“Fixing” the Economy, Eh?
It looks like the current Administration really is doing a great job of “fixing” the US economy.
In January 2013, disposable inflation income – adjusted for inflation – dropped 4%. For those who’ve forgotten: disposable income is what you have left after taxes and other mandatory deductions.
That’s the largest single-month drop since 1959 – or in at least 54 years. I say “at least” because 1959 is when the statistics for monthly changes in inflation-adjusted disposable income begin.
Consumers spent a bit more in January 2013, even while having 4% less to spend. What that means is that consumers are saving less or going further in debt. Neither is a good thing for the economy’s long-term health.
Other indicators, except for inflation, were similarly bad. Inflation was about the sole bright spot – 1.3% for the Jan 2012-Jan 2013 period. However, even that low level of inflation hurts when disposable incomes are shrinking.
And in case you were wondering – yeah, the new taxes which kicked in at the beginning of the year were the primary cause of the drop in disposable income.
Oh, by the way: that 1.3% inflation (Jan 2012 to Jan 2013) does not include the recent spike in gasoline prices. That price spike happened largely in Feb 2013. On January 28, 2013, the national average price of regular-grade gasoline was $3.296/gallon. On February 25, 2013 – $3.722/gallon – an increase of $0.426/gallon, or over 12.9%, in less than a month.
On another “cheery” note – under the current administration, the Federal government has now added $6+ trillion in new debt – in 4 years and 40 days. That’s “trillion” with a “T”, or
$6,000,000,000,000.00+
That’s an average of not quite $1.5 trillion in new Federal debt added during each of the past four years.
The words of Pyrrhus of Epirus come to mind: “Another such ‘victory’ and we shall be utterly ruined.”
Category: Economy
(I guess when we’re discussing the economy and how bad it is, I suppose interjecting sodomy is appropriate – since we’re all taking it up the ass.)
@101–LMFAO….exactly.
@101 – I had not thought of it quite that way, but it is a poetic approach.
@94- I reject the very premise of that question. It’s supposed to be an AH HA! question that Billo likes to spring on his guests. Most of the major government programs, such as Social Security and Medicare are GOING to increase no matter what you do because the population using them are going to increase. So slowing the growth of these programs, as President Obama has already done with Medicare and has proposed to do with SS ARE major accomplishments and major concessions that can save us trillions. The link to the Mecicare actuaries I gave you above shows that Obamacare alone will save Medicare 700 billion. Plus where is the great Republican courage when it comes to ending government programs. Ryan’s big plan for voucherizing medicare was not to take place for at least 10 years (some profile in courage) and even then he was insisting that he wasn’t ending the program. So far the biggest government department started in the past 30 years was probably homeland security, started under a Republican. In fact the ONLY time the Republicans care about fiscal responsibility, and the ONLY time our budgets get under control is when a Democrat is in charge. The cause of the debt is entirely Bush’s fault and the reason the deficit is going down is due to Obama being in charge. Right now the deficit is going down at a faster pace than it has at any time since WW II. There is no need to wreck the economy to bring the spending under control. It is under control. But even though i deny the premise of your question, and find the conditional Hondo-style idiocy (“name this this and this and then MAYBE i’ll concede a point- but probably move the goal post again”). I’ll answer it anyway. He’s cut major out-dated weapons systems and the VH-71 presidential helicopter program. But the very nature of your question shows everything there is to know about you. It’s not enough for you to bring these programs under control and to make them more efficient and workable. You want cuts.… Read more »