Politics

[sandydandy]

Don't be fooled by the incompetence of Trump's lawyers; trumpism still won 92 votes for every 100 of the Democratic party.

Whoa the demoNcratic party or Republican Party?

[Tom Servo]

I totally agree with your reasons for Biden’s record win, but can those also be the reasons for Trump’s record loss?

(Assuming the "record loss" is the high number of votes he got as incumbent, because I'm unaware of any other records set): Yes? Despite what Fox News may say, making voting easier doesn't only apply to democrats.

[Crazed_Insanity]

2020 probably made trump the biggest loser ever? He lost with the most votes ever! I’m unaware of any past winners won with more votes...

Anyway, I’m under the impression that when republicans suppressed voting, they are usually suppressing more liberal votes...

Also, if Trump didn’t cheat, I’m a bit surprised to see 11 million more folks backed trump..., why?

Most likely Qanon?

[neanderthal]

Dems better have their messaging ready for this bullshit Republican debt nonsense. GOP had already decimated/ doubled the debt with the tax cuts BEFORE covid.

https://twitter.com/mburns2009/statu...439732736?s=19

[neanderthal]

The only thing preventing covid relief being passed is Mitch. And we can deal with that by supporting the democratic nominees in Georgia.

[sandydandy]

Whoa the demoNcratic party or Republican Party?

Disregard this. I misunderstood Faulty’s post.

[Rare White Ape]

Dems better have their messaging ready for this bullshit Republican debt nonsense. GOP had already decimated/ doubled the debt with the tax cuts BEFORE covid.

https://twitter.com/mburns2009/statu...439732736?s=19

There's an ongoing debate in a lot of countries about national debt, including Australia. In fact, one of the key points that the conservatives (Liberal Party) pushed at the last federal election was that their opponents (Labor) would drive up the debt and cause untold damage to the economy. The truth is that Australia's debt went from $250Bn accumulated since federation to $500Bn in only a decade under the stewardship of the "more fiscally responsible" Liberals. Next year it will be $700Bn and they predict it will be $960Bn in 2024.

For us, a $960Bn debt represents just over 40% of our GDP. It seems quite scary. However, consider this:

A strong dollar might be good news for us. It means the stuff we make using materials sourced from overseas is cheaper because we have more buying power, and thus we can make more profit when it is sold. It also means people can buy stuff off Amazon and eBay and pay a good price for it. Woo Hoo!

But it also means that the stuff we sell overseas is more expensive for other countries to purchase. It restricts the flow of money coming into our economy. Therefore, it is important to ensure the dollar is trading at a price that balances well with the trade that our country is engaged in.

Australia used to be a strong manufacturing economy as well as an exporter, but that has shifted dramatically over the last ten years and we are now an exporter of raw materials, with manufacturing dwindling quite significantly. Our economy focuses strongly on digging up coal, gas, aluminium and iron ore and shipping it to China, where it then gets turned into cheap goods and sold around the world (plus if you're wondering where everyone's manufacturing industries went, there's your answer).

In order to ensure the price of the dollar stays low enough to promote purchasing of our exports, the government continues to borrow money, which purposefully reduces the value of our dollar. Debt goes up, dollar goes down, more raw materials are sold.

There's a catch, however. There has been little focus on where mining and export profits actually go. Due to the conservative policy of avoiding taxation of 'job creators' there has actually been very little flow of mining proceeds going to our country. Instead the money goes to mining company shareholders and the rich get richer. We don't have a nationalised mining industry like the oil economies in the Middle East do, nor do we put a high tax on exports like we should be doing. We are basically being taken for a ride by the companies digging it out of the ground.

All this is trying to say that national debt is not a bad thing, as long as it is manageable. It is actually a key part of responsible fiscal management, but in order to compete against the rest of the world, you need to keep pushing that value lower while your competitors do the same thing.

So don't focus too much on the amount of debt that your country is falling into. Instead worry about the measures taken (or not taken) to ensure that money is flowing into the hands of the people, i.e. taxation and subsequent government spending on infrastructure, education, welfare, science and tech, etc. THAT is what will drive the economy.

[Crazed_Insanity]

You’ll have to sell that to Mitch particularly and some of the corporate centrist democrats.

This pandemic has essentially accelerated everything. The rich are getting rich faster and the poor are getting screwed faster.

I personally believe the introduction of some sort of UBI and universal healthcare will be accelerated as well. These programs need to be sustainable longterm, but the initial kickstart will likely caused a huge debt to the government...

I think US will probably eventually just make a leap for it, or perhaps just transform into a government of the corporations... hey corporations are people too... maybe we don’t need real people, they are small enough to allow to fail...

[neanderthal]

There's an ongoing debate in a lot of countries about national debt, including Australia. In fact, one of the key points that the conservatives (Liberal Party) pushed at the last federal election was that their opponents (Labor) would drive up the debt and cause untold damage to the economy. The truth is that Australia's debt went from $250Bn accumulated since federation to $500Bn in only a decade under the stewardship of the "more fiscally responsible" Liberals. Next year it will be $700Bn and they predict it will be $960Bn in 2024.

For us, a $960Bn debt represents just over 40% of our GDP. It seems quite scary. However, consider this:

A strong dollar might be good news for us. It means the stuff we make using materials sourced from overseas is cheaper because we have more buying power, and thus we can make more profit when it is sold. It also means people can buy stuff off Amazon and eBay and pay a good price for it. Woo Hoo!

But it also means that the stuff we sell overseas is more expensive for other countries to purchase. It restricts the flow of money coming into our economy. Therefore, it is important to ensure the dollar is trading at a price that balances well with the trade that our country is engaged in.

Australia used to be a strong manufacturing economy as well as an exporter, but that has shifted dramatically over the last ten years and we are now an exporter of raw materials, with manufacturing dwindling quite significantly. Our economy focuses strongly on digging up coal, gas, aluminium and iron ore and shipping it to China, where it then gets turned into cheap goods and sold around the world (plus if you're wondering where everyone's manufacturing industries went, there's your answer).

In order to ensure the price of the dollar stays low enough to promote purchasing of our exports, the government continues to borrow money, which purposefully reduces the value of our dollar. Debt goes up, dollar goes down, more raw materials are sold.

There's a catch, however. There has been little focus on where mining and export profits actually go. Due to the conservative policy of avoiding taxation of 'job creators' there has actually been very little flow of mining proceeds going to our country. Instead the money goes to mining company shareholders and the rich get richer. We don't have a nationalised mining industry like the oil economies in the Middle East do, nor do we put a high tax on exports like we should be doing. We are basically being taken for a ride by the companies digging it out of the ground.

All this is trying to say that national debt is not a bad thing, as long as it is manageable. It is actually a key part of responsible fiscal management, but in order to compete against the rest of the world, you need to keep pushing that value lower while your competitors do the same thing.

So don't focus too much on the amount of debt that your country is falling into. Instead worry about the measures taken (or not taken) to ensure that money is flowing into the hands of the people, i.e. taxation and subsequent government spending on infrastructure, education, welfare, science and tech, etc. THAT is what will drive the economy.

Yeah. That sucks that you're going through a version of what we're going through.

But, our national debt is going to used like a cudgel by the republicans. They're going to throw fits and cry tears that we're saddling our future generations with insurmountable debt that they'll have to pay. They'll say this when Democrats are trying to institute universal healthcare, get COVID under control, and just get the economy moving for more than just the monied elites. They'll hem and haw about fiscal responsibility, being the adults in the room, etc, AND THE MEDIA WILL JUST REPEAT WHAT THEY SAY without saying "but you doubled the debt with your tax cuts. Your tariffs, through Trump, are what caused your farmers and industry to lose so much in sales and revenue, etc"

There'll be no pushback, no context, no examination of the facts.

And that's why i'm saying i hope the Democrats have got their messaging ready.

It's terrible that it now equals the economy, but it needs to get worse in order to get better. Thanks to the Republicans. We all know COVID is Trump's millstone, his responsibility, his failure; but watch the GOP shift the economic, social, psychological burden of it all to the Democrats.

[MR2 Fan]

Incredibly accurate statement here (via twitter):


@TeaPainUSA

When Republicans take office, they...

1) Give tax cuts to the rich
2) Run up the national debt
2) Wreck the economy before leavin'

When Republicans leave office, they...

1) Claim Dems ran up the debt
2) Become deficit hawks
3) Prevent Dem president from fixin' the economy