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Pelosi: There's No Spending Problem

A lot of cuts won't help the economy grow, she said on Fox News

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by Mary Noble

Senior Editor t

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Conservative sites have slammed Nancy Pelosi for her statement that "it is almost a false argument to say that we have a spending problem. We have a budget deficit problem."

In an interview on Fox News she argued that we've already cut spending extensively, and further cuts in some areas would harm economic growth. "We need growth with jobs...You don't get it by...cutting into education, cutting back on investments in science and National Institute of Health, food safety, you name it."

Pelosi's views aren't unusual on the left. Economist Paul Krugman argues that spending lawmakers should "kick the can down the road" on spending cuts, because such cuts would cause a new recession.

Pelosi isn't against all spending cuts, however – she said that Dems would be open to cuts provided they are accompanied by closing tax loopholes. But Republicans have been referring to the loophole-closing plan as a "tax hike" and are dead against it. "The problem is every time you turn around, the answer is to raise taxes, said Eric Cantor on Meet the Press/ He just got his tax hike on the wealthy, and you can't, in this town, every three months raise taxes...We have got a spending problem, everybody knows it."

Via Breitbart.com and the NYTimes.
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Does Pelosi have a point?

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Comments (view in Forum)

  • Skyclmbr
    !
    This woman is a complete moron. She flip flops more than Obama does. When Bush was leaving office both her Reid and Obama cried "are you tired of the govt spending"! Now look at their answers.Obama claims there is less. Pelosi claims it doesn't hurt. What next?
  • drpeeper
    !
    We have a Pelosi problem. All you need to do is see how the left holds this woman up as a brilliant, female leader- and you can see how dumbed down this country is. 30 years ago she would have been laughed out of office- along with Reid, and the current prez.
  • o
    BobRooney
    !
    @Skyclmbr How can the Obama Administration justify allowing illegal immigrants to work in the U.S. when
    millions of Americans are unemployed?
    If you against any kind of Amnesty, go to this website and register.
    Google this: NUMBERSUSA .
    Once you are registered, go to the "action board"
  • Skyclmbr
    !
    @drpeeper,
    this is all part of a larger picture. Check out the recruiting and hidden agenda of the Illuminati. I used to think it was bull until I did some research. It all makes sense as to why people in Hollywood promote idiots as we see them to be voted for. Also it shows how Hollywood is dumbing down the people who become slaves to the. Pretty interesting
  • marine1
    !
    Pelosi and those like her, (both sides)have no idea how to build a strong and prosperous country. They have created a social democracy that is not sustainable and if left unchecked,it will be the ruin of this country.
  • dances-weebles
    !
    you're right... but you should have told that to the two bush administrations... it's the neo-con way to always borrow money rather than using your own.
  • zeke
    !
    @dances-weebles Hey, i've got an idea, why don't you work on a time machine, perfect it, go back in time to the Bush era, fix everything, then come back to the present and address our current spending problems! Makes about as much sense as contantly repeating the Bush rethoric, WE GET IT, REALLY WE DO!
  • dances-weebles
    !
    @texas_cutie75 the current administration pretty much has its act together... if congress would get behind him and support what he's trying to do the u.s. would soon be out of debt. the neo-cons can't stand that notion, however. the gov't really, really isn't supposed to be an 'us vs. them' scenario, is it?
  • dances-weebles
    !
    @zeke it can be fixed in the present if congress would get behind the president and work with him, rather than trying to sabotage all the good that he attempts.
  • View all 7 replies >
  • mimi57
    !
    Yes, we do have a spending problem and you can't spend your way out of debt!
    The Dems will never get that, they just want to keep spending and raising taxes.
    The bill is due, we have no money, now what??? Do we continue to borrow from China? They'll continue to play the blame game, and that's about all they've done since "He's" been in office. Tax and spend, how's that been working for us?... It's
    not, they can't see it and will continue doing the same thing. Insanity? Definitely!
  • DerivePI
    !
    It's more of a shortsighted problem. Yes, when the government stops spending as much there will be an initial downturn in the economy as the markets correct. However, an elected, shortterm downturn is preferrable to a currency collapse due to loss of faith. Just ask Argentina or the Weimar Republic of Germany.
  • Brownie
    !
    Now, that our war is slowing down. Of course, spending is not going to be a problem. But, our government, for as along as I've been born, tend to spend money on things that some may or may not, be considered wasteful.
  • Thunderchicken
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    At present borrow between 30 and 40 percent of everything we spend.(Depending on who's figures you believe.) Our debt is equal to our GDP. At what point is our spending not a problem?
  • Brownie
    !
    @Thunderchicken That's why you should try to get in government, if you're not. Get in the division that works all that out. Than everything will be budgeted just right, with no complaints, I hope. Think about it.
  • u
    S-N-A-F-U
    !
    This Woman is a Glittering Jewel of Colossal Ignorance! There is no bottom to her stupidity and irrelevance.....Is it no wonder this country is lying on its side like that cruise ship off the coast of Tuscany, both rudderless and leaderless?
  • charlesgreen
    !
    All of this wisdom from the former speaker. Will have to add it to a long growing list of quotes, such as "you can read the bill after you vote to pass it."
  • MarkJM
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    Once again, Princess Pelosi proves how much of a flippin' idiot she really is. Yes Pelose, we DO have a Spending Problem, and it all lies in CONgressional pay & perks, Foreign Aid, and "Entitlements." Of course I expect a San Franciscian Liberal like Pelosi not to grasp any bit of that concept. Like Massa Bama, Pelosi thinks it's all Monopoly money (play money)....
  • DARSB
    !
    Defense spending dropped in December, slowing economic growth by 2%. There's good reason to expect the sequester cuts would lead to another recession. Rep Pelosi may have a very good point, and if she's right the current GOP policies could be terribly damaging.
  • u
    Hireman
    !
    You can't have debt without spending. Our debt devalues our currency, therefor spending not only causes debt, but hurts the economy. Your example of the economic slowdown is a great one -- it shows that our economy is so weak that a dip in government spending will greatly effect it. It also shows that government spending has way too much effect on our economy. Spending needs to be cut back in almost every area of government (the only reason I say almost is I have yet to find an area, but I'm sure ONE must exist). It's the only way to solve our debt, and return us to being a responsible global leader.
  • drpeeper
    !
    LOL Interesting- why not a 5% cut across the board on Gov't wages, retirement, pensions, double dipping pensions & benefits? Hell, that alone could probably save us a trillion a year.

    But, Liberals only see defense spending as a problem- It's kind of when a city needs budget cuts- and they only go after cops and teachers salaries. They never go after the bloated office desk jockeys making 80k a year.
  • u
    MaxPain
    !
    Not to worry the GoP will do all it can for it not to work.Like almost everything they have done over the last 4 years to help the economy to Fail.After all the best word the GOP and its Failed leadership know how to Utter Is 'No NO NO NO"
  • u
    AceLuby
    !
    Anyone who has studied economics knows that spending cuts cut the GDP, cuts jobs, and lowers aggregate demand, which is already abysmally low. She is completely right that the significant cuts needed would put us into another recession.

    However, we do have a spending problem. We've doubled 'defense' spending in the last decade by fighting two wars that never had an end game, which many people prefer that we never stop, and creating new agencies that are redundant (why have 1 CIA when you can have 2?). We are also spending too much on our social safety net because too many people are out of work. Just those two line items alone add $800 billion a year to the deficit, yet nobody even wants to talk about it. As Neo would say "sad, so sad"
  • Thunderchicken
    !
    @Thunderchicken

    think the faster the better for the government and for myself. But to lessen the effect on the economy, slower would be best. Whatever we do, we have to shrink government to an affordable level. The longer we put it off, the more it will hurt.
  • u
    AceLuby
    !
    @Thunderchicken Shrink defense spending to 2000 levels, remove ALL of the Bush/Obama tax cuts, invest the $400 billion saved from defense into infrastructure jobs (electricity grid, sewer, bridges, high speed rail, etc...) and after 1 year you have a robust growing economy again. It is a simple, yet effective plan that would absolutely work, but goes against the 75 years of politicians playing the 'America will look weak' card. Until we address this drain on our finite resources we will never have a robust economy again.
  • View all 18 replies >
  • sevenSecrets
    !
    can someone tell me how spending more on our military than the next six countries combined is not a problem? We spend more on the military than anything. we need to cut the spending in the military, if having bases in every foreign continent is called "defending our American way of life" then we need to be defendng a little less
  • u
    50000names
    !
    I have come to the conclusion that if Pelosi is for it, I'm against it. Those who comment here that she might have a point about the effects on our economy are oversimplifying the problem. We must prioritized WHERE we spend federal tax dollars. We should allow large corporations to bring the dollars they have in banks offshore back to the US economy. We should equalize taxes for consumers (Steve Forbes was right). We should expect those who receive benefits that have not been earned to EARN those benefits (read, if you get a government check for sitting on your rear-you work for it and quit getting paid to watch Jerry Springer). We should PUNISH business owners who employ illegal aliens-put their rear ends in jail! We should streamline the immigration process so those who want to be US citizens can do so EASILY-this will get them paying payroll taxes instead of sending the "cash" they get each week back to their homeland.

    And I could go on and on. Hmmm. I guess I did!
  • Dan_Tien
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    Eric Cantor says "We have got a spending problem, everybody knows it. So, let's grant citizenship to children who were brought to the US illegally, because that will fix it."
  • Calfkiller
    !
    Such a cute way of trivializing an asinine remark regarding a highly serious issue. "is almost a false argument"? close only counts w/ horseshoes and hand grenades. Our Fed. spending is 24% of our GDP, that is appalling. When you borrow 40 cents of every dollar you spend it is neither responsible money management, nor is it sustainable. God help us.
  • u
    Grubby
    !
    This illustrates again what a dangerous bunch the American people put into power in Washington. Obama believes the same thing. If spending is not a problem, why shouldn't we just spend even more. Pelosi would probably be okay with a $4T annual deficit. Why not $6T, maybe even $8T per year? After all, spending is good. She is such a moron she believes this. The only way to save our economy from total ruin is to get spending under control. The economy cannot handle a much higher percentage of spending by the government. Neither can the American Dollar. Those who think otherwise are clueless.
  • harold_lloyd
    !
    I don't think she's the brightest star in the sky, but she has a point. Sort of.

    Deficits aren't caused by spending, deficits are caused by spending without paying for it. That's been a bipartisan problem for years, decades...

    But right now we have two problems, a recession, and massive debt. The solutions to the two problems are contradictory. What helps with the recession increases the debt, and what decreases the debt prolongs the recession.

    The Pres is working on the recession first, as I think is appropriate. But in a year, we will be in shape to start doing what it takes to start in on reducing the debt.

    That's going to mean less spending, and higher taxes. When we force other countries to do it, we call it austerity. That's a word that means we all are going to take a hit of some sort.

    To me, that hit should be distributed to us all based on the concept of 'equal pain', like the income tax system. Actually, like the income tax system used to be in the 1950s.

  • u
    Realthinker
    !
    If she thinks spending cuts are intended to grow the economy she hasn't been taking any of this debate seriously. Spending cuts are needed because we cannot sustain the current level of spending even with tax increases. We have billions of dollars wasted on duplicate programs, out of date programs, and programs we never needed, all of which can be cut without harming the poor. But every one of those programs is a pet project some congressman isn't willing to let go. So the waste continues.
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