<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">On Fri, Oct 19, 2018 at 3:47 PM William Flynn Wallace <<a href="mailto:foozler83@gmail.com">foozler83@gmail.com</a>> wrote:</span><br></div><div class="gmail_quote"><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><div style="font-family:"comic sans ms",sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(0,0,0)"> <span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">> </span>I think it will take another crash on Wall Street or maybe even worse to get us off the free money train we are riding.  </div></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style=""><font size="4"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"></font>I think the dangers of deficit spending have been dramatically overstated, the USA has spent more money than it had in nearly every year since it started in 1776 and yet that doesn't seem to have harmed it, the country is still here and is the most powerful in the world. I'm not saying deficit spending couldn't theoretically get out of hand but I am saying it is not necessary or even desirable for a government to have a precisely balanced budget each and every year.</font></div><div class="gmail_default" style=""><br></div><font size="4">But if you think it's important,<span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"> </span>only 7 presidents have  left office with the government owing less money as a percentage of GDP than when they entered the office. The are listed below, the first two made by far the largest reductions:</font><div><br></div><div> <span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><font size="4">1) </font></span><font size="4">Harry Truman,<span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"> a Democrat</span></font></div><div><font size="4"> <span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">2)</span> Bill Clinton<span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">, a Democrat</span></font></div><div><font size="4"> <span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">3) </span><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Dwight </span>Eisenhower<span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">, a Republican</span> </font></div><div><font size="4"> <span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">4) </span><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Lyndon </span>Johnson<span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">, a Democrat</span></font></div><div><font size="4"> <span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">5) Richard </span>Nixon,<span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"> a Republican</span></font></div><div><font size="4"> <span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">6) John </span>Kennedy<span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">, a Democrat</span></font></div><div><font size="4"> <span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">7) </span>Jimmy Carter<span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">,</span><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"> a Democrat</span></font></div><div><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></span></div><font size="4">It's interesting that the conventional wisdom that the Democrats are the spendthrift party and the Republicans are the conservative fiscally prudent party is inconsistent with the facts.</font></div><div class="gmail_quote"><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:"comic sans ms",sans-serif"><span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">> </span>We have to raise taxes and lower spending without harming the vulnerable - and yes, I do think that's possible</span></blockquote><div><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><font size="4">To do that you would need a MASSIVE reduction in military spending, and even then I doubt it would be enough.</font></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><font size="4"><br></font></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><font size="4">John K Clark</font></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><br>
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