Don't try to make sense of it...just keep borrowing from China to expand government! Who cares? Future generations will have to pay it back...not us!

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=dBoYYc1APr8&vq=medium

@ejj and ToppaTom,
Do you want to give research grants to our US car mfg's and industry so that they will be more successful technologically and commercially, and create more jobs and expand the tax base?
Or would you rather give them bail-out money or unemployment checks when they fail, only?

What should be cut in the budget is subsidies to already very profitable businesses such as oil, gas, farming, etc. to the tune of billions yearly!

It's better to raise the tax rates for the rich instead of borrowing more money from China, or from whomever or wherever...it don't matter where the money is borrowed from! But, tax increase should be avoided unless the all subsidies to highly profitable businesses (read: highest donors with the deepest lobbying pockets) have been cut and we still have a deficit. I would doubt it! If all the porks and unreasonable entitlement programs are to be removed, I think that the budget stand a good chance of being balanced.

The defennse department has driven MANY technological advances. No question.

The government MUST provide for the common defense.

And only NASA could take us to the moon.

We're talking the DOE here.

They mostly just exist and spend money with vague arbitrary goals.

Much might be worthwile when we have money to waste.

Not now.

Every day, this site reports millions of tax dollars given to profitable, or bailed out, corporations.

What is the result of forty years of these grants? Don't forget, we're approaching the ten year anniversary of Bush's Hydrogen Initiative.

How many $billion hydrogen cars do you see on the road?

The world suffered a Great Depression, from which it learned the required financial regulations and tax rates, especially for the loophole affording rich.

All America's financial problems trace back to Reagan and Wall Street. De-regulation means legalize.

We saw the failure of this Reagan/Bush fraud in the Savings and Loan collapse of the Bush 1 nineties, $130 Billion stolen. We saw the failure of this Reagan/Bush fraud in the 'Global Financial Meltdown of the Bush II 2000's($700 Billion stolen - oops 'bailed out') - and it's about to happen again, only worse.

Simple solution, return to pre-Reagan laws and tax rates - which worked for over forty years.

If Wall Street and the super rich don't like this, make they move to whereever they hide their tax-free(GE's $4B profits..) money.

The Cayman Islands are small and may become boring. How many more Paris Hiltons does the species need..

JMartin, Bush handed his buddies $billions, "Since 2001, the Federal Government has provided nearly $18 billion in funding to research, develop and promote alternative energy technologies that help to improve our energy security. The President's 2009 budget seeks more than $3.5 billion for alternative energy technologies.

In 2003, President Bush announced a $1.2 billion hydrogen fuel initiative to help reduce America's dependence on oil by developing the technology for commercially viable hydrogen-powered fuel cells and hydrogen infrastructure needed to power cars, trucks, homes, and businesses. The hydrogen fuel initiative complements the President's FreedomCAR initiative, which is developing technologies needed for mass production of safe and affordable hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles."

The money($Billion(s)/year) is gone dude, just like the Bush Terror War no-bid, no results, contracts.

WE all feel your pain, ejj!

USA (and many industrialized countries) will have to learn how to effectively deal with rising competition from China, Korea, India and many Asian countries. We will have to learn how to become MORE not LESS productive. More of the huge current profits will have to be re-invested to make our nation more productive. For years our workers and union members were proud to work less and get paid more. That led the Big-3 and many others into bankruptcy. Bail outs cost $$$$B. The wiser ones moved to Asia, South America, Eastern Europe etc.

The question is who should have the responsibility to see the essential changes done. The majority of profit minded free enterprises will elect to move where they can produce at much lower cost. They don't really care if the middle and lower classes get poorer. Governments cannot do it with reduced middle and lower classes money ONLY. It is not enough. Going deeper in debt has its limits. The burden will have to be better shared.

Rich people will have to pay much more taxes and re-invest more of their huge profits locally to improve productivity. Workers will have to be more productive, ie. produce more for less or same compensation.

Walmart, Cosco, Target, Homedepot, Best Buy, etc etc will have to sell more local products, even if they cost a bit more and profit margins are a bit less.

Promoting new greener economy, such as electrified vehicles, transforming many of our gas guzzlers into more efficient clean vehicles, upgrading-replacing our dirty coal fired power plants with NG, bio-gas, Wind, Solar power plants, promoting the implementation of domestic Solar plants and storage units, promoting the electrification of our railroads, installing new associated infrastructures are all worthwhile but it is going to be very difficult to get local industries on board.

The stick and carrot approach may have to be used to avoid a commercial war with Asia. There are many ways to do it, such as:

1. Impose a stiff goods and services Fed tax and compensate the middle and low wage classes with much lower Income Taxes. This way, you tax the rich and imported goods without hurting the other classes.

2. Tax the gas guzzlers and luxury vehicles i.e. with higher purchase taxes, higher registration fees and fuel taxes. Simultaneously, further lower Income Taxes for the middle and lower wage classes to compensate.

3. Many more possibilities.

Properly announce the overall (productivity-competitiveness) recovery program but introduce it progressively, over 5+ years, to give everybody enough time to adapt.

It appears class warfare has found fertile ground.

The underachievers blame EVERYBODY - but themselves.

Good news this morning:

1. China has increased its US$ reserves from $2.1T to $3.3T.

2. China has re-valued its currency upward by 12% relative to the USD.

3. USA has devalued its currency downward by 12+% will regards to the Chinese currency.

Which one of 2) or 3) is more correct?

What will be the total net impacts on USA's imports from China (down?), on USA's competitiveness (Up?), on goods and services price in USA (Up?), on Americans standard of living (down?), USA's employment figures (Up?). USA's budget deficits (down?). etc?