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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: brian1501 who wrote (177485)	11/4/2003 11:02:04 AM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1574683

That's not true Look, you guys are using "discretionary spending" as a way of taking certain expenditures off the table. It's a crutch in your argument. "We must spend that money...it's the law!" Sorry.....that's not what I am saying nor do I think that's what JF is saying. Let me ask you....your visa bill comes in and a payment is due. Do you call that discretionary spending or mandatory? I call it mandatory. The US is obligated to make certain payments whether its to pay down bonds or to pay up SS. I believe that's what the feds call mandatory spending. As I understand it, spending on defense is considered discretionary. It's a law that can be as easily removed by the same body that created it. So what? If the US defaults on bond payments because they passed a law saying that bond payments were unconstitutional, that would not change the fact that our economic standing in the world would plummet. The dollar would be no better than the Argentine peso. When ENE and others hit the news, we had a major outflow of foreign capital. Our fiscal integrity is very important to us. That's why certain payments are mandatory and not necessarily because there is a law in place demanding that we pay up. I fully realize that discretionary spending refers to things that are "nice to have" in a budget. For us, your mortgage isn't discretionary, but going to the movies is. Yet you can choose to not pay your mortgage if you wish. Taxes are not discretionary (we go to jail if we don't pay them). There is no parallel at the governmental level. I think there is........again, its our reputation as a country with a reputable economy where things are done in a normal and legal fashion. My objection is that you all seem to think if spending isn't discretionary, it's somehow mandated by God to happen. That is not the case, so on some level, all spending by the government is discretionary in spirit, if not by term. I am not willing to take the risk that its not mandated by God........but you can. Let us know if you get hit with lightning! <g> ted