Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Just the Facts, Ma'am: A Compendium of Liberal Fiction -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ichy Smith who wrote (53174)	11/8/2006 3:31:09 AM
From: Cogito	Respond to of 90947

>>The bulk of our national debt is owed to Asian countries, especially China. It is currently well over 8.5 trillion dollars and growing. So institute a tax on items coming from China and pay them off.<< Ichy - It would have to be a very large tariff. Last year, China sent roughly 243 billion dollars of goods our way. Even if you placed a 100% tariff on all Chinese goods, it would take a long time to pay off the debt. And the problem is that the debt is growing fast, too. Faster than even a 100% tariff could keep up with. Since 2004, when bin Laden stated his goal to bankrupt the US, our debt has grown by 1.5 trillion dollars. I'd say that the first step toward dealing with this major problem is to follow the first rule of holes. When you're in a hole, stop digging. Perhaps with the Democrats in control of the House, there might be a chance for some real bipartisan cooperation, of the kind that produced a balanced budget when Clinton was in the White House, working with a Republican Congress. Clearly, having one party in control hasn't resulted in fiscal responsibility. But it will require the Democrats reaching across the aisle, and the Republicans being willing to take their hands. - Allen PS: There was also a trade imbalance between China and the US of over 200 billion dollars last year. That's a problem, too, because it means that we are sending them a lot more dollars every year than we're getting back from them. And that imbalance is growing, too.