If only fiscal restraint was practiced pre-pandemic(sigh). The GOP Congress and Clinton not only produced solid achievements in welfare reform, but also balanced the budget and generated surpluses. If only that would've continued. I've had major criticisms of the Bush 43 era, and its profligacy. But that seems tame compared to what happened afterwards. Obama and Congress didn't care enough about fiscal restraint as they should have. But at least they agreed to sequestration, which as imperfect as it was, did implement a bit of spending discipline. Trump of course, didn't give a fig about fiscal responsibility, and it didn't take long for many members of Congress to concur with his cavalier attitude about spending.
For the infrastructure bill, I would like to see a concerted effort that the monies appropriated for it will go directly to improving our national infrastructure, and that wasteful spending that is not germaine to the purpose of infrastructure is weeded out. Perhaps Congress can look for ways to offset infrastructure spending by making meaningful cuts elsewhere, as the price tag definitely needs to come down. It'll require some compromise of the wish lists Ds and Rs have. But it would be a win for this nation to get some meaningful infrastructure improvements coupled with some fiscal responsibility. Let's hope for the best!
Exceptional column and your points HCI are well made. We all agree, there is an obvious need for a significant investment in our infrastructure. We have been ignoring it for far too long. Biden has enough fluff in his proposal to throw out half of it and work out a deal everyone can live with. The investment in our infrastructure does several things at once; good high paying jobs which help people get back to work and allows states to fix the horrible condition of roads, bridges and water treatment and delivery.
I guess we will see if Biden is truly interested in working across the aisle and then the other side of the equation, are republican's at all concerned about our future or just theirs in the next election.
And a footnote David. Thanks for the stats on suicides. For the past year we've had to listen to the pandemic hoax crowd tell us nearly as many people were killing themselves because of the lock down as were dead from Covid19. I guess that's what we get when we have Q Anon as our news source.
I can see at least 50% being necessary (roads/bridges/etc..., and the water infra structure).I wonder how much Biden is willing to remove to get those?
Oh, and when you can borrow at near zero to spend the money on American jobs/materials AND have something to show for it (or that pays dividends in terms of health [looking at you, lead pipes]) - that makes it a relatively easy swing.
That is something I'd like to see considered more often: not just how much, but what are we getting? Is this an effective/efficient use of our money?
If only fiscal restraint was practiced pre-pandemic(sigh). The GOP Congress and Clinton not only produced solid achievements in welfare reform, but also balanced the budget and generated surpluses. If only that would've continued. I've had major criticisms of the Bush 43 era, and its profligacy. But that seems tame compared to what happened afterwards. Obama and Congress didn't care enough about fiscal restraint as they should have. But at least they agreed to sequestration, which as imperfect as it was, did implement a bit of spending discipline. Trump of course, didn't give a fig about fiscal responsibility, and it didn't take long for many members of Congress to concur with his cavalier attitude about spending.
For the infrastructure bill, I would like to see a concerted effort that the monies appropriated for it will go directly to improving our national infrastructure, and that wasteful spending that is not germaine to the purpose of infrastructure is weeded out. Perhaps Congress can look for ways to offset infrastructure spending by making meaningful cuts elsewhere, as the price tag definitely needs to come down. It'll require some compromise of the wish lists Ds and Rs have. But it would be a win for this nation to get some meaningful infrastructure improvements coupled with some fiscal responsibility. Let's hope for the best!
Exceptional column and your points HCI are well made. We all agree, there is an obvious need for a significant investment in our infrastructure. We have been ignoring it for far too long. Biden has enough fluff in his proposal to throw out half of it and work out a deal everyone can live with. The investment in our infrastructure does several things at once; good high paying jobs which help people get back to work and allows states to fix the horrible condition of roads, bridges and water treatment and delivery.
I guess we will see if Biden is truly interested in working across the aisle and then the other side of the equation, are republican's at all concerned about our future or just theirs in the next election.
And a footnote David. Thanks for the stats on suicides. For the past year we've had to listen to the pandemic hoax crowd tell us nearly as many people were killing themselves because of the lock down as were dead from Covid19. I guess that's what we get when we have Q Anon as our news source.
Wouldn't it be better to invest this sort of cash in a re-invasion of the Middle East or maybe a sustained air campaign against Latin America?
I can see at least 50% being necessary (roads/bridges/etc..., and the water infra structure).I wonder how much Biden is willing to remove to get those?
Oh, and when you can borrow at near zero to spend the money on American jobs/materials AND have something to show for it (or that pays dividends in terms of health [looking at you, lead pipes]) - that makes it a relatively easy swing.
That is something I'd like to see considered more often: not just how much, but what are we getting? Is this an effective/efficient use of our money?
I hope that the "scaling back" you speak of is at least 90%.