A simple way to get consumers to borrow less and save more.

[Doug Edwards, CMI]

Blaine has answered your question. Why would you buy debt from yourself? The government produces NOTHING, therefore the only place they can GET money if from taxes, revenues, assessments, etc from THE PEOPLE. The people have been living on credit for decades and most are in over their heads, barely able to make the minimum payments on credit cards and other forms of credit, so they get further behind every month. The Government has been doing exactly the same thing only on a mega scale. If you bought bonds, you would simply being buying promissary notes worth nothing. The money has nothing behind it but a promise from a government who has nothing but more promises. If they can't pay the bills now, how can they pay them next year or beyond? All of that is assuming "everyone" would do their portion. Not going to happen. There is a huge section of our"society" who do nothing as well. They do not work, they have never worked, they do not create anything, they live off of your earnings and mine and every other American who gets up and goes to work every day. So you would be buying more worthless paper, worth, nothing with paper that is worth nothing. Go borrow $10, put it in your right front pocket, then take and transfer it to your left front pocket. You are not $10 richer. You still owe someone $10 plus interest. When America produced things everyone wanted we could sell all over the world, now we produce little and have to buy things from all over the world. The candle has been burning at both ends and in the middle for decades. America will have to start producing again in order to get out of this mess and stop spending money and giving it away all over the world.

[Brian E. Kelly]

Blaine has not answered my question, he has just pointed out why he would not do it.

Big difference.

I understand your point Doug, and I understand that people that produce goods and services keep the country going.

And I am with you 1000% on the sending money around then globe, for what????

[Doug Edwards, CMI]

Not a damn thing! They all still hate our guts for doing it.

[Brian E. Kelly]

Originally Posted by dedwards

Not a damn thing! They all still hate our guts for doing it.

Truley, No good deed goes unpunished.

[Michael Larson]

Originally Posted by bkelly2

And I am with you 1000% on the sending money around then globe, for what????

Our total foreign aide budget is less than $25 Billion.

Compared to a total U.S. budget of over $4 Trillion it's nothin'

$25,000,000,000

$4,000,000,000,000

0.6% of budget

[Brian E. Kelly]

Originally Posted by mlarson

Our total foreign aide budget is less than $25 Billion.

Compared to a total U.S. budget of over $4 Trillion it's nothin'

$25,000,000,000

$4,000,000,000,000

0.6% of budget

You sound an awful lot like a Realtor glossing over defects.

[Michael Larson]

Originally Posted by bkelly2

You sound an awful lot like a Realtor glossing over defects.

Huh? where is the gloss?

Do actual facts and figures bother you?

Take all the foreign aide away and it changes almost nothing.

With apologies to James Carville- "It's the entitlements stupid"

[John Harrison]

recently I was in the process of getting a home loan for a forclosure property that I located. Property value was $175,000 previous owners knowing that they were going to loose the property stripped all of the copper pipe and wireing out of it. Bank was selling for $60,000. Due to the fact that I made bad financial decicions in my early 20's I have a credit score of roughly 550. I located a banker that would work with me until I got laid off then all funding went out the window.

How can corporations like GM be billions of dollars in debt, our government have trillions of dollars worth of debt, businesses every day running in the red and asking for government bailouts, and I can't get a bank to allow me to join in on the fun with a measly $60,000 mortguage.

In my opinion these companies and the government have a worse credit rating than the common citizen I probably am not willing to invest my money in a overextended system.

[Michael Larson]

Sorry to hear you lost your day job John.

The problem is that for years the lenders gave mortgages to those who had no ability to repay them.

The pendulum has swung the other way at this time.

[Doug Edwards, CMI]

Many of those banks had their arms twisted until they figured out a way to squeeze even more money from the citizens, then they became willing accomplises. One of the very reasons I have not done business with banks in decades. I have used Credit Unions exclusively because I am a member, not just a depositor. They did not get into the feeding frenzy and most if not all are in great financial shape at this time. They only loan to members and only if they can repay, plus they are not insured by the FDIC.

[Joseph A. Ferry]

The nation is doomed. I just hope it doesn't happen in my lifetime.

The only way to save it is to vote the anti-incumbent ticket until our vulgarian political class finally gets it.

[Michael Larson]

Originally Posted by jferry1

The nation is doomed. I just hope it doesn't happen in my lifetime.

The only way to save it is to vote the anti-incumbent ticket until our vulgarian political class finally gets it.

Vote all 536 of them out.

[Joseph Burkeson, CMI]

Originally Posted by gromicko

Raise interest rates.

Borrowing would be more expensive & saving would pay better.

I agree, it would also provide a way for most citizens to more safely beat inflation.

[Joseph A. Ferry]

A better way would be to reduce the tax rate to a flat 10%, vote every incumbent out of office until the national debt is zero, stop all foreign aid, relocate the UN to Medicine Hat, Alberta and notify all nations that they will be extinguished if any American is harmed while within their jurisdiction.

[Michael Larson]

In our current economy unnaturally high interest rates would lead to inflation as the cost of borrowing to expand business, build homes or buy autos would go up substantially.

It will take decades to become a nation of savers and not borrowers.

We have pulled forward demand by using easy credit and it has lead to the current mess with it's artificially inflated prices.

BTW- anyone remember when this country was all excited about the 3% inflation rate during the Nixon administration. Those weer the good old days.