With his singular style, Tom Toles tackles the complex issues of the day. This Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist skillfully targets political, economic and social concerns — in particular complicated environmental issues — with a clear-eyed precision that hits the mark every time.
© The Washington Post - All Rights Reserved.
Mike Thompson by Mike Thompson
Gary Varvel by Gary Varvel
Comments (41) (Please sign in to comment)
rightisright said, 4 months ago
The debt ceiling is less fictional than the jobs Lord Ears claimed to create.
Sr NONliberal said, 4 months ago
That is out of proportion…the trillions we owe can’t be reached ruth a little ladder.
Robert Landers said, 4 months ago
@rightisright
Even Dick Cheney was not totally incorrect for once when he stated “Deficits do not matter”.
Hey, even an analog clock that does not run tells the correct time twice each day!
And exactly why would they not matter?
Western civilization has indeed been running up a high debt level for about the last three hundred years or so, well before the US was even a separate country. Could this in turn have a possible correlation to the fact that the same western civilization has created the greatest standard of living for average (economically at least) people in the entire history of the world? Mmmmm….could be!
Also, just what is the over all worth of the US Government anyway?
I have seen figures that state that the over all worth of the US Government runs from anywhere in the neighborhood of at least $100 trillion dollars, all the way up to over $200 trillion dollars. The US government owns more than 40% of ALL the land within the borders of this country alone, what would even just that be worth?
So, if you were a loaning agency, would you loan $10,000 to someone that had a net worth of over $100,000? You better bet your bottom booties that you would!!
And just where were all of these current Republican deficit hawks when the last administration was running up a debt ?
Besides which, raising the debt ceiling is just making it possible to pay off money that has already been authorized by Congress (whether a Congress of a Republican majority, of one of a Democratic majority, does not even matter in this case).
If the US had such a bad debt, then just why every time the treasury has a bond sale does every other country on this planet jump at the very chance of buying some?
Robert Landers said, 4 months ago
In short, I really, really do grow tired of all the pessimism exhibited by some our more ultra conservatives on these boards. Especially as I and millions upon millions of other seniors worked hard all of our lives to provide the greatest county imaginable to those some complainers!
Robert Landers said, 4 months ago
That was meant to be “country” not “county”!
onguard said, 4 months ago
@Robert Landers
Pay attention, it was Dems who raised Taxes on SS. It is Dems that are taking 500B out medicare. It’s Obama who want to give you a pill in place of expensive treatment if you’re over 70.
onguard said, 4 months ago
A Debt Ceiling is relative only when there is no controlling Budget. The Obama administration is now braking the Law. It was due last week. Reid had blocked voting on a Budget going on three years………….Enter the Debt Ceiling, the remaining Control for the People
Redkaycei Repoc said, 4 months ago
@rightisright
IGlobal external news | Source: Reuters (January 3)
US industry continues to grow
The US Purchasing Managers Index rose from 49.5 points in November to 50.7, signalling further growth.
______________________________________
Global external news | Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (December 10)
US economy picking up
Chemicals, machines and computers are increasingly being produced in the US again – partly due to the fact that energy is very cheap there. More than half a million industrial jobs have been created after the worst of the recession.
saywhatwhat said, 4 months ago
@onguard
“…it was Dems who raised Taxes on SS…”
Democrats?
.
“The payroll tax holiday was intended to be temporary and there is strong bipartisan support to let that tax provision expire,” said Sen. Orrin of Utah, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee. “The continued extension of a temporary payroll tax holiday has serious long-term implications for Social Security and, frankly, it’s not even clear that it has helped to boost our ailing economy.”
.
“There’s a growing consensus that Congress and the president can’t continue to divert such a critical revenue stream from Social Security,” said Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, a senior Republican on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee. “More and more Americans understand that that payroll tax cut, while politically unappealing, is endangering Social Security.”
saywhatwhat said, 4 months ago
Larry Summers, Obama’s former economic adviser, is a lonely voice in Washington calling to extend the payroll tax cut. He said in a recent speech that the economy is too fragile to reduce workers’ incomes.
.
Obama pushed for the tax cut in late 2010 as a way to increase workers’ take-home pay to help boost consumer spending and provide a spark for the economy. Economists were divided on the economic benefits. Many said it probably helped increase consumer spending but there was no consensus on the magnitude.
.
The initial tax cut was for only a year, and many Republicans in Congress wanted to let it lapse at the end of 2011. But Obama and Democratic lawmakers successfully fought to extend it through 2012.
.
This is all from this article.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2012/10/21/taxes-2013-163m-workers/1647251/
saywhatwhat said, 4 months ago
And we all know that the thing about taking 500B from Medicare is a lie.
Doughfoot said, 4 months ago
The Fed spends 24% of the money on Defense, 24% on Health Care, 23% on Pensions, 11% on Welfare (mostly “food stamps” and unemployment benefits), 7% on Interest on the Debt, and 11% on EVERYTHING ELSE.
-— The artificial “Debt Ceiling” will go up every year until the budget is balanced. Right now we would have to cut 30% of the total expenditure in order to balance the account. Unless additional revenue is raised, in which case we could cut less, though deep cutting would still be necessary.Since pensions and interest are obligations that can’t be evaded without giving up any pretense to honesty or good faith, that means the 30% would have to come from the remaining 70%. If we don’t cut the defense budget, the 30% will have to come out of the remaining 46%.
We can neither cut, grow, nor tax our way out of this. That’s the truth of the matter. If we do all three, and are very careful about how we do it, we might be able to move forward without turning ourselves into a “third world” nation.
capndunzzl said, 4 months ago
…heck, don’t even open at Christmas.
Respectful Troll said, 4 months ago
@ Rightisright – the stimulus was mishandled by incompetent and bipartisan greed. The debt ceiling is a choice, not a necessity. Republicans, in order to get what they demand, are willing to do great harm to our immediate future and saying they are trying to save our future. Wrongiswrong.
@ Sr Nonliberal – Don’t borrow money to fix the roof now, just let the rain come in and destroy things inside the house? Money, like the debt ceiling, is a simple concept. It represents an exchange of good and services. As long as we can give oil, natural gas, and food to countries, our credit is good. As long as we show character and good intentions, our credit rating won’t be dropped by raising the debt ceiling and interest rates won’t be raised on US borrowing. We don’t need a ladder, we simply need a table and chairs with people willing to work for the country instead of their party.
@ Robert Landers – I’m certain diplomats trying to persuade foreign leaders feel your pain. We’re trying to get our neighbors to agree to help shovel the streets. One side doesn’t want to raise taxes to pay for shoveling the roads even though it means people can’t get to work, schools, or even hospitals. The other side has shown too much willingness to overspend in order to keep the roads clear and, to be honest, spend money on ‘aesthetics’ for which taxes probably should not have been used.
I personally blame waste and a lack of people to inspect and enforce regs and politicians allowing lobbyists to write bills. Do not let the extremists among the conservatives blind you to the many thoughtful and moderate conservative voices among us. And be ready to give and thoughtfully take on these issues. You’re a good writer and help raise the debate.
@ onguard – I’ve read many of your posts. You should provide websites, objective sites, backing your claims. Your accusations are nuanced and debatable, at best.
@ Redkaycei, Saywhatwhat, & Doughfoot – thank you for the tone and content of your comments.
Respectfully,
C.
Nantucket19 said, 4 months ago
@onguard
The taxes for SS were restored – should we keep running up that debt?
500B out of Medicare – it was actually 700B and that was eliminating waste – Medicare Advantage mainly – a process that mirrored what Ryan wants to do – have a PRIVATE company cover Medicare at much higher costs.
And your pill statement is just plain FALSE.