www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Who really raised "the debt" of the USA: Answer: Ronald Reagan: (...and this debt is not paid by the wealthy....it's paid by the working stiff Regular Joe....) Voodoo Economics indeed....

Amount Each President Added to the Debt per Fiscal Year Since 1960:

Amount Each President Added to the Debt per Fiscal Year Since 1960:

President Barack Obama: Added $5.081 trillion, a 44% increase to the $11.657 trillion debt level attributable to President Bush at the end of his last budget, FY 2009.
• FY 2013 - $672 billion.
• FY 2012 - $1.276 trillion.
• FY 2011 - $1.229 trillion.
• FY 2010 - $1.652 trillion.
•FY 2009 - $253 billion. (Congress passed the Economic Stimulus Act, which spent $253 billion in FY 2009. This rare occurrence should be added to President Obama's contribution to the debt.)

President George W. Bush: Added $5.849 trillion, a 101% increase to the $5.8 trillion debt level at the end of Clinton's last budget, FY 2001. • FY 2009 - $1.632 trillion. (Bush's deficit without the impact of the Economic Stimulus Act).
• FY 2008 - $1.017 trillion.
• FY 2007 - $501 billion.
• FY 2006 - $574 billion.
•FY 2005 - $554 billion.
•FY 2004 - $596 billion.
•FY 2003 - $555 billion.
•FY 2002 - $421 billion.

President Bill Clinton: Added $1.396 trillion, a 32% increase to the $4.4 trillion debt level at the end of Bush's last budget, FY 1993. •FY 2001 - $133 billion.
•FY 2000 - $18 billion.
•FY 1999 - $130 billion.
•FY 1998 - $113 billion.
•FY 1997 - $188 billion.
•FY 1996 - $251 billion.
•FY 1995 - $281 billion.
•FY 1994 - $281 billion.

President George H.W. Bush: Added $1.554 trillion, a 54% increase to the $2.8 trillion debt level at the end of Reagan's last budget, FY 1989. •FY 1993 - $347 billion.
•FY 1992 - $399 billion.
•FY 1991 - $432 billion.
•FY 1990 - $376 billion.

President Ronald Reagan : Added $1.86 trillion, 186% increaseto the $998 billion debt level at the end of Carter's last budget, FY 1981. •FY 1989 - $255 billion.
•FY 1988 - $252 billion.
•FY 1987 - $225 billion.
•FY 1986 - $297 billion.
•FY 1985 - $256 billion.
•FY 1984 - $195 billion.
•FY 1983 - $235 billion.
•FY 1982 - $144 billion.

President Jimmy Carter: Added $299 billion, a 43% increase to the $699 billion debt level at the end of Ford's last budget, FY 1977. •FY 1981 - $90 billion.
•FY 1980 - $81 billion.
•FY 1979 - $55 billion.
•FY 1978 - $73 billion.

President Gerald Ford: Added $224 billion, a 47% increase to the $475 billion debt level at the end of Nixon's last budget, FY 1974. •FY 1977 - $78 billion.
•FY 1976 - $87 billion.
•FY 1975 - $58 billion.

President Richard Nixon : Added $121 billion, a 34% increase to the $354 billion debt level at the end of LBJ's last budget, FY 1969. •FY 1974 - $17 billion.
•FY 1973 - $31 billion.
•FY 1972 - $29 billion.
•FY 1971 - $27 billion.
•FY 1970 - $17 billion.

President Lyndon B. Johnson : Added $42 billion, a 13% increase to the $312 billion debt level at the end of JFK's last budget, FY 1964. •FY 1969 - $6 billion.
•FY 1968 - $21 billion.
•FY 1967 - $6 billion.
•FY 1966 - $3 billion.
•FY 1965 - $6 billion.

President John F. Kennedy : Added $23 billion, a 8% increase to the $289 billion debt level at the end of Eisenhower's last budget, FY1961. •FY 1964 - $6 billion.
•FY 1963 - $7 billion.
•FY 1962 - $10 billion.

President Dwight Eisenhower: Added $23 billion, a 9% increase to the $266 billion debt level at the end of Truman's last budget, FY 1953. •FY 1961 - $3 billion.
•FY 1960 - $2 billion.
•FY 1959 - $8 billion.
•FY 1958 - $6 billion.
•FY 1957 - $2 billion surplus.
•FY 1956 - $2 billion surplus.
•FY 1955 - $3 billion.
•FY 1954 - $5 billion.

President Harry Truman: Added $7 billion, a 3% increase over FDR's debt level of $259 billion at the end of FY 1945. •FY 1953 - $7 billion.
•FY 1952 - $4 billion.
•FY 1951 - $2 billion surplus.
•FY 1950 - $5 billion.
•FY 1949 - slight surplus.
•FY 1948 - $6 billion surplus.
•FY 1947 - $11 billion surplus.
•FY 1946 - $11 billion.
http://useconomy.about.com/od/usdebtand ... sident.htm

_________________
"Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the over-compensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand."
- Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, Ch. 16

Sure - we have become a society of deadbeats - look at how disability rates have skyrocketed - you will never convince me that so many just became disabled over the last 5 years and can't work.

Along with drugs, the alarming rate of single female births - in BOTH the WHITE as well as Black community Interesting, in this terrible statistic, it looks like we are going to achieve equality before too long ) - do you really thing there is anything positive about 70%plus in the black community coming from single parent households ????

So many deadbeats looking to get just enough to live on from the government - makes me glad I'm close to 60 vs 25. Watch Judge Judy and tell me if the assholes represented on that show are what you want the world to see what we have become as Americans.

It all started with the hippies - who later became parents and entered the workforce - their disgusting view of America became the norm - you want to cripple a society - offer more welfare - hell, don't take my word for it - look at acient Rome - "Bread and Circuses" were the way to win the mob and stay in power - now, its social services and welfare.

I hate what we have become.

Scuba1, you're wanton disregard for the common people of the USA is duly noted in your posts. It's most curious how you'll ever so cleverly warble on about "welfare" using SSD and single female births (on a f u c k whores message board no less!!), but never mention word one about the real welfare dead beats of this nation. And there's nobody calling these deadbeats on the phone harassing them.....they hide behind shell corporations and third party accounts, all nice and legal.

Let's look at just ONE of the give away REAL welfare programs in our Nation. It's the program generated by the USDA called Farm Subsidies. http://farm.ewg.org/ is able track every dime given in subsidies (although not crop insurance subsidies as they've successfully been kept secret for the past 12 years). On the EWG website, simply click on the link/square which is entitled: EWG's Farm Subsidy Database
Tracking farm subsidies since 1995

Now there's some REAL DEAL welfare if ever there was any. It increases exponentially compared to SSD applicants, which, admittedly, have gone up since the wealthy took the working man to the woodshed and cornholed him.

The rich man don't got to prove dick squat to get WELFARE from the USDA. At least with SSD and other public assistance programs there are means tests and hoops. WIth real welfare like price subsidies, it's simply apply and receive. Unlimited crop insurance subsidies now cost the taxpayer $9 billion a year and overwhelmingly flow to the largest and most successful farm businesses. Unlike other farm subsidies, crop insurance subsidies are not subject to means testing or payment limits and farmers are not required to adopt basic environmental protections in exchange for premium support from the taxpayer. While some farms annually collect more than $1 million in crop insurance premium support, the bottom 80% of policyholders annually collect about $5,000.

Like I've already noted, in hard times, Americans like to blame the poor. I'm ever so curious why your sort never looks at the real welfare in this Nation but hand picks programs for the disenfranchised. SSD is nickels and dimes compared to the welfare for the rich programs out there. SSDI cost the USA about 130billion last year. That's some good money, but chump change when compared to the welfare the wealthy receive. Start with farm subsidies and go from there and those 9billion here and there programs for the "job creators", coupled with the tax gimmicks and the refusal to see the forest for the trees does compel one to come to your very conclusion "I hate what we have become".

You're laying it all on the hippies footsteps, too! What a laugh! There aren't many of us left; the posers in today's youth have no sense of social justice or awareness. The real hippies of yesteryear are todays big money people. At least in my circles....and they HIDE where they got their collective entrepreneurial start selling bales of reefer out of VW micro buses. I'll bring up the very subject, waxing sentimental at a "dinner party", only to be asked to leave because they're all, for the most part, members of the Chamber of Conmen. "Hey John! You remember that 23kilo hash deal we did next to the Aztec Inn back in 74 which got you started with that shop of yours?!" Hushed silence at the dinner table as forks drop. People don't like to confront where they've come from or where they're going because they lost their balls a long time ago.


Little boy, you look so clear around the eyes
And what they've got in store for you you may not realise
So be careful when you hear the voices call
Watch out, little boy, don't lose your balls

'Cause you never know the rules until you play
First they stroke you then they screw you
Try to take your balls away
And once they're gone they're way beyond recall
Watch out, little boy, don't lose your balls

Balls run wild
Balls may get way out of line
You may not even know you've left your balls way behind

You know money only buys you what you want
And you can't buy your balls back like you buy a pair of pants
And once they're gone you've really got Phuck all
Watch out, little boy, don't lose your balls

_________________
"Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the over-compensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand."
- Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, Ch. 16

Steven - I like you and your posts - I really do - but you are falling into a trap that is wrong and not a little annoying - I brought up out of wedlock births - as a societal problem - I also said that 70% single mother births is a bad thing.

And you want to talk about "the real deadbeats" - corporate America.

Without so much as an acknowledgement that I just may have been right in the statistic I quoted (BTW....I am - its a terrible problem - and please don't quote me a stat using Scandinavian countries - nowhere close to the problem we have in America.

BTW....I was and am a common person - no Ivy league education, etc - but I did work real had and did my best to pay my bills and put something aside - and not spend like a drunken sailor - IOW, I showed some responsibility.

We need to end this - we are talking to each other - which is fine. But this is one of those topics that you are not gonna change my feelings on and I doubt I'll change yours.

Your statistic is accurate. In fact it's a bit low. I think it is more around 72% of black Ch*ldren are in single parent homes. 25% of all Ch*ldren in the USA are in single parent homes. I believe where we differ is what is the root cause of the statistic? In and of itself, the single mother family is merely a symptom of a much larger issue. You offer no observation as to what created the conditions that lead to these numbers.

I'm not "Ivy League" either. I worked hard for every dime I have. Explain to me why I have been paying a higher % of my income than people making 20x what I EARNED through LABOR....; later to ease into the markets. Explain to me how guys like Warren Buffet have the balls to own they pay less in taxes (% wise)than the working stiff, but the bulk of the monied refuse to acknowledge this fact, please. I don't know about you, but I'm not afraid to openly state I'm weary of telling myself, "It could be worse. I have it pretty good all things considered." As I ease into my '70's I now have other concerns which compel to me want MORE.

Too many have too much in this nation and too many have too little.

_________________
"Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the over-compensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand."
- Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, Ch. 16

I want to see the playing field fair - not level (I'm a realist - it never will be) - I don't agree the outcome has to be equal, or even assured - just the ability to achieve the outcome

For far too long, I'll willingly concede, it has not been, especially for minorities - call me Pollyanna, but today I think if someone applies themselves, works hard - they can achieve a lot - to concern myself with the inequities of the past - which were very real - is counter productive.

I want to see everyone have the ability to earn, live a good life, and be a productive member of society; which they can't do by going on disability, or welfare, or having a bunch of Ch*ldren by different fathers, who are <often> not in the picture -

IMHO, that is possible (unless you have the feelings like a certain person living at 1600 Pennslyvania Ave) , who seems to believe that if someone "got ahead" they had some sort of special privdledges, or did so on the backs of someone who did not.

Truly, I'm done - I'm not going to change your beliefs, and you are not going to change mine - although its nice to see people disagree and have a discussion without rancor or name calling.

PS Folks like Warren Buffet pay a lower percentage in taxes b/c much of their income comes through dividends, vs ordinary income - its all legal, and part of the tax code.

Can't agree strongly enough. That 15% "carried interest" tax rate for hedge-fund billionaires is just obscene. And so are the examples of corporate welfare (want some real hair-raisers? Look at the the Ex-Im Bank reports, audits and results. And then there's that blatant corn subsidy to the big Ag Corp0s...

_________________
"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

They don't EARN their income from WORK. The get PAID off the backs of the working man.

I concur, Scuba1, we're not going to agree and that is what Makes the USA the best place to be....DIVERSITY OF THOUGHT. I hope we can agree on that, at least. Too, what I write is not emotive, it is cerebral. What I write are not my feelings. Rather, they are my thoughts. And there is a difference.

At least you and I have a slice of the pie, eh?! I know I'm not giving any of mine away: To Uncle Sam or anybody else. It's mine. And to conclude, quoting Pogo "We have met the enemy and he is us." It ain't under and un-educated people of any race who are mere pawns in the bigger chess game. I will never understand why and how it is so easy to pick on these Jerry Springer and Steve Wilcos and Maury Povich types than it is to draw a bead on the real boogey man. And exist he most certainly does. George Carlin spoke about it here: OBEDIENT WORKERS (click on the blue....it's called the American Dream.....because you have to be asleep to believe it...as that Red, White, and Blue giant dick is being rammed up your ass....)

PS: I enjoy your writings and have always looked forward to your posts. Thanks for understanding we're just mentally masturbating on an internet message board and it's not personal. Maybe see you the next time I'm in SJO....

_________________
"Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the over-compensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand."
- Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, Ch. 16

Anyone remember Leona Helmsley, the "Queen of Mean"? She and her husband Harry built a real estate empire in New York City. She was investigated and convicted of federal income tax evasion and other crimes in 1989. Although having initially received a sentence of 16 years, she was required to serve only 19 months in prison and two months under house arrest. During the trial, a former housekeeper testified that she had heard Helmsley say: "We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes".
Upon her death, she had assets totaling more than $4 billion dollars. Her will left her Maltese dog, Trouble, a $12 million trust fund This sum was subsequently reduced to $2 million by the Court as excessive to fulfill its purpose.

_________________
"In a nation ruled by swine, all pigs are upwardly mobile, and the rest of us are phucked until we can put our acts together; not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely"...Hunter S. Thompson (RIP)

You and I are fine - we're friends

I concour, and was serious about enjoying a thread that gets beyond "Wow - does Laura really have a hairy pu*sy?" - to give an example

Take care and hopefully see you soon!

'Tim - gotta tell you - believe it or not, it takes a lot for me to dislike someone - most people I find that I like (yes, even some of the many dummies on CRT )- however..........

I always hated that seamed face nasty cunt Leona Helmsley

Yes, I would say they had a real estate empire - Harry Helmsley once owned the Empire State Building!

All I can say is Leona must have given the old Phuck quite a blow job - and thrown a hell of a Phuck into him - the old Quaker faker ends up marring her.

I've read about how downright mean and cheap they were with family and even knew a woman who worked for Leona, and had contact with her - confirmed her a cunt of the highest order - what a complete bitch.

I wish this on no one, but it would have been interesting had she been made the bitch of some black bull dyke when she was sent to prison.....ah one can only hope........

That said - and while I'm busting balls on the previous paragraph - a little! - it was her <their> money - and if they want to give it to an animal, whoever, it should be their right.

Well... lots to respond to here, so I'll just roll up my sleeves and get started....



The 91% tax rate implemented during the Great Depression was enacted during a state of national emergency. You are correct. A 91% tax rate on anyone in this economic climate (bad as it is) would be utterly ludicrous. That's the kind of crap they pull in socialist countries like North Korea, and we should not resort to such desperate tactics unless the whole system is on the verge of total and unrecoverable collapse again. And even in that case, only temporarily.

Given the legal tax shelters which you mentioned, the peak tax rate which the wealthiest paid during the Clinton Administration years (about 35%) would be perfectly reasonable. It would leave them shouldering at least some of the burden after cashing in their corporate welfare checks.



If you call working at places like Wal-Mart or Taco Bell a job, then you have a very loose definition of what a job is. Those so called "jobs" are barely disguised slave labor. At least slaves (when slavery was legal) were provided shelter and food and some form of basic health care by their owners. Today's slaves are just thrown eight dollars an hour and told to go out and try to provide for their own basic needs with it.

In modern times, you aren't "offered a job" unless you are making at least $60,000/ yr. Anything less, and you are just being granted the privilege of serving as someone's slave until you decide to go and be someone else's slave.



Sorry, man. I'm not the biggest Barack Obama fan in the world, but he was absolutely correct when he called out some of the GOP for claiming that the wealthy got rich on their own. Nobody gets rich without the help of others. The only true thing which a person who built a business can take sole credit for is a good idea and the ability to orchestrate those who helped bring that idea to fruition.

It's ludicrous statements such as these ("Corporations are people, my friends" being my personal favorite), which cost the GOP the last election. It will also cost them the next election if they continue to spout such insanity.



Thank you for the well wishes. And you are probably correct that I shouldn't be going to Costa Rica at this time. But the last seven years of my life have been a thorough and complete let down, and aside from one short trip to Thailand a couple of years ago (which I shouldn't have taken either), it's been seven years of massive disappointment.

The forbearance on my student loans will be running out soon, and when that happens I'm going to need to try to figure out how to come up with over $50,000 (plus interest) which I might just as well have pissed away on gambling, coke and whores anyway. At least I would have had fun instead of getting three hours of sleep on many a night because I had to stay up studying for a test after a full day of school and work. Just the thought of having to pay back more than $50,000 which yielded absolutely nothing literally makes me physically ill every time I think about it.

Sometimes in this life we simply have to do things which preserve our sanity, regardless of whether we should be doing them or not. No one benefits if I lose it and wind a patient on some psychiatric ward somewhere. Besides, the couple of grand which I have saved up for this trip to Costa Rica isn't even a drop in the bucket against what I owe Sallie Mae. Add that to the fifteen grand which I owe to the lender who holds the residual loan from the mortgage on my condo, and that drop in the bucket becomes even smaller.

Many of the issues which we have seen crop up with the past few generation of young parents are the result of three generations of Latch Key K*ds. Since the mid-80's, both parents in a single family home have had to work multiple jobs in order to make ends meet. The backlash from income inequality has left many K*ds at home alone with no one to enforce values or to re-enforce those few values which the public school system attempts to instill. Over time, and with each subsequent generation, irresponsible behaviors go from being seen as socially unacceptable to being viewed as the norm.

To all the posters here: Have you seen this Bro's "Joined" date? Didn't know him then or now but I have no doubt he treated folks in CR righteously back in the day, before the Great Flood washed his future away. Do you know what guts it takes to spill your guts to this tough, macho congregation? Yet he did expecting solid reasoned advice but knowing there was going to be a component of crap mixed in. "Bravo" I say and how about a shard more respect be shown? No I'm not the "Hall Monitor"; just another guy.

On a different note, Bro Webbew intimated about US workers today. How about another of my (in)famous article links, to be ignored by most? A center-right columnist in a center-right pub has written about the 2 very different US labor forces uneasily co-existing (no, it's not about any kind of immigration--another subject for another day): http://www.economist.com/news/finance-a ... d-dynamics

_________________
"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED