The Biden Presidency

I am already enjoying life more under the Communist regime with its Socialist policies implemented by notorious Marxist Joe Biden than I ever did under Trump's Kakocracy.

It all boils down to money. You simply cant hand it out if you don't generate any.

Yeah, you're right. A joke is not as funny when you have to explain it.

I buy a $30,000 car on Friday and give the dealership a $30,000 check. Problem is that I only have $100 in my checking account. But I know it will take several days for the check to clear my bank. So I run around and borrow as much money as I can from every friend and source I can find and deposit it in the bank in time to clear the check. This is how our federal government works.An interesting aspect of this process is that I write IOU’s for the money I borrow and these IOU’s state: Pay to the bearer on (some date) the following amount. The person who lent me the money could possibly use this IOU in exchange for goods or services (if the goods/service provider is wiling). I. e., I have printed MONEY! The IOU’s the government prints (which they call BONDs) are our country’s second form of money, because it is legal tender, whose total amount is not controlled.

The finances of the federal government are complicated. Even attempts at simplified descriptions, at least by me, are bound to have errors and omissions, but anyway...Appropriations and the debt limit are under the control of Congress, though of course the signature of the president is required. The debt limit controls the total amount of government IOUs that can be issued (in the form of bonds), but the debt can increase beyond the debt limit for appropriated items because while Treasury cannot issue payment, the government will be billed thereby increasing the debt. The bills will go unpaid until the debt limit is increased, though Treasury does have some extraordinary measures at its disposal to pay at least some bills.--Percy

Governments can. If a government controls their own currency they can print as much of it as they want. They risk inflation, of course, but they can do it. In the modern world, you don't even have to spend the effort of physically printing it.

quote:

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In its frantic scramble to save the American economy, the central bank of the United States seems to have the ultimate superpower.

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It works like magic. With a few strokes on a computer, the Federal Reserve can create dollars out of nothing, virtually "printing" money and injecting it into the commercial banking system, much like an electronic deposit. By the end of the year, the Fed is projected to have purchased $3.5 trillion in government securities with these newly created dollars, one of many tools it is using to help prop up the ailing economy during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Oxford Economics.
Coronavirus and the economy: How the Fed is 'printing' dollars

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The stimulus check has income limits.

For the second stimulus check, the $600 one, for a married couple filing jointly the total stimulus check amount is $1200, but it begins diminishing at $150,000 and reaches zero at $175,000.For the proposed third stimulus check, the $1400 Biden one, I think the limits are the same.The limits seem generous, but aside from that what I'd really like to see is the bulk of the stimulus going to unemployed and needy people. People who have kept their jobs have much less need for stimulus checks.--Percy

perhaps this is theoretically so, but the cutoff should not be simply at having a job versus not having a job. Some jobs barely pa1y the bills...and we need a stimulus too. The bills have piled up this past year.

Phat writes: do you make $150,000 or more? No? then you will get a full stimulus.

Everything being said cannot appear in every single sentence. It simply isn't possible. The first sentence you quoted said, "unemployed and needy people." The next sentence went on to stress that those still employed have less need for stimulus checks because I see that as the least rational part of the program, but it did not represent a retraction of the previous sentence, that the emphasis for stimulus should be on the unemployed and needy, nor a rejection of the earlier criticism of the high limits.Comment or criticism cannot limit itself to one sentence (or paragraph or section or post of a thread or a body of work) while ignoring the context of what surrounds it or has gone before, otherwise it's akin to quote mining.--Percy

I think Phat is single, so his limit is $75,000.--Percy

I think you bring up some good points regarding my reasoning process on this issue. I think that I consciously or unconsciously view myself as a needy person in regards to stimulus checks. The buck can stop at some point, but I feel it should always be right above me.I know that you have a decent lifestyle yet I also realize that you likely have some hefty expenses. Your property taxes likely are not cheap. That being said, I see no reason why everyone should not qualify for either a stimulus check or good unemployment insurance.The real issue is government debt and how far it can realistiucally increase. I have always said that in Biden's term, we will see inflation...and possible abandonment of the US dollar if things get too far out of hand. The dollar coupled with our ability to create more of them with the stroke of a pen gives the US citizens an advantage which the world may not soon tolerate. Which worries me.Edited by Phat, : No reason given.

Phat writes: Well, if Biden & the Dems can undo all of the criminally egregious tax break the Trump administration hung on our backs, it'll go a long ways towards pushing that issue onto a back burner. Those in that bracket should pay even more than they were before the tax cut.Today I saw that Biden wants to end the 40 Billions subsidy to the Oil Industry. Hoooray! About time.

Here is the thing though. The top 10% of the wealthy can always find ways to avoid paying US taxes. They can live elsewhere and make sure that their holdings are diversified out of Uncle Sams reach.It irritates me, but I honestly think we cant force them to pay. Isnt it true that they (top10%) dont actually pay that much on wealth but only on income?