is this happening again? The Republicians got beat up last election over this and it is happenig again. It is simple, obligate the surplus to programs that the people need. What, no surplus? They told us there is one. The tax cut is dead. Whoopee. Anyone know why the stock market is so high? The Clinton miracle? Thats a laugh. It is because inflation is hidden, the dollar is not worth much and people are dumb. The main reason for the high stock market was low interest rates in Japan so that they invested their money in the U S which pulled interest rates down here. If that had not happened, interest rates here would have been higher, the deficit would have been bigger, and the market would be much lower. How can agencies plan for next year with no budget? Will there be another Federal shutdown? We will know in 2 weeks. I am not impressed.

-- Sam (Sam@idiotproof.gom), September 15, 1999

Answers

We will have to wait to see the truth of what you say. But, truth is hard to find these days and I suspect the finger pointing brigade will be out in full force, obscuring the truth from view.

Here's a quote from a statesman from days gone by:

Truth will ultimately prevail...its just stubborn. Winston Churchill said, "Truth is incontrovertible, ignorance can deride it, panic may resent it, malice may destroy it, but there it is."

-- no talking please (breadlines@soupkitchen.gov), September 15, 1999.

"Men occasionally stumble upon the truth, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened." Winston Churchill

-- quoter (quoter@quoterrr.com), September 15, 1999.

Sam- Sorry, but I'm having trouble following your logic. Do you want more spending by the gov't? If there is a surplus (which there probably isn"t) it is because they have collected more of our tax dollars than they have spent. If we have a deficit, it's because they've spent more than they have appropriated from us in taxes. It's our money, it's not the Treasury's surplus or deficit. Other than defense needs, gov't spending is nothing more taking money from one citizen and giving it to another.

On your other point, it seems to me the main reason for our high stock market is increasing corporate earnings. Japan's economy is in a near depression, so why buy stocks there? Japan's short term rates are about 1% and ours are 5%. Japanese companies have a lower interest expense than ours, and should have more net income except for the facy that their economy is so bad.

-- mike (maples@voy.net), September 15, 1999.

Mike,

The generation that benefited from the debt should repay the debt. That means that any surplus is not yours or mine, but rather our children's money. We need to use the surplus to pay off our debts. You could argue that they are not YOUR debts, but the debts of the liberals, yada, yada, yada... but that is refusing to take the responsibility for our actions as a country, nation, culture, and people. What don't you understand about that?

And yes, the Congress should have completed work on those bills and sent them to the Presidnet. They are so afraid of losing some political points that they cannot focus on completing their job. Were I so motivated, I would be a lot poorer. So should they.

Sincerely,

-- Uhhmm... (jfcp81a@prodigy.com), September 15, 1999.

Uhmmm,

Of course I understand that paying debt is equivalent to returning the money to us. I was having trouble with Sam's post because he was calling for "appropriations" (spending), not debt reduction. Congress needs appropriation bills to spend money, not to pay debts. I didn't interpret his post as calling for debt reduction but, if that is what he meant, then I guess I missed it.

I still don't follow the stock market portion.

Thanks.

-- mike (maples@voy.net), September 15, 1999.