Alarming News: I like Morgan Freeberg. A lot.
American Digest: And I like this from "The Blog That Nobody Reads", because it is -- mostly -- about me. What can I say? I'm on an ego trip today. It won't last.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: We were following a trackback and thinking "hmmm... this is a bloody excellent post!", and then we realized that it was just part III of, well, three...Damn. I wish I'd written those.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: ...I just remembered that I found a new blog a short while ago, House of Eratosthenes, that I really like. I like his common sense approach and his curiosity when it comes to why people believe what they believe rather than just what they believe.
Brutally Honest: Morgan Freeberg is brilliant.
Dr. Melissa Clouthier: Morgan Freeberg at House of Eratosthenes (pftthats a mouthful) honors big boned women in skimpy clothing. The picture there is priceless--keep scrolling down.
Exile in Portales: Via Gerard: Morgan Freeberg, a guy with a lot to say. And he speaks The Truth...and it's fascinating stuff. Worth a read, or three. Or six.
Just Muttering: Two nice pieces at House of Eratosthenes, one about a perhaps unintended effect of the Enron mess, and one on the Gore-y environ-movie.
Mein Blogovault: Make "the Blog that No One Reads" one of your daily reads.
The Virginian: I know this post will offend some people, but the author makes some good points.
Poetic Justice: Cletus! Ah gots a laiv one fer yew...
You pick up on what I noticed? Although the three charts (click on each for source) are compiled to make different points…they all end up saying exactly the same thing. We are headed into uncharted territory as far as the sheer magnitude of the money we’re spending that we don’t have. Over the longer term, this impacts things. Government is a debtor, just like any other; the market of loaned money is a market just like any other; its commodity can become scarce, and thus more expensive, just like any other. It’s called the interest rate, and when it ticks upward just a little bit, pain ensues.
Wild times ahead. Have a great day.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
We are headed into uncharted territory…
Not to worry, Morgan. Someone will do the charting.
- bpenni | 02/15/2011 @ 11:25What impressive charts they will be, too. Wonder if we’ll get some new standard paper sizes out of the experience before it’s over?
Even more depressing stuff here…
- mkfreeberg | 02/15/2011 @ 11:48That top chart is something you rarely see. I remember seeing propaganda posters up all around showing what a huge chunk of spending we do on defense, and not on “social programs”.
But what these posters don’t show you is that their chart only shows the discretionary budget, and therefore only social programs that are a part of “discretionary” spending. It completely excludes the non-discretionary budget, which dwarfs the discretionary budget and is almost all social programs — entitlement spending.
Defense is one of the enumerated powers granted to the Federal Government by the Constitution. It seems to hover around 20% of the total budget. That doesn’t sound unreasonable for me.
When we talk about deficits and cutting them, if we want to make a dent in it, “non-discretionary” buget items have GOT to be on the table.
We’re spending ourselves into oblivion — but we’re not doing it with wars. Wars are temporary. Entitlement spending is forever, and it only grows (gets more inclusive and is also added to) over time.
- philmon | 02/15/2011 @ 21:02That was one of my arguments whenever I hear the response, “we need to cut defense spending” when any other cockamamie program gets threatened–the latest being PBS/NPR funding. Sure, there’s waste in defense spending and there’s probably some fat that could be trimmed but the function is Constitutionally mandated.
- Jason | 02/16/2011 @ 06:33Here, I just thought of this.
To those who say we shouldn’t fight wars because they’re too expensive and we can’t afford it, we say —
🙂
- philmon | 02/16/2011 @ 06:35Digging the synthesis, philmon.
Hey Morgan, can we get a thread somewhere’s where we can offer congratulations and make empty promises of rounds of beer?
- Jason | 02/16/2011 @ 21:37[…] commenter Jason, Hey Morgan, can we get a thread somewhere’s where we can offer congratulations and make empty […]
- House of Eratosthenes | 02/16/2011 @ 21:49Heh. Yeah, Jason, there is that …. wait … looks like maybe there IS one now! 😀
- philmon | 02/17/2011 @ 06:30