Very disturbing list... and my 2 cents!

[mach_u]

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2187rank.html

What's disturbing about the list is that we have done a lot to put those top countries where they are! Oil + exports account for several of the top earners. It kills me that so many of the countries we send money to and support have no debt, yet we are so far in the hole, it's disgusting!

I think it's time to kick out the entire government and start over. It's apparent ours has had a spending problem! Not really liking our choices either.... McCain wants to stay in Iraq and keep spending there indefinitely but Obama wants to increase the size of government dramatically, add more social welfare programs, universal healthcare, etc.! :rolleyes: It's about time this government started cutting costs. If it were a business this far in the hole, you would have seen a huge cut in salaries(ie. Delta, etc.), huge tightening down with spending, layoffs, etc. As the largest employer in the country, our government needs to start trimming back it's size and fluff. We should start with getting rid of the IRS. Flat tax = far less administrative overhead. I would love to see with this mess, why anybody in their right mind could support an increase in the size of our government with the piss-poor job they have been doing so far. Crappy business model + incompetent leadership = more responsibility? How does that work? :HYF:

Time to start cutting a large chunk of foreign aid too, start cutting financial support to countries that can afford to support themselves, and start trimming back on a welfare system that encourages laziness. Now that there is some semblance of order in Iraq, and the Iraqi people are so intent on supporting themselves, it may be time to start moving out. It's time to focus on our country and it's needs! Finally, for goodness sake, let's start drilling our own oil!!! We are basically a slave to foreign oil and there is no need for it. We have ridiculous amounts of untapped oil reserves and it's time to start utilizing them! We need to keep encouraging and creating incentives for manufactures to produce high MPG vehicles and continue to conserve/promote conservation but we need to be mostly self sufficient when it comes to our oil! It's not a good position to be in when the majority of our biggest national need is coming from Countries that can barely stand us. I sure hope we start seeing some change before too long but the sad reality is, both our Democrat and Republican decision makers are too interested in making sure they keep their palms greased to truely do something great for this country... :(

[mach_u]

Here is a list of our top foreign aid recipients and their corresponding "Account Balances" (as per the CIA list)
1. Israel 2.58 Billion - "Account Balance" - $4,993,000,000
2. Egypt 1.84 Billion - "Account Balance" - $1,862,000,000
3. Afganistan 0.98 Billion
4. Pakistan 0.70 Billion
5. Colombia 0.57 Billion
6. Sudan 0.50 Billion
7. Jordan 0.48 Billion
8. Uganda 0.25 Billion
9. Kenya 0.24 Billion
10. Ethiopia 0.19 Billion
11. South Africa 0.19 Billion
12. Peru 0.19 Billion - "Account Balance" - $1,750,000,000
13. Indonesia 0.18 Billion - "Account Balance" - $11,010,000,000
14. Bolivia 0.18 Billion - "Account Balance" - $1,758,000,000
15. Nigeria 0.18 Billion - "Account Balance" - $1,205,000,000
16. Zambia 0.18 Billion
Source: http://shelby.senate.gov/legislation/ForeignAid.pdf

[Gene]

Foreign aid is a drop in the bucket compared to the rest of our spending.

You want to know where our budget issues come from...one word...IRAQ.

Right now the tab is a almost $550 billion. Think about how much better this country could be if we wouldn't have pissed away that kind of money in the last 6 years.

[Steves LX]

Yeah thats one thing that has always burnt me up. Our leaders if thats what you want to call them are always quick to help other countries and make their problems ours. But when we need help we get kicked in the face, ecspecially the middle class.

[mach_u]

Foreign aid is a drop in the bucket compared to the rest of our spending.

You want to know where our budget issues come from...one word...IRAQ.

Right now the tab is a almost $550 billion. Think about how much better this country could be if we wouldn't have pissed away that kind of money in the last 6 years.
I agree. Once again, we can't even spend correctly on a war. There are countless millions upon millions of dollars that are simply un-accounted for. Not to mention the no-bid contracts, etc. The whole war situation is a hindsight 20/20 unfortunately. There are so many ways to say we shouldn't have gone there after the fact but the fact is our government voted to go in with the intelligence offered, both democrat and republican. We also would have been left with a huge mess/void in place by leaving right away. The unfortunate thing is, it took a few years, so many young lives before General Petraeus's leadership and the right strategy could be established. :(

I just want to know where this government "For the People" is? It seems they are too busy lining their own pockets, and taxing the middle class into non-existence. Which brings me to yet another rant(I am on a roll today, sorry... lol)... The back bone of this country is our middle class. We are what make this country great and a fair amount of people in that range are living paycheck to paycheck. Obama's tax plan of raising taxes to upwards of 50% is absolutely ridiculous! I have so many friends and family members, barely scraping by and a large jump in taxes combined with fuel costs will have dire financial repercussions. Don't even get me started on the strain on small business like my dad's and I's. So the poor get free healthcare and more social programs and those that work 60+ hours a week to barely make it, have to pay for it? In what world is that fair? How can a country reward incompetence and laziness and expect move forward?

[04 Venom]

Foreign aid is a drop in the bucket compared to the rest of our spending.

You want to know where our budget issues come from...one word...IRAQ.

Right now the tab is a almost $550 billion. Think about how much better this country could be if we wouldn't have pissed away that kind of money in the last 6 years.

That figure represents what we spent so far. The long term costs are significantly higher when you include replacing military hardware that is worn out or damaged, the cost of long term healthcare for veterans that are permanently disabled or require some amount of care for the rest of their lives and costs associated with the current GI bill (educational benefits, for example).

I think a flat tax is a great idea, but it never will pass because homeowners don't want to give up their mortgage interest deductions and businesses will vigorously oppose the write-offs they now enjoy. It would ensure fairness, because everyone would pay.

Another scary thought: the national debt has nearly doubled (from $5.7 trillion when Bush took office to an estimated $11 trillion as of January 2009). In comparison, the debt increased from $4.2 trillion to $5.7 trillion during the 8 years Clinton was President. The national debt first reached $1 trillion dollars in 1979. So when both candidates propose tax cuts, it goes directly to the deficit--it makes no sense. We are spending money that we don't have.

One of the truly great things Congress did restrain deficit spending was to pass the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990. It required automatic spending cuts if the federal deficit exceeded a target goal each year. It actually worked and was extended in 1997. Unfortunatley it was not extended in 2002 and you can see the result rather dramatically. Then in 2003 Bush and the Republicans passed a huge tax cut package, which was strongly opposed by most economists because fo the effect on deficit spending. They estimated that deficits would increase from $60 billion in 2003 to $340 billion in 2008. It turned out to too low since the deficit this year is over $400 billion.

The national debt is the next Oil Crisis. Keep that in mind when McCain and Obama propose tax cuts. AJ is right, we need to start over, but we all know that won't happen because no one cares about the deficit. The American public never seems to react until the crisis hits-- and it will, and sooner than you think.

[93cobra]

Think about how much better this country could be if we wouldn't have pissed away that kind of money in the last 6 years.

Its funny how so many people take our daily comfort zones with national security for granted...Thats all i hear..."bring all the troops home"..."we spend too much money for nothing over there...." bla bla bla bla..

The problem is the rest of the world needs to step up & help with troops & finance to maintain / increase stability in the middle east. Like it or not we need stability in that region of the world for its resources alone

Everyone forgets we spend billions per year with military training exercises on a daily basis anyways

The other people you can thank for the majority of our american population having no "real clue" to whats going on & just how bad shit could be without our efforts is the bull shit press twisting everything...

Lets see how bad shit gets when we let Iran go un bothered for a couple years...after all the obama folks bring everyone home...you think gas prices are bad now...

[mach_u]

Its funny how so many people take our daily comfort zones with national security for granted...Thats all i hear..."bring all the troops home"..."we spend too much money for nothing over there...." bla bla bla bla..

The problem is the rest of the world needs to step up & help with troops & finance to maintain / increase stability in the middle east. Like it or not we need stability in that region of the world for its resources alone

Everyone forgets we spend billions per year with military training exercises on a daily basis anyways

The other people you can thank for the majority of our american population having no "real clue" to whats going on & just how bad shit could be without our efforts is the bull shit press twisting everything...

Lets see how bad shit gets when we let Iran go un bothered for a couple years...after all the obama folks bring everyone home...you think gas prices are bad now...
Reason Eleventy Billion why we need to start drilling in and around our own country! Dependency on foreign oil puts us in an extremely vulnerable situation! I agree the press is doing an extremely poor job truely displaying the news. There is such a political bias(CNN/MSNBC, etc. - liberal bias, Fox News - Conservative) it's tough to get the complete news. News should not be politically slanted. Not to mention we get a fraction of the international news that other countries do. I can't tell you how many friends we have had come stay from other countries who can't believe how lacking our news organizations are in this country.

[93cobra]

So the poor get free healthcare and more social programs and those that work 60+ hours a week to barely make it, have to pay for it? In what world is that fair? How can a country reward incompetence and laziness and expect move forward?

:agree:All I can say is F**K handouts & all the bs programs setup for all the lazy bastards out there...

[04 Venom]

Reason Eleventy Billion why we need to start drilling in and around our own country! Dependency on foreign oil puts us in an extremely vulnerable situation! I agree the press is doing an extremely poor job truely displaying the news. There is such a political bias(CNN/MSNBC, etc. - liberal bias, Fox News - Conservative) it's tough to get the complete news. News should not be politically slanted. Not to mention we get a fraction of the international news that other countries do. I can't tell you how many friends we have had come stay from other countries who can't believe how lacking our news organizations are in this country.

Check your cable for BBC World News America. Its channel 264 on DirecTV.

[93cobra]

Any of you guys watch that dan rather special a few weeks ago where he talked with the soldiers & actually questioned all the b.s. press which = stupidity in american public's minds etc... interesting to hear just how dangerous Iran is right now "from soldiers mouths"... for the whole world's security

[mach_u]

Check your cable for BBC World News America. Its channel 264 on DirecTV.
I agree entirely! The BBC World News rules! It's the only news organization my old man will even watch. :bigthumb

[02mingryGT]

Foreign aid is a drop in the bucket compared to the rest of our spending.

You want to know where our budget issues come from...one word...IRAQ.

Right now the tab is a almost $550 billion. Think about how much better this country could be if we wouldn't have pissed away that kind of money in the last 6 years.

We would have ended up giving to the undeserving in this country. The social welfare system in this country along with corporate welfare makes spending on the Iraq war seem minute by comparison.

My idea is to go back and borrow an initiative from Franklin D. Roosevelt. I would reinstitue some type of WPA program for those on welfare. Make them work for their free ride. I know this wouldn't eliminate all welfare recipients but it would par it quite a bit. I would also eliminate most if not all corporate welfare programs.

[RIXXX93GT]

The greatest right and the corner stone of this countries existence is the freedom to question and demand accountability from our elected officials. No one man can effect the kind of change necessary, only the will and passion of the AMERICAN in all of us can get it done.

[k062693w]

The greatest right and the corner stone of this countries existence is the freedom to question and demand accountability from our elected officials. No one man can effect the kind of change necessary, only the will and passion of the AMERICAN in all of us can get it done.


Well Said RIXXX !!!!!!!!!! :bigthumb

[Pops Fun]

The greatest right and the corner stone of this countries existence is the freedom to question and demand accountability from our elected officials. No one man can effect the kind of change necessary, only the will and passion of the AMERICAN in all of us can get it done.

You are so right!! In another topic on this forum"The Pussification of American Males " I posted stuff about the stages of the decline of democracy i copied/stole,:) from another forum.
here are a couple quotes

'A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury.'

'From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.'

The author seems to think we are in the 7th of 8 stages, apathy to dependence

Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the 'complacency and apathy' phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the nation's population already having reached the 'governmental dependency' phase.

Seems like I read similar stuff about the fall of the Roman empire years ago.

The country had better wake up and start paying attention.

[04 Venom]

'A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury.'

'From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.'

[/B]

Right on Pops. Tax cuts are fine if you have a healthy budget situation or if you balance it with spending cuts. Otherwise it is simply welfare on a mass scale.

To work ourselves out of the mess we are in WILL require painful spending cuts (including Social Security and Medicare) AND higher taxes under the present system (or a graduated flat tax--yeah, someone who earns a million dollars a year should pay more than someone who makes $45,000, as long as the rate is not confiscatory). For those politicians who claim they can balance the budget simply by eliminating government waste, which pales in comparison to the trillions of dollars of unfunded Social Security and Medicare obligations under the present formulas, is full of shit. Its just more of the opium we are fed that on a daily basis.

Here's another rant while I am on the soapbox. 51% of the respondents in a Gallup poll over the weekend claim they never heard of Joe Biden before. He only ran for President twice and has chaired the Judiciary Committee and Foreign Relations Committee in the Senate. Unbelievable.