StreetScooby

If the Federal government took all taxable money of the rich people, and all US corporate profits, they still wouldn't cover the deficit. We are all engines of karma

Built in base line increases to the Federal budget have got to go. I'm still amazed at how few people know about this. We are all engines of karma

So, the ~50% of people in the US who don't pay Federal income tax all work at Taco bell for minimum wage? Hum, where are you getting those figures? We are all engines of karma

Do you actually believe the numbers being posted by the IMF/US government these days? Insane policies have gotten us into this mess. Following insane policies are not going to get us out. Everyone needs to be allowed to take care of themselves, and their families, in a civilized society. That means having a JOB. Seems pretty basic to me. We are all engines of karma

kallend, nobody cares. Get over it. We are all engines of karma

I've heard persuasive arguments against this. The concern being that budget issues end up being decided by a judge. That's the last place it belongs. It's time for voters to stop putting people who don't understand budget math in office. We are all engines of karma

Need some help here... What does DD stand for? Dumb Democrat? ...It's just a question... We are all engines of karma

My thoughts exactly. Democrat and Republican politicians are no longer the problem. It's the people who keep voting them back in. +1 We are all engines of karma

ROFLMAO We are all engines of karma

This is spot on. We are all engines of karma

I would love to see us completely stop protecting western democracies. Time for them to pay their own way. We are all engines of karma

I like Bill Whittle's stuff. Here is his web site: https://www.declarationentertainment.com We are all engines of karma

They must cut the built in base line increases. It's amazing how few people know about that. We are all engines of karma

Don't want to sound unsympathetic to your position, but welcome to the real world. My uncle has spent his entire working life (30+ years) on oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. He hasn't worked in a year because they can't get drilling permits, no matter what the Obama admin is saying. Another friend of mine is in charge of Gulf operations for a major player, and they haven't received a single permit in over a year from the Obama administration. Oil related revenues used to be a major money stream to the federal government. It's gone way down. Obama is lying his ass off right now. No, what doesn't work is the government spending more than it brings in, and doing that for decades. Keynes advocated spending government reserves during down time, not printing money. Do you realize the Fed is buying 80% of government auctions now? The world has stopped buying our debt. You still have a pension? Ok, now I've lost any and all sympathy for you. The first 8 years of my children's lives I worked 7 days a week, and I still bust my ass just to pay my bills. You still have a pension??? Time to get connected with what's going on for the vast majority of private employees in America. Again, welcome to the real world. Wish you the best of luck. We are all engines of karma

Outstanding! We are all engines of karma

It's only going to get worse... From today's Financial Times: Fears at Fed of rate payouts to banks Fears at Fed of rate payouts to banks By Robin Harding in Washington and Tom Braithwaite in New York US Federal Reserve building©Bloomberg US Federal Reserve officials fear a backlash from paying billions of dollars to commercial banks when the time comes to raise interest rates. The growth of the Fed’s balance sheet means it could pay $50bn-$75bn a year in interest on bank reserves at the same time as it makes losses and has to stop sending money to the Treasury. Officials at the US central bank fear it could create a public-relations nightmare after the Fed was lambasted for rescuing banks during the financial crisis. It is one factor prompting some inside the Fed to reconsider the eventual “exit strategy” from easy monetary policy. In an interview with the Financial Times, James Bullard, president of the St Louis Fed, said: “If you think of the profitability of the biggest banks, if you’re going to talk about paying them something of the order of $50bn – well that’s more than the entire profits of the largest banks.” Mr Bullard said that neither interest paid to banks nor possible losses on exit made any difference to the substance of monetary policy. “I think it’s more just a question of the optics, and how you’re going to play the optics,” he added, referring to the perception of losses by the central bank. “And since it shouldn’t matter in a monetary policy sense you might as well play the optics in a better way than the one we’ve got planned.” All banks hold reserves at the Fed. The central bank has boosted its balance sheet to more than $3tn as it buys assets to drive down long-term interest rates through its programme of quantitative easing. It pays for the assets by creating bank reserves, which now amount to more than $1.6tn. The Fed could add another $1tn if it keeps buying assets for another year. At the moment it only pays 0.25 per cent interest on those reserves. But according to its exit strategy, published in June 2011, the Fed plans to raise interest rates before it sells assets. Interest of 2 per cent on $2.5tn of reserves would run to $50bn a year. That interest should not turn into profits for the banks. They will have to pass the revenues on by paying more interest to their depositors. But it could still add to a populist backlash in recent years against the Fed and the big banks. One possible answer to the Fed’s larger balance sheet is to sell assets earlier in the exit process. Mr Bullard said that the Fed could consider creating accounting reserves now for any losses it expects in the future. The Fed remits all of its earnings to the Treasury and has paid across $291bn in the last four years. But some of those gains will be reversed when it sells assets bought at today’s low interest rates at a time when rates are higher. One banker argued that was the real danger. “It’s a little bit worrying for the politicians to get addicted to that level of income. The windfall profit has been a stunning number – that will go away over time.” Bankers also noted that the exit strategy was uncertain and the Fed could increase interest rates on excess reserves more slowly than benchmark rates. They added that more reserves should be shifted out of the Fed and lent out as the economy improves. Still, the eventual tightening could lead to substantial amounts being transferred to commercial banks from the Fed, given the amounts of cash they have parked there. Wells Fargo has $97.1bn sitting at the Fed, the largest amount of any bank, ahead of JPMorgan Chase at $88.6bn and Goldman Sachs at $58.7bn, according to an FT analysis of SNL data. Foreign banks also have a striking amount of cash at the Fed, potentially aggravating the Fed’s PR problem. Analysts at Stone & McCarthy noted recently that there had been a steep increase in foreign banks placing reserves at the Fed and suggested that “US banks may have distaste for the opportunistic arbitrage”, between lower market rates and the interest on reserves, whereas overseas institutions “might not feel encumbered in the same fashion”. Canada’s TD Bank, Germany’s Deutsche Bank and Switzerland’s UBS each have more than $12bn at the Fed. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2013. We are all engines of karma

I'll put you up against deboobed any day. But only if your both riding a different plane We are all engines of karma

LOL... Just saved that one to disk. We are all engines of karma

You must claim your farts. We are all engines of karma

Thanks! We are all engines of karma

In a market. Obamacare destroys that market. It will now choose itself who to favor. Maybe if all smokers start voting Democrat they won't be hit as hard. We are all engines of karma

Yep. +1 We are all engines of karma

Can you track? Can you stay relative on your belly? We are all engines of karma

Just a thought here, ...vote for people that understand math while you still can. We are all engines of karma

This we can agree on. I'm sure you've at least seen, and knowing you probably even read, articles about the USA's poor people. Those folks with air conditioning, flat screen TVs, and cars (that they don't use to drive to work). These are the folks I'm speaking of. Clearly, they aren't starving to death. Is this promoting the general welfare? We are all engines of karma