Is this time different?

[Aloha_Shooter]

Past government shutdowns have been manipulated and leveraged by Democrats for political gain and to actually grow the size of government. Most of the time, they were able to manipulate it because it was Republicans in Congress versus a Democrat administration that handled the shutdown in ways to maximize pain on the American public instead of applying the cuts responsibly for minimized effect.

This time, Trump is threatening to use any failures to budget and fund government operations as a way to shut down any programs that are not absolutely required by law and that conflict with the policies he's set forth. I suspect there will be some collateral damage no matter what but this is a golden opportunity to cut off massive hunks of fat in federal expenditures that he could never get past Congress in budget proposals.

Time will tell if he's serious about mass firings or if the Democrats decide they don't want to take the chance he's not bluffing but I'm digging out the popcorn to watch this.

[Clint45]

Our economy and the value of the USD "is but a fable agreed upon."

The United States has been close to bankruptcy for awhile, but if our economy collapses other economies around the globe will rapidly fall like dominos.

Trump is actually cutting costs and eliminating fraud and waste... whereas Biden was "throwing gold bars off the Titanic."

Feel free to dispute this with links from "a credible source" because those numbers do not reflect multiple metrics. Anyhow, they seem to be keeping things together for now, but expect a transition to a digital currency soon.

[FoxtArt]

Our economy and the value of the USD "is but a fable agreed upon."

The United States has been close to bankruptcy for awhile, but if our economy collapses other economies around the globe will rapidly fall like dominos.

Trump is actually cutting costs and eliminating fraud and waste... whereas Biden was "throwing gold bars off the Titanic."

Feel free to dispute this with links from "a credible source" because those numbers do not reflect multiple metrics. Anyhow, they seem to be keeping things together for now, but expect a transition to a digital currency soon.

Math isn't political.

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/t...-in-real-time/

https://bipartisanpolicy.org/report/deficit-tracker/

https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/amer...eral-spending/

Compared to the federal spending of $6.29 trillion for the same period last year (Oct 2023 - Aug 2024) our federal spending has increased by $376 billion.

https://www.investopedia.com/us-debt...entage-7371225

Trump has no interest in cutting the deficit, he's had plenty of opportunity. He does have interest in making you think he is.

He does have interest in cutting funding for things he doesn't like, especially vindictively, while greatly expanding spending for things he does. Don't confuse that for him "helping" the common American or reducing the deficit (which he has never done). All of your expenses will continue to inflate.

[exxonv]

Math isn't political.

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/t...-in-real-time/

https://bipartisanpolicy.org/report/deficit-tracker/

https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/amer...eral-spending/


https://www.investopedia.com/us-debt...entage-7371225

Trump has no interest in cutting the deficit, he's had plenty of opportunity. He does have interest in making you think he is.

He does have interest in cutting funding for things he doesn't like, especially vindictively, while greatly expanding spending for things he does. Don't confuse that for him "helping" the common American or reducing the deficit (which he has never done). All of your expenses will continue to inflate.

It's been 8 months for this term, time isn't political. For the first term, I'm sure COVID has nothing to do with it...

No, President Trump isn't typical, yes, he says and does plenty that gets on my nerves. To me, he's doing what I'd hoped thus far, and that's far more than what Brandon did before him, and not nearly as destructive as Obama was to our nation (again, my opinion).

[Oscar77]

Math isn't political.

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/t...-in-real-time/

https://bipartisanpolicy.org/report/deficit-tracker/

https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/amer...eral-spending/


https://www.investopedia.com/us-debt...entage-7371225

Trump has no interest in cutting the deficit, he's had plenty of opportunity. He does have interest in making you think he is.

He does have interest in cutting funding for things he doesn't like, especially vindictively, while greatly expanding spending for things he does. Don't confuse that for him "helping" the common American or reducing the deficit (which he has never done). All of your expenses will continue to inflate.

Except he will cut the deficit.
According to the CBO, to the tune of 4 Trillion Dollars.
Here: https://www.cbo.gov/publication/61697.

You are forgetting or ignoring the impact/revenue of the Tariffs.
Those monies collected will go to reducing the deficit.

And as a "common American" he has helped me immensely.
Maybe not you, but for me and my family 100%- thank you Pres Trump.

[eddiememphis]

And as a "common American" he has helped me immensely.

How so?

[Oscar77]

How so?

For me, the list is this:
-dropping taxes on overtime and tips has been huge.
-I've seen a drop in prices for food and gas.
-the economy is booming and so my 401k's are exploding. As in up 18% YTD.

[FoxtArt]

Except he will cut the deficit.
According to the CBO, to the tune of 4 Trillion Dollars.
Here: https://www.cbo.gov/publication/61697.

You are forgetting or ignoring the impact/revenue of the Tariffs.
Those monies collected will go to reducing the deficit.

And as a "common American" he has helped me immensely.
Maybe not you, but for me and my family 100%- thank you Pres Trump.

Projected increased to the "BBB" (big borrowing bill?) is 3.4 Trillion, which coincidentally matches the exact same revenue estimation of the tarrifs. They generously estimated another 700 billion in interest reduction due to deficit payoff, which isn't going to happen.

This is akin to a guy announcing he's going to pay off his credit card debt of $324,000 because he made a $100 payment, which he says counts for an extra $14 in interest saved, all while charging an additional $125 to the same cards.

Fun fact: The national debt now amounts to $324,000 per US. Taxpayer.

Tarriff revenue is coming in. If it would reduce the deficit, you'd see those charts I just posted for monthly spending at least climbing slower than prior years? Sadly, it isn't. Deficit spending has increased.

Every dollar of added revenue with this admin is already an additional dollar spent, often with another dime borrowed. None is servicing deficit.

Tarriffs do ultimately affect inflation, though. It isn't free money, it is a Colorado-style backdoor tax on regular citizens. It just has some lag time before you really feel it.

[Clint45]

Math isn't political.

The thing is, there are other factors involved which typically are not included.

I make zero premise of understanding stocks or crypto, so will address neither, but both seem artificially inflated.

We do need to consider the amount of US currency in circulation, as well as the actual amount of our gold reserves (even though we're long off the gold standard).

Biden had the presses at the Mints printing USD 24/7 for 4 years... and China was sending us CONEX containers filled with pallets of "super bills"... so there is WAY more currency in circulation than there should be. This effects wages, food prices, energy prices... and then there are shortages and shipping issues. MANY things effect the actual realistic value of the USD, which has dropped sharply since the 1980s.

Some very well informed sources claim that value is but a small fraction of what official sources claim... and it could collapse at any time, as it's all held together with duct tape and lies, because "We can just borrow more money, print more bills, and use Social Security as a slush fund."

[Oscar77]

The thing is, there are other factors involved which typically are not included.

I make zero premise of understanding stocks or crypto, so will address neither, but both seem artificially inflated.

We do need to consider the amount of US currency in circulation, as well as the actual amount of our gold reserves (even though we're long off the gold standard).

Biden had the presses at the Mints printing USD 24/7 for 4 years... and China was sending us CONEX containers filled with pallets of "super bills"... so there is WAY more currency in circulation than there should be. This effects wages, food prices, energy prices... and then there are shortages and shipping issues. MANY things effect the actual realistic value of the USD, which has dropped sharply since the 1980s.

Some very well informed sources claim that value is but a small fraction of what official sources claim... and it could collapse at any time, as it's all held together with duct tape and lies, because "We can just borrow more money, print more bills, and use Social Security as a slush fund."

You make some well founded points but consider this:

We arent remotely close to a financial collapse. And collectively noone is concerned that we are. The proof of that is that we remain the Economic and Financial leader of the World. And Foreign companies and countries continue to invest in us and yes, loan us money because they know that. They wouldn't do so if they didn't trust our future stability. I mean would you loan someone money if you believed you wouldn't get it back? Even with our large deficit, we are still capable of repaying our debts.
If somehow, thru a bizarre set of situations, one or both of these happen, then yes, we might be in trouble: we begin to default our debt loans or people/govt's refuse to "buy" our debt (provide us with loans) then yes, we are in trouble.
But we are SO FAR away from that right now.

A Govt manipulating it's countries money value is a long accepted and used tactic. We do it though indirectly. And yes, one way to affect it is literally by how much paper money is in circulation. Simply put, keeping a check on its value helps with imports (they remain cheaper) and exports (our goods don't become too expensive).