ATS Survey Results: The U.S. Debt Crisis

Originally posted by Bob Sholtz
i agree with all but one of the above.

i don't see how so many people disagreed that the best long term solution for the debt is to both cut spending and raise taxes. unless the goal isn't to get rid of the deficit and our debt, i don't see how that happened.

this is the first poll i participated in because i felt very strongly about it's prevalence.

Well, I think there is a solution that does NEITHER. It gets rid of the need for money - the accounting device We use to account for meaningful energy expended - by replacing it with energy from the plenum. So when I got to that question, I surely disagreed that it was the best course of action.

Very glad to see that people recognize the conservative media machine for what it is.

One source spouting uncut party rhetoric out to nearly half the nation, market saturation of that caliber
is not good for conservatives. They are used to support an agenda and then used to protest the results of that agenda like a mindless can of worms. I think conservatives should wake up and address their popular media,
90% con market share may be good for Murdoch, but it is not good for America. When Rick Perry is elected and
governs like Bush you guys will go back to sleep, like you did with Bush. If you don't address the institutional manipulation, you will never see your conservatism reign like an iron fist. The liberal media... actually bashes their president in case you haven't noticed... Git to work!

Originally posted by crimvelvet

What that 7,183 means is that there are a LOT of lurkers who read the site but do not comment.

It could also mean that the vast majority of registered ATS users choose not to participate in biased polls.

reply to post by ThirdEyeofHorus


Precisely. "fake Oppositions". I reckon I just look at things funny. I don't see "left" and "right" as being political opposites, although I'm just as guilty as anyone in employing those labels to try to get an understanding across to people who I perceive think in those terms. I see political "left" and "right" as being nothing more than stopping points at different places along the same continuum, what one could think of as a political spectrum. In a way, the exact same thing.

on a real spectrum, a "rainbow" blue is not the same color as red, but they are both colors. One color doesn't suddenly stop and another begin, they fade together.

I don't see communism and fascism as being "left" or "right", I see them as the same thing - TOTALITARIANISM. THAT is my real enemy, not some guy on the left, or some guy on the right. the institution of totalitarianism is my enemy, whatever color one cares to paint it.

Likewise, I don't see Democrats as "left" or Republicans as "right". I don't actually see much difference in them at all any more. The end results look exactly the same to me, whichever gets it done. I think they should just go ahead and merge in name as well as action, and form a new "ism", or at least put a name to the one they have going on. they can call it "republicratism" or "demicanism", I don't really care who gets top billing when they both live in the same sty.

Now, really, does it matter whether the Republicans give the money to the top dawgs via "tax breaks" and "bailouts", or whether the democrats give it to them via more debt (=more interest paid) and "bailouts"? Aren't the same rich guys getting the money, and the rest of us getting the shaft, whichever way that goes?

Nope, I see NO basic difference between them at the most basic level, the bottom line. No more difference than I see between communists and fascists.

NONE of them are here to help the "little guy", or even leave him alone long enough to let him help him self. They are ALL here to serf up all the little guys, and shear them.

and that ain't for OUR benefit!

ETA: forgot to add in the most important part! These fake divisions are fostered and promoted by the "higher ups" who have a vested interest in the division. As long as they can keep people thinking in those terms, they can keep people at each other's throats. They KNOW that if it ever gets seen for what it is by a critical mass of people, all hell is gonna break loose, and it won't be the usual suspects benefiting from it then!

reply to post by kro32


I don't have fear of this particular poll and responses, but I must admit that I believe that viruses may be sent through some websites which appear at ATS. I received such a warning yesterday.

Hilarious. Superb reflection of the entrenched views that the US public has and the more extreme views that ATS attracts. Must be something about conspiracies that attracts extreme viewpoints.

I live in the UK by the way. Your politics are centered way to the right of ours and yet you perceive your own politics as somehow centred around a midpoint of political opinion.......oh dear. One day you will see that 95% of the world is not in the US and your own politics are very very skewed to the right dictated by huge sums of private money.

i have to agree with that private money part from the american taxpayer given to the government who goes out and blows it and they comes back for more and do the same thing over and over and over agian.

Hmmm, I will add another view from Europe. It seems that the US is becoming more polarized and 20 or so members of the Tea Party are hijacking not only the US but the world...however I do agree that it is crazy and unsustainable to keep on growing the debt. But taking money from poor or disadvantaged people is not going to work.

Your basic funding problem, as I see it, is that your military is too big and expensive, and yet it provides a great deal of jobs and helps the dollar to be used all over the world wherever you invade, so it is a difficult choice, I realize that. However, if you guys do not sit around the table and compromise before the stuff hits the fan then you are going to do yourselves more damage than good - for example despite the deal the dollar continues to drop; you've lost a lot of credibility.

My worry is that you appear to be so polarized that it is not inconceivable that 5-10 years from now there could be another civil war in the US; that would be really scary to say the least.

As a friend of Americans I hope that you guys can sort yourselves out and understand that you have to live and work together and not have extreme views - left or right.

Link: Debt Downgrade Unlikely to Push Interest Rates Higher

The humiliation of a credit rating downgrade for the U.S. would exact some psychological damage but is widely viewed as less likely to cause any actual carnage on interest rates.

Few fixed-income experts are looking for a major surge in rates even if Standard & Poor's follows through on its threats to cut the US rating from the coveted triple-A status down to double-A.

If a credit downgrade would not have affected interest rates, what the hell would have a default have done?

Hiccup?

"The bigger picture is that the long-term fiscal position of the U.S. remains perilous," Dales wrote. "A raising of the debt ceiling and a package to reduce the deficit by between $1 trillion and $3 trillion over 10 years will do little to reduce net debt."

...and, there is it in black and white. Regardless about the last second deals, the overall impact of this debt ceiling raise is null.

Get ready for the debt downgrade.

Coming to a screen near you!

All their fear mongering was for nothing.

Yes and our own government here in the uk are real
truthful and honest ? ,No they are not.
Probably even more bent than the states.
Look out for the "Big Society" coming soon,
Eat the rich.

Hahaha, oh my. 18.1% of respondents believe that Democrats/Liberals in congress are virtuous!

All I can think of is...

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/72925cde9fb1.jpg[/atsimg]

SMUG ALERT!

Originally posted by nenothtu
That will change over time, if they bother to actually get out and engage Tea Party folks in dialogue and learn something of the reality on the ground.

Many of us can't embrace the Tea Party, because the majority of the movement consists of people who are all for small government fiscally, but socially they are not.

reply to post by 27jd


www.rawstory.com...

I didn't see this video in the thread yet but I believe if I could meet Keith Olberman I would shake his hand and say well said sir!! It also makes me wonder if his viewpoint was so "liberal" was the real reason he got booted off of MSNBC...

...just curious,

how can you right the ship by just cutting expenditures? You need to increase revenue also. Doing only one or the other only gets you half sunk, but sunk is still sunk.

Do the respondents really think that is a great idea? Put down the KoolAid.

Why was there no question concerning the way current revenues are handled? This is a much more pertinent question. If the government spent their umpteen zillion dollars with an eye on actually improving the ship versus the current fire sale mentality, would we even need this discussion?

reply to post by Stargate2012


Bill O'reily can tone it down at times, but mostly just yells over anyone he is interviewing with which he does not agree. He is dishonest like the majority of them

See here:


and here:

Remember that this survey was open to all members of ATS. And many of them do not live in the US. As a matter of fact, many are from socialist countries such as England, Canada, Norway, Europe in general. When you look at the results from a socialist point of view, it's actually quite predictable.

reply to post by Laokin


I agree. The person who conducted the survey don't understand the word "MOST" It should had been multiple choices under the MOST CORRUPT. Then we will see who is the winner.

The results shown under MOST CORRUPT should had been under the question Do you think ___ corrupt?

I am more than disappointed on the debt ceiling increase. What I find amazing is 60% plus want to give them more free spending, which will never benefit the Middle Class. the 1st stimulus should have told you so.
Keep voting them in

I do not think anyone wishes a default, but TPTB have pushed us to the point without any options. They have all proved useless and have not helped its' citizenry with this vote. I find it hard to reason why our government can write itself a blank check, declare any victory and still soak the tax payers even more.
Boehner and McConnell shoul;d be removed, at least in there upcoming elections.