A possible solution to the world's debt crisis?
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Nunco, a mortgage is a secured note assuming you don't falsely value the underlying asset (ala S&P/Moody's CDS ratings). Fail to pay and the bank is made whole again. What is the E.U. going to get guaranteed from Greece, olives? 
When I said to cut spending I allowed an increase in taxation. That is the moderate path. My gut says, "hell, reduce spending and don't take another dime out of my wallet." But that is not a political possibility. My belief is the US government (including state gov) is oversized and doing too much. Smaller .gov sounds good to me. We probably disagree about why gov exists. I say they need to ensure my Bill of Rights liberties (one e.g. defend our soil), protect my property rights, and provide utilities that are too big to privatize (road construction/maintenance). Not a whole heck of a lot more than that (laissez faire).
When I said to cut spending I allowed an increase in taxation. That is the moderate path. My gut says, "hell, reduce spending and don't take another dime out of my wallet." But that is not a political possibility. My belief is the US government (including state gov) is oversized and doing too much. Smaller .gov sounds good to me. We probably disagree about why gov exists. I say they need to ensure my Bill of Rights liberties (one e.g. defend our soil), protect my property rights, and provide utilities that are too big to privatize (road construction/maintenance). Not a whole heck of a lot more than that (laissez faire).
A tax increase is not necessary, so I'm not OK with it. Why exactly should I be paying for someone's purchases that I don't agree with? I don't understand how you can say cutting spending isn't a possibility and then immediately afterwards acknowledge that the government is too large. We are going to other countries, blowing up their infrastructure, only to rebuild it while our own infrastructure crumbles. There is a LOT of spending they can cut, and the government needs to shrink back to its intended purpose. Once that happens, I'll be willing to discuss a tax increase.
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Joined: Oct 2009
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Nunco, a mortgage is a secured note assuming you don't falsely value the underlying asset (ala S&P/Moody's CDS ratings). Fail to pay and the bank is made whole again. What is the E.U. going to get guaranteed from Greece, olives?
When I said to cut spending I allowed an increase in taxation. That is the moderate path. My gut says, "hell, reduce spending and don't take another dime out of my wallet." But that is not a political possibility. My belief is the US government (including state gov) is oversized and doing too much. Smaller .gov sounds good to me. We probably disagree about why gov exists. I say they need to ensure my Bill of Rights liberties (one e.g. defend our soil), protect my property rights, and provide utilities that are too big to privatize (road construction/maintenance). Not a whole heck of a lot more than that (laissez faire).
When I said to cut spending I allowed an increase in taxation. That is the moderate path. My gut says, "hell, reduce spending and don't take another dime out of my wallet." But that is not a political possibility. My belief is the US government (including state gov) is oversized and doing too much. Smaller .gov sounds good to me. We probably disagree about why gov exists. I say they need to ensure my Bill of Rights liberties (one e.g. defend our soil), protect my property rights, and provide utilities that are too big to privatize (road construction/maintenance). Not a whole heck of a lot more than that (laissez faire).
As far as taxes go, the Bush tax cuts were supposed to be a short-term economic motivator but they didn't work. It just led to financial crisis followed by collapse followed by crisis.
And those tax cuts are what's leaving us unable to pay our bills. In 1999, tax levels were as acceptable as they have ever been, and we had enough money to fund ourselves as well as pay down the national debt. Today we need more tax money to pay existing bills but there is this idea that everything would be fine if our gov't just stopped spending money. The truth is that gov't spending drives economies. I'd agree that the whole Iraq/Afghanistan fiasco is a huge waste of money, but it's not the whole problem, nor are public health programs, social services, etc. The root of the revenue/spending issue is a tax policy that has given a break to companies and individuals with the highest revenues while giving no quarter to anyone who can't buy food if their costs go up. It's just not logical.
A lot of countries are in financial trouble. Greece isn't different, they just had less of a cushion between comfort and crisis. And when they undertook the steps required by the EU and others (raise taxes and cut gov't services/spending), their citizens rioted (predictably). It sounds like your ideas of how to "fix" this country's fiscal policy is exactly what led to riots in Greece. Any guesses as to how it'll fly here?
As far as mortgages, there was a day when lenders were required to act responsibly and ethically. Those days are gone, see the rise of the variable interest rate loan to sub-prime borrowers over the last decade. The ensuing debacle resulting from the widespread practice led to higher priced credit, which is part of what's killing countries like Greece. And yes, Greece can secure a loan with olive exorts and tourism. I suppose you believe US Gov't debt is secured by the White House?
