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PoliGAF 2012 |OT4|: Your job is not to worry about 47% of these posts.

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G

GaimeGuy

Volunteer Deputy Campaign Director, Obama for America '16
giga said:
Love this short piece by Krug: http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/21/an-elite-obsession/




Fuck that course, forever and always. I'm still scarred to this day.
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That's because if the government wanted to right now, they could pay off the debt 100%.
The national debt is a nominal figure (~$16T). We have currency by fiat. In other words, the government could print $16T right now and pay off every penny of the national debt.

The indirect effects of constricting and expanding the money supply through debt (and how the constriction/expansion is used, and in what context) do matter, but you can manipulate those in a fiat system with a central bank without affecting the debt, as well.

Deficits and Debts are completely different in a macro-economic sense than in an individual basis, though they use the same nomenclature.
 
R

RDreamer

Member
GaimeGuy said:
That's because if the government wanted to right now, they could pay off the debt 100%.
The national debt is a nominal figure (~$16T). We have currency by fiat. In other words, the government could print $16T right now and pay off every penny of the national debt.

The indirect effects of constricting and expanding the money supply through debt (and how the constriction/expansion is used, and in what context) do matter, but you can manipulate those in a fiat system with a central bank without affecting the debt, as well.

Deficits and Debts are completely different in a macro-economic sense than in an individual basis, though they use the same nomenclature.
Click to expand...

Didn't they pass legislation back under Clinton, too that allows the US to mint a coin of any amount in platinum. I've read things saying theoretically they could just mint that coin, stick it in the treasury and 'pay off' the debt. So, they have the power to do just what you're saying. Antiquated laws from the gold standard aren't even the problem anymore.
 
G

Gotchaye

Member
RDreamer said:
Didn't they pass legislation back under Clinton, too that allows the US to mint a coin of any amount in platinum. I've read things saying theoretically they could just mint that coin, stick it in the treasury and 'pay off' the debt. So, they have the power to do just what you're saying. Antiquated laws from the gold standard aren't even the problem anymore.
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Not quite; the debt isn't something the government owes itself, outside of some weird accounting tricks like the social security trust fund. The debt is owed to outside entities, who gave the government money in the past in return for a promise of later repayment. The US absolutely /could/ print a whole lot of money and distribute it to its creditors so as to pay off the debt, but the debt isn't a fiction such that the US can just make the whole problem go away by minting a really high-value coin and locking it up somewhere. And almost anything the US could do to pay off or repudiate a large portion of the debt in a short amount of time would not be good for the economy.
 
K

Keio

For a Finer World
I think Please Proceed is still the best thread title.

Regarding Romnesia, I like it because they finally found a way to pin Romney on his old words vs the sudden centrist facade.
 
A

AlteredBeast

Fork 'em, Sparky!
Darkgran said:
I love how before when Romney was behind...Fox news was accusing the pollsters of mischief... and now they have the Gallup on....hahahahahaha
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Well they are in the position to do so. Fox News has a narrative to spin, while Gallup cannot really have a narrative. That is why they keep reporting their numbers, as different from the rest as they are. They have to defend themselves, even though they look so far out there right now
 
I

ivysaur12

Banned
Keio said:
I think Please Proceed is still the best thread title.

Regarding Romnesia, I like it because they finally found a way to pin Romney on his old words vs the sudden centrist facade.
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I would have loved to have been in the campaign room when someone came up with Romnesia.
 
H

Hitokage

Setec Astronomer
thefro said:
N8L7c.jpg


Holy crap
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That text isn't in the endowment or marriage ceremony, pre or post 1990.
 
R

RDreamer

Member
Gotchaye said:
Not quite; the debt isn't something the government owes itself, outside of some weird accounting tricks like the social security trust fund. The debt is owed to outside entities, who gave the government money in the past in return for a promise of later repayment. The US absolutely /could/ print a whole lot of money and distribute it to its creditors so as to pay off the debt, but the debt isn't a fiction such that the US can just make the whole problem go away by minting a really high-value coin and locking it up somewhere. And almost anything the US could do to pay off or repudiate a large portion of the debt in a short amount of time would not be good for the economy.
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Heres's the article I was talking about, for information sake
 
B

B-Dubs

No Scrubs
Bulbo Urethral Baggins said:
I read that it was used a long long time ago by Mormon feminists.
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The Legendary Female Mormon Sages saw into the future and what they saw shocked them. It frightened them to the point where they disbanded and began to work in secret to remake the future they saw, to make a better future. This story is the story of how Barack Obama was elected and of the secret society working in the shadows to ensure he is reelected. To prevent a future that no one dare speak of.
 
N

nib95

Banned
So that thread about Romney's companies buying up polling machines was locked. Any reason why? Has that story just dropped off or was there more to it?
 
B

B-Dubs

No Scrubs
nib95 said:
So that thread about Romney's companies buying up polling machines was locked. Any reason why? Has that story just dropped off or was there more to it?
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No proof of any wrong doing as far as I can tell. Just a scare piece, let me tell you it worked on me. You shouldn't be allowed to have any stake in voting machines if you are running for office, that should go for your family too.
 
I

iamshadowlark

Banned
B-Dubs said:
No proof of any wrong doing as far as I can tell. Just a scare piece, let me tell you it worked on me. You shouldn't be allowed to have any stake in voting machines if you are running for office, that should go for your family too.
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This. Its so slimy. Something about the fact that the Romneys stand to make money off state contracts doesn't sit right with me. Nevermind the obvious possibilities of fraud.

Don't know why that thread was locked though.
 
N

NullPointer

Member
B-Dubs said:
No proof of any wrong doing as far as I can tell. Just a scare piece, let me tell you it worked on me. You shouldn't be allowed to have any stake in voting machines if you are running for office, that should go for your family too.
Click to expand...
I don't see how, in 2012, we can still have worries about how easy it is to tamper with these machines. Makes no sense.
 
N

NullPointer

Member
DataStream said:
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/21/to-some-obama-is-the-wrong-kind-of-christian/?hpt=hp_c2

Not sure if this was posted. Really strange headline and article.
Click to expand...
A Christian without a conversion story huh? That is a strange article. What's Romney's personal story of inward transformation?

Regardless, this Richard Dreyfuss tweet comes to mind:

Richard Dreyfuss Tweet said:
I'm not a Democrat. I'm, like Norman Lear, a compassionate conservative. And the only compassionate conservative running is Obama
Click to expand...
 
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