February and funds the government to 15 January.
It comes just a day before the deadline to raise the $16.7tn (£10.5tn) limit.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-24557469

[Armistead]

Originally Posted by Ducimus

Personally, I'd rather we just get it over with rather then having it hang over our heads with this sense of impending doom.

The problem is if we go down, we take the world with us. That's the problem, the fix would be doom, so we keep kicking the can. Today, everything is too big to fail....Yep, the only fix is to let it happen, but even if we did our elected officials would soon be back at screwing it up. I think they think if they create poverty in mass slowly, we'll sit back and take it while the rich gets richer.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Armistead

The problem is if we go down, we take the world with us. That's the problem, the fix would be doom, so we keep kicking the can. Today, everything is too big to fail....Yep, the only fix is to let it happen, but even if we did our elected officials would soon be back at screwing it up. I think they think if they create poverty in mass slowly, we'll sit back and take it while the rich gets richer.

The world really needs to rapidly move towards a post-America-centric state, changing international currencies and the like, so when America does stop kicking the can it doesn't screw us all over, so we can help America get back up on its feet again.

[Dread Knot]

Ahh. The politics of procrastination. Why do today what you never intend to do anyway?

Originally Posted by Oberon

The world really needs to rapidly move towards a post-America-centric state, changing international currencies and the like, so when America does stop kicking the can it doesn't screw us all over, so we can help America get back up on its feet again.

Fiscal conservatives here often like to compare America's deficit problem to a household which is living beyond it's means and needs to cut up it's credit cards and stop hitting the local loan office. A nice, warm homey example.

However, it's the rare household which throws the whole town it's located in into financial turmoil when it can't get it's financial act together.