China.....

[jltrent]

I wish we would tell every China ship headed our direction with their junk to turn it around and take it back home. Surely we can wean ourselves of their junk and the 375 billion trade imbalance we run with them every year.

 

[slick4591]

I'm thinking our economy has built itself around cheap Chinese junk and breaking away from it will make lots of folk crazy. If we send them away then the US has to build a replacement.

 

[Bright Raven]

It is junk.

The US is a consumer economy. Being inexpensive trumps quality every time.

Don't blame China. This is an American Tradition.

You change it by creating better paying jobs so consumers can afford quality. Then you make those high quality consumables right here. That is the old tradition. It ended in the 1950s.

 

[slick4591]

Ron, I think there's a large part of our country that will never join the ranks of highly paid workers that can afford more expensive products. Remember... with those higher paying jobs come higher priced products and there's no way around it.

 

[sim.-ang.king]

Paying people more just makes the same junk cost more. That's the only reason china's junk is cheaper than US junk.

 

[TexasBred]

Folks no longer want anything that last a long time. They want this junk so they can replace it frequently with the new and improved model. Cell phones are perfect examples, computers, cars and other "toys". Just make payments and have the newest of everything.

 

[Bright Raven]

Ron, I think there's a large part of our country that will never join the ranks of highly paid workers that can afford more expensive products. Remember... with those higher paying jobs come higher priced products and there's no way around it.

Yes. I agree. This country lost a lot of good industrial jobs. In the 1950s, my uncles were all employed in the steel mills and machine shops in northern Kentucky. Those were high paying jobs and in terms of buying power, those guys could afford quality goods. I grew up on a farm and I thought they were rich.

 

[True Grit Farms]

Between the cost for welfare, food stamps and Medicare - obama care the taxpayers foot a heck of a bill. Add all the taxes paid in by those working in the factories the future looks bright. The only problem is half the citizens of the US of A, are deadbeats and freeloaders and don't want to help and hope for failure. If you can't see this being good for the US of A, you need new glasses.

 

[Nesikep]

Tell me again where cuts need to be made?

 

[Bright Raven]

Tell me again where cuts need to be made?

Nesikep, I think entitlements exceed military. Check your source!

 

[Nesikep]

Google is always right..

This is a more believable graph I think

 

[hurleyjd]

Google is always right..

This is a more believable graph I think

The health part of the graph is pretty high. But even retired citizens like myself still send medicare premiums to the government to spend on health care each year. This amounts to $3600 a year for me and the wife. If we cut that spending out will I still need to send money in each year. I also realize that each and every one that draws a payroll check also pays into the Medicare trust fund. If you live long enough or become disabled then you can use the Medicare insurance for health care.

 

[boondocks]

I realize why they separate it out but to get a clearer picture, I guess you'd need to add, to the military costs, the veterans' costs (4%, which I do not for a minute begrudge them, was just surprised it was that high).
Measly 1% for science (and at that, I hear constant whining about how this or that study was absurd, biased, blah blah blah).
And the infrastructure and education pieces of the pie seem small, too.
Think it's time we bite the bullet (so to speak) and close down some of the obsolete military programs and bases that are left over from a different era. Shaving even a little from SS, health and military would let us invest better in science, education and infrastructure for the future.

 

[hurleyjd]

I wish we would tell every China ship headed our direction with their junk to turn it around and take it back home. Surely we can wean ourselves of their junk and the 375 billion trade imbalance we run with them every year.

Any part that I buy for my old tractors come from China, India, Turkey and some other foreign countries.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Medicaid is huge part for non-citizens and folks that never paid a dime to play. Illegal immigration has a tremendous cost. I think we need to get our own house in order before trying to feed the neighbors.

 

[Caustic Burno]

I wish we would tell every China ship headed our direction with their junk to turn it around and take it back home. Surely we can wean ourselves of their junk and the 375 billion trade imbalance we run with them every year.

Any part that I buy for my old tractors come from China, India, Turkey and some other foreign countries.

Is there an American made tractor other than name today?

 

[Nesikep]

Would be nice to see SNAP taken out of the Agriculture portion too.. should go with SS or maybe health?


Hurley, the only reason we were able to get a water pump for our old Ford tractor was because India made one.. NLA from Ford, and even if it was, what would the price be? This one was $50.. Same goes for the starters, though they're usually still available from the dealers.. again, at a price!

 

[hurleyjd]

I realize why they separate it out but to get a clearer picture, I guess you'd need to add, to the military costs, the veterans' costs (4%, which I do not for a minute begrudge them, was just surprised it was that high).
Measly 1% for science (and at that, I hear constant whining about how this or that study was absurd, biased, blah blah blah).
And the infrastructure and education pieces of the pie seem small, too.
Think it's time we bite the bullet (so to speak) and close down some of the obsolete military programs and bases that are left over from a different era. Shaving even a little from SS, health and military would let us invest better in science, education and infrastructure for the future.

Shut your mouth posters on here will accuse you of being liberal and Un-American.

 

[sim.-ang.king]

I realize why they separate it out but to get a clearer picture, I guess you'd need to add, to the military costs, the veterans' costs (4%, which I do not for a minute begrudge them, was just surprised it was that high).
Measly 1% for science (and at that, I hear constant whining about how this or that study was absurd, biased, blah blah blah).
And the infrastructure and education pieces of the pie seem small, too.
Think it's time we bite the bullet (so to speak) and close down some of the obsolete military programs and bases that are left over from a different era. Shaving even a little from SS, health and military would let us invest better in science, education and infrastructure for the future.

Or, they could cut out the % you mentioned, and just give it back to the tax payers, instead of just moving it around to
a different government waste dump.

 

[sstterry]

Medicaid is huge part for non-citizens and folks that never paid a dime to play. Illegal immigration has a tremendous cost. I think we need to get our own house in order before trying to feed the neighbors.

I will probably regret this, but here goes.

Undocumented immigrants are not eligible for Medicaid. However, when they have children on US soil, those children are US citizens and become eligible. The cost comes when the undocumented show up at an Emergency Dept. of a hospital and receive emergency treatment, such as delivering a baby. By law, they can't be turned away. Certain costs are reimbursed to the hospitals for those that never pay, both citizens and non-citizens. Those costs, as of 2017, amounted to about 1% of the Medicaid budget.

Programs such as WIC and other nutritional programs are a big cost though because illegal immigrants are entitled those benefits. Also, we do have to pay for their education in the public schools. But we have to also understand that it is the states that bear the biggest burden of illegal immigration through education, not the Federal govt.

The biggest problem with entitlements is that they were intended to be self-sustaining, but Congress started raiding the trust fund back in the 60's, 70's, and 80's (both parties) to make the budget more bearable. Now, with the baby boomer generation in their 60's and 70's the programs are top heavy.

I guess my point is that these are complicated issues and not as black and white as the politicians make them appear on either side. Is illegal immigration a problem, yes. But, is it as big a problem as it used to be, no, because illegal immigration has been falling for over a decade. Just because the politicians choose to make it an issue, does not mean that is the worst problem we have. Neither side wants to talk about our debt and the fact that we may very well be bankrupt in a few years. Nor do they want to address the fact that the U.S. owed China $1.2 trillion as of January 2018. Also, all of the GMO grain we now use, most of those patents are owned by foreign corporations. If they decide that they want to yank those, we will be hard-pressed to find enough seed grain to sustain our needs.

Just as I have discovered with raising cattle (and thank you all for the information and education you provide, I am learning a lot), nothing is as simple as it seems.