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JRV, doesn't that accounting go out when we pay for this stuff using borrowed money?



Not really - that borrowed money all has a due date on it - i.e., the bonds are for a fixed period - and at that point it has to be repaid. That's why deficit financing is like subprime borrowing - party today, but the bill _does_ have a due-date.

Debt payment for past deficits is the #2 federal expenditure (behind welfare) and well ahead of defense/military spending, even with the wars & post-9/11 bloat. If Obama budget is paid for in deficits he'd increase the overall federal debt by 50% (warning: I can't find my reference at the moment and this might be off) and the resultant debt payments would force a reduction in welfare to pay it off down the road.

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I disagree with the idea that only the rich create jobs.



This is the old supply vs. demand side argument. In a stimulus situation I believe the rich (on the supply side) probably do, on average, a better job of allocating a dollar they get because it is a long-term investment for them rather than a quick fix impulse-buy. But middle class (demand side) creates more activity quicker in a consumer economy like the US (most people don't let money burn a hole in their pocket). And in a stimulus situation the quick hit may be better than doing the best job.

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That's why the auto makers are in dire trouble, not because the rich folks aren't making investments in their stocks.


Nobody sane, rich, poor or otherwise, wants to invest a penny in the auto makers. I've never heard any plan what to do about them that doesn't trail off into uncomfortable silence. Neither Bush, Obama, Republican or Democrat have ever talked about the end-game here.
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"If they can't picture me with a knife, forcing them to strip in an alley, I don't want any part of it. It's humiliating." - windsock