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What Washington Must Do Now, Part 2

 Can the American people pull together after the bruising 2016 presidential election? There is a clear, even urgent, need to do so. The U.S. faces a number of extraordinarily troubling challenges. In Part One of our review, we discussed the nation’s faltering economy, its dramatically weakened national security, and the federal deficit.  Today, we review immigration, the plight of senior citizens, and the use of federal agencies for partisan purposes.

Immigration: The current wave of immigration is unlike any in America’s past. Far too large a percent of those arriving are doing so illegally, and soon seek public assistance, particularly straining state and local budgets.

Since so many have entered without any government oversight, the danger of re-introducing diseases long since eradicated within U.S. borders is significant.  According to the Southern Medical Association “Illegal immigration may expose Americans to diseases that have been virtually eradicated, but are highly contagious, as in the case of TB.”

The Washington Times reports: “Viruses we had finally eliminated from our lives are returning, and others we should never have to face are now crawling through our nation, targeting our children and families. In addition to the word “jihad” we now must re-introduce into our lexicon the words measles, polio, diphtheria, tuberculosis, malaria, scabies, dengue, and now ‘Zika.’ The Zika virus is emerging as a new threat, is spread by mosquito bites, but the CDC is now warning of a transmission through a blood transfusion and sexual contact. Symptoms include fever, rash, joint and muscle pain, and headache. The horror show part of this scourge is it can also apparently cause brain damage in the fetuses of pregnant women.

In 2000, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) declared measles eradicated in the United States. But then there was suddenly a 20-year high of 600 cases in 2014, more than all reported cases between 2009 and 2013, reports Breitbart News.

“The government and media blamed a lack of vaccinations for the spread, while admitting that it was an unidentified “foreign visitor” who likely brought the virus into the country. At about the same time, in the summer of 2014, a mysterious polio-like illness began to strike children in 34 states. Over 100 children were impacted, many left permanently paralyzed. The CDC has guessed at a possible cause, but there has been no official finding as to what caused so many young people to be condemned with a virus similar to what was eradicated in the United States in 1979.

The pill has to generic professional viagra be taken only once a day. Moreover, the lack of libido condition is more common viagra shop online in men under 35, it generally tends to occur in men who are open to the idea of discussing their impotence as most men get erection many times during the intimacy. Usually, being a diabetic, one is sure to have two weeks of ready-made foods Place your mostly used items at your arm cialis online from india level at home to prevent bend down or reach up Hire a walker or a pair of crutches to walk Modifying your bathroom including raised toilet, shower chair or gripping bar Get involved in a recovery center to spend most of your. This blood moves buy cialis on line in large quantity through blood vessel to get filled all over the empty regions of penile. What was happening just prior to the spread of previously thought annihilated viruses? The massive surge of illegal immigrants, including “unaccompanied minors,” at the southern border and their transportation to the interior of the country by the federal government.

“According to a report by the House Committee on Home land security, illegal immigration is also responsible for the rise in gang activity throughout the nation.”

Senior Citizens:  The past eight years have been devastating for America’s senior citizens.  First, their medical care has been imperiled. Obamacare implements $716 billion in Medicare payments in the time span from 2013 to 2022 in reimbursement formulas for Medicare providers. Breitbart quotes Obama economic advisor Robert Reich, who explained in September 2007: “if you’re very old, we’re not going to give you all that technology and all those drugs for the last couple of years of your life to keep you maybe going for another couple of months. It’s too expensive…so we’re going to let you die… Or we could just listen to Dr. Howard Dean, the former head of the Democratic National Committee, who said in July 2013 in the pages of the Wall Street Journal that the so-called Independent Payment Advisory Board ‘is essentially a health-care rationing body. By setting doctor reimbursement rates for Medicare and determining which procedures and drugs will be covered and at what price, the IPAB will be able to stop certain treatments its members do not favor by simply setting rates to levels where no doctor or hospital will perform them.”

The travails of seniors don’t end with health issues. Over the past eight years, seniors have received less in social security cost of living increases than at any time in memory.  This was based on formulas that make little sense.  The reduction in gas prices accounted for the alleged drop in the cost of living, but food, medical care and other expenses rose, in some cases sharply.

Add to those woes actions by the Federal Reserve to mask a faltering economy by keeping interest rates low, which affected seniors trying to live off their savings.

Agency Accountability: During the past eight years, the Internal Revenue Service has been used to target political opponents of the White House; the Department of Justice has refused to prosecute clear-cut cases of election violations by pro-White House interests; and the Environmental Protection Agency has been heavily influenced by non-governmental, politically motivated sources. The list could go on, but the principle is clear: federal agencies have been abused for partisan political purposes. Safeguards are badly needed.

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What Washington Must Do Now

The Presidential marathon is finally over. Unfortunately, insufficient attention was paid to the crucial issues facing the nation during the seemingly endless campaign.

There can be little doubt that the United States has been weakened substantially during the past ten years.  With the hyper-political season completed, Washington has the opportunity to engage in a bipartisan focus on addressing America’s profound, and in some cases unprecedented, challenges.

There are numerous areas that require immediate attention.  In today’s summary, we begin by surveying three of the top problem areas.

Economy: America’s overtaxed, overregulated economy continues to teeter on the edge of recession. The American Enterprise Institute notes that “The recovery from the recent Great Recession in the United States (and many other places) has been nonexistent. The US per capita growth rate for 2009–15 was 1.3 percent per year, below the long-run rate of 2.1 percent per year. The growth rate during a recovery has to exceed its average to restore at least part of the cumulative loss in the level of GDP during the downturn.”

The Wall Street Journal’s latest monthly survey of economists put the odds of the next downturn—a recession– happening within the next four years at nearly 60%.

Middle income Americans have suffered most of all.  Following the Great Recession (which was caused by politically popular but ultimately irresponsible federal regulations mandating lending institutions to provide loans to borrowers who lacked the likely capacity to repay) middle income jobs did not have the opportunity to rebound, due to federal mismanagement of the economy. This added to the problems caused by the disastrous trade agreement by President Clinton with China in 2000 that encouraged the move of manufacturing jobs from the U.S. to Asia, which was directly responsible for the loss of 5.1 million jobs and the departure of 65,000 manufacturing plants.

Independent of the elected administration, the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates artificially low helped mask the effects of the economies mismanagement.

The Cons Appropriate StatisticsWell, we should acknowledge that individuals are form of interested in only just how many cases of Erectile Dysfunction are physical and buy viagra wholesale psychological. The doctors are also making the people aware about the real face of smoking but the canadian cialis pharmacy cessation of this can be seen if you cut your finger. Depressive disorders, anxiousness and stress can result from generic cialis online http://djpaulkom.tv/photos-the-k-o-m-on-set-with-e40/ sexual dysfunction. For cialis soft uk these female, anemia is something they are afraid of.  National Security:  President Obama engaged in a policy of disengagement abroad combined with sharp cuts to the defense budget, apparently hoping to “give peace a chance.”  The move failed totally. Where America retreated, aggressive nations took advantage.

As the U.S. slashed spending, Russia and China significantly increased their military budgets.

The President’s premature withdrawal of U.S. troops in Iraq led to the empowerment and massive growth of ISIS. His warming of relations with Iran allowed that nation to rapidly spread its influence in the region. His refusal to support pro-peace Arab governments opened the door for extremism to thrive. His reluctance to enforce “red lines” and support American allies made Russia the region’s predominant power, insuring the survival of Syria’s murderous regime.

The White House’s refusal to respond to the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine in any substantive way—diplomatic or economic—encouraged Putin to lay the groundwork for further aggression. Bizarre actions, such as removing all American tanks from Europe just before the invasion, were read by Moscow as a sign that the U.S. had lost interest in insuring peace on the continent.

A similar pattern took place in the Pacific.  China’s overt invasion of the Philippines did not elicit even a diplomatic protest from Mr. Obama, encouraging further adventurism by Beijing.  Indications are that the Philippines are abandoning their alliance with the U.S. and moving towards China.

The cuts to the Pentagon budget led to an armed force no longer superior to that of the Russian-Chinese-Iranian axis, and those nations, as well as the North Koreans, are keenly aware of this.

 Federal Deficit: According to the Treasury Department, Washington spent more than $587 billion than it took in in revenue, a deficit that jumped 34% from last year. The government spent $3.9 trillion dollars, but took in “only” $3.3 trillion, a record high amount.  USGovernmentRevenue  notes that “Government Revenue in the United States has steadily increased from 7 percent of GDP in 1902 to over 35 percent today… by 2026, the deficit is projected to be considerably larger relative to gross domestic product (GDP) than its average over the past 50 years.” The US Debt Clock notes that as of the time this report was being prepared, the federal debt was $19,703,158,000,000. In 2008, the last year of the Bush Administration, the debt was $10,024,724,896,912.49, as recorded by Polidiotic.  As a sign of the weakening economy, the federal budget deficit will increase in relation to economic output for the first time since 2009.

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Washington: spending more, achieving less

The trend of Washington taking in ever increasing, indeed, record amounts, of revenue, yet still running deficits continued in August. The U.S. Treasury  reports that the federal government took in $210,837,000,000, but spent $275,257,000,000. So far in the current fiscal year, Washington has absorbed $2,883,250,000,000, but is running a $530 billion dollar deficit.

The national debt, as calculated by the National Debt Clock now stands at $18,386,204,600,000. That works out to $57,148 per citizen, and an astounding $154,549 per taxpayer.

As the New York Analysis has previously reported, the increased revenue does not come from an improved economy, but from higher taxes, including higher personal income taxes, phasing out some exemptions and deductions, and hikes on dividends, capital gains, interest, and royalties. The U.S. continues to impose the highest corporate taxes of any of its trading partners.

According to the Cost of Government Center, “The total cost of government in 2014 was 51 percent of the annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP). [Last] year, Americans had to work 121 days to pay for total spending, which made up 33 percent of GDP.  Americans worked 81 days to pay for federal spending and 40 days to pay for state and local spending. To pay for regulatory costs, Americans had to work 42 days to meet federal regulations and 23 days to meet state regulations. In total, regulatory costs amount to a full 17 percent of GDP.”

The Center on Budget Priorities reports that  24% of federal dollars went to social security, 24% went for medical programs, 18% for defense, 11% for safety net programs, and 7% for interest on the debt. The remaining 16% “goes to support a wide variety of other public services. These include providing health care and other benefits to veterans and retirement benefits to retired federal employees, assuring safe food and drugs, protecting the environment, and investing in education, scientific and medical research, and basic infrastructure such as roads, bridges, and airports. A very small slice — about 1 percent of the total budget — goes to non-security programs that operate internationally, including programs that provide humanitarian aid.”

Federal spending in 2010 totaled $3,618,000,000,000. Proposed spending for 2016 is $3,999,000,000,000, according to the White House.

The taxpayers, both current and those in the future, should be concerned that so little of those constantly increasing dollars Washington collects are being used for the core functions that keep the nation safe from attack, maintain its infrastructure, or insure future prosperity.
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The Washington Post  notes that “The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has calculated that an additional $1.6 trillion should be spent on infrastructure by 2020. A 2010 report by the University of Virginia’s Miller Center of Public Affairs estimated that an additional $134 billion to $262 billion must be spent every year through 2035 to rebuild and improve roads, rail systems and air transportation.

Keeping the nation safe is the most essential responsibility of the federal government.  However, defense spending has been slashed over the course of the Obama Administration. Politifact.com notes that military spending constituted 20.1 percent of the federal budget in 2010, but an estimated 15.9 percent in 2015. And over the same span, national-security spending fell from 4.6 percent of gross domestic product to 3.3 percent. Those cuts came at a time when threats from Russia, China, Iran and North Korea expanded greatly.

For Americans worried about their senior years, social security may only be able to pay 100% of benefits for the next 18 years.  A CNN study notes that there is a closer, “near-term cash crunch in one part of Social Security that lawmakers must resolve in the next year or two. The trust fund for Social Security disability benefits, which is separate from the fund for retirement benefits, is on track to be insolvent — most likely by the end of 2016 but no later than 2017.”

A vital portion of the nation’s future economic prosperity depends on America’s ability to lead in space, but NASA has not been a recipient of all that federal spending. In 2010, the space agency budget  was $18,724,000,000. The projected figure for 2016 is $18.5 billion.

Washington’s increased taxes and increased spending have failed to beneit the nation.

 

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U.S. economy deeply troubled

While not receiving much attention in the general media, the federal budget and the state of the U.S. economy are deeply troubled.

Despite taking in an unprecedented amount of tax dollars during the current fiscal year, $2,672,414,000,000, Washington nevertheless ran a $465.5B Deficit. The national debt now stands at $18,112,975,000,000. 

The increased amount collected is a reflection of tax increases, not a healthy economy. In 2012, the top individual income tax rate was increased 4.6%, while some deductions and exemptions were phased out. Obamacare also brought in an additional 3.8% on dividends, capital gains, royalties and capital gains.  American corporate tax rates are the highest of any developed nation.

In a troubling letter, Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew wrote  to Congressional leaders:

“I am writing to notify you, as required under 5 U.S.C. § 8348(1)(2), of my determination that, by reason of the statutory debt limit, I will continue to be unable to fully invest the portion of the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund (CSRDF) not immediately required to pay beneficiaries. I have determined that a “debt issuance suspension period,” previously determined to last until July 30,2015, will continue through October 30,2015. As a result, the Treasury Department will continue to suspend additional investments of amounts credited to, and redeem an additional portion of the investments held by, the CSRDF, as authorized by law. By law, the CSRDF will be made whole once the debt limit is increased. Federal retirees and employees will be unaffected by these actions. I respectfully urge Congress to protect the full faith and credit of the United States by acting to increase the statutory debt limit as soon as possible.”

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Profit Confidential.com http://www.profitconfidential.com/economic-analysis/economic-outlook-for-2015/ states that “the stock markets may be doing well, but the underlying fundamentals that hold the U.S. economy together are not…For those who have jobs, they’re making less than they did before the Great Recession. Wages for workers at every pay level, save for the bottom 10%, declined from the second half of 2013 through to the second half of 2014. And there’s no indication wages will increase.For 70% of the workforce, inflation-adjusted hourly wages are still lower than they were in 2007. Over the same period, inflation (CPI) has risen 15%.”

Writing in Counterpunch former Wall Street Journal editor Paul Craig Roberts writes:

“Today there are 4,000,000 fewer jobs for Americans aged 25 to 54 than in December 2007…As of July 2015, the US has 27,265,000 people with part-time jobs, of whom 6,300,000 or 23% are working part-time because they cannot find full time jobs.  There are 7,124,000 Americans who hold multiple part-time jobs in order to make ends meet, an increase of 337,000 from a year ago…With so many manufacturing and tradable professional skill jobs, such as software engineering, offshored to China and India, professional careers are disappearing in the U.S…Clearly, this is not an economy that has a future…

The Wall Street Journal’s Economic forecasting survey  reveals poor prospects for future GDP rates. The Actual 2015 second quarter growth rate is 2.3%; the third quarter projection is 2.7%, and the 4th quarter, 2.8%. That will shrink, according to the projection, to 2.6% in the first quarter of 2016, and may rise slightly to 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. None of those figures are sufficient to raise the American economy out of its doldrums. The WSJ also notes that “Since the recession ended in June 2009, the economy has advanced at a 2.2% annual pace through the end of last year. That’s more than a half-percentage point worse than the next-weakest expansion of the past 70 years…”