Debt Reduction- Advice On Credit Card Debt Reduction, Debt Reduction Services, And Debt Reduction Plans

pdooma asked:


A fiscal year 2009 deficit of $1.8 trillion was anticipated by the White House, $1.7 trillion by Congress. Reaching that level would produce a deficit four times last year’s $459 billion deficit, just as Congress is considering health care overhaul plans that could cost $1 trillion over 10 years.

Lawmakers are struggling to pay for a plan with a mix of tax increases on upper-income people and Medicare spending reductions aimed at doctors, hospitals, drugmakers and insurers. Some town-hall forums across the U.S. this month have been disrupted by protests for and against proposals.

While revenue continues to decline, government spending is rising as a result of the $787 billion economic stimulus plan passed six months ago. Stimulus spending will increase in the next few months, says Treasury chief economist Alan Krueger.

Deficits of $1.8 trillion this year and $1.3 trillion in 2010, as predicted by the White House, would add to the federal debt. The current $11.7 trillion debt already equals about $38,500 for every U.S. resident. The recession, now in its postwar-record 21st month, has dealt a worse blow to the budget than the administration expected:

• The economy is set to shrink by 2.6% this year, more than twice what the White House predicted in February and May.

• As a result, tax revenue is down by $353 billion over 10 months, which is about what the White House thought it would lose for the entire year.

• Unemployment, projected at 8.1% this year by the White House, was 9.4% in July. Spending for jobless benefits, Medicaid and Medicare has soared as people have lost work and health insurance. Jobless benefits are costing more than twice what was spent last year.

Fiscal year Surplus or deficit
2000 +$236 billion
2001 +$128 billion
2002 -$158 billion
2003 -$378 billion
2004 -$413 billion
2005 -$318 billion
2006 -$248 billion
2007 -$161 billion
2008 -$459 billion
2009* -$1,841 billion

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-08-10-deficit_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

Jonas Nakata

Meadow F asked:


.
– and says they must repay “climate debt” by providing “the financing and technology required to cover the additional costs of mitigating and adapting to climate change” as well as paying compensation to less developed countries like China and India. Do you agree that we in the west owe such a climate debt to these countries?

In an open letter to the UN before the most recent climate change negotiations, a group of NGO’s and think-tanks said that they were outraged at the [quote] “excessive consumption of atmospheric space” of the richer countries and demanded that rich countries: [QUOTE]

———————————
“Repay their adaptation debt to developing countries by committing to full financing and compensation for the adverse effects of climate change on all affected countries, groups and people;

Repay their emissions debt to developing countries through the deepest possible domestic reductions, and by committing to assigned amounts of emissions that reflect the full measure of their historical and continued excessive contributions to climate change; and

Make available to developing countries the financing and technology required to cover the additional costs of mitigating and adapting to climate change, in accordance with the Climate Convention.”
—————————-

The Institute of Policy Studies, under the aegis of its Sustainable Energy and Economy Network project (http://www.envirolink.org/resource.html?catid=5&itemid=850925202448 ) signed up to this transfer of wealth and technology to the emerging economies of the world.

Do you agree with them?

Read the letter here: http://www.jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk/Climate%20debt%20%20Bolivia%20calls%20for%20justice+4855.twl

List of signatory organisations: http://www.twnside.org.sg/announcement/sign-on.letter_climate.dept.htm
.

Devorah Beau

Emcee asked:


Hope this will help.

1.The highest growth in the gross domestic product? Harry Truman, a democrat

2.The highest growth in jobs? Bill Clinton, a democrat

3.The biggest increase in personal disposable income after taxes? Lyndon Johnson, a democrat

4.The highest growth in industrial production? John Kennedy, a democrat.

5.The highest growth in hourly wages? Lyndon Johnson, you guessed it, a democrat

6.The lowest misery index (inflation plus unemployment)? Harry Truman, a democrat

7.The lowest inflation? Truman, a democrat

8.The largest reduction in the deficit? Bill Clinton, a democrat

• The Clinton administration presided over the longest peacetime economic expansion in U.S. history. When Clinton left office, there was a ten-year projected budget surplus of $1.6 trillion.
• In less than a year and a half, Republican George W. Bush wiped out that projected budget surplus, and within three years, he turned the $236 billion surplus he inherited into a $375 billion deficit.

Keep in mind that these figures are from George W. Bush’s first term. He has soared to new heights of fiscal irresponsibility during his second term and continues to set records in economic incompetence.

The national debt is now more than $10 trillion.

(thanks to Mick Youther and above quoted sources)

Violet Casteneda

This I asked:


The tariff policy of the early 1920s:
A. made it easier fro other nations to sell to the United States
B. made it harder for other nations to sell to the United States
C. made it easier for other nations to repay their war debts
D. led Americans to cut back on loans and investments abroad

Coolidge’s administration was marked by
A. a continuation of the post-World War I economic slump
B. continued tax breaks for the lower and middle classes at the expense of the upper class
C. prosperity
D. the creation of the Internal Revenue and Tariff Commission, which drastically reformed taxation formulas and duty lists

President Herbert Hoover’s progressive and humanitarian reforms included all the following except:
A. supporting a plan for tax reductions in the lower-income brackets
B. rejecting “red hunts” or interference with the peaceful picketing of the White House
C. seeking financial assistance for all-black Howard University
D. supporting a bill to provide federal financial assistance to lower-income families

The uneven distribution of wealth in America helped cause the Depression because
A. as production increased, demand declined
B. corporations no longer had sufficient capital to expand their productive capacities
C. many people no longer had extra money to invest in stocks
D. Americans with less spending power began buying cheaper imported goods rather than American-made goods

Part of the reason for the stock market crash was
A. the high rat of deflation in the 1920s
B. the tax policies of the 1920s that hurt the wealthy, who might otherwise have bought more stocks
C. the buying of great amounts of stock “on margin”
D. the low tariff, which allowed imports to corner several important American markets

Chris Caley

This I asked:


The tariff policy of the early 1920s:
A. made it easier fro other nations to sell to the United States
B. made it harder for other nations to sell to the United States
C. made it easier for other nations to repay their war debts
D. led Americans to cut back on loans and investments abroad

Coolidge’s administration was marked by
A. a continuation of the post-World War I economic slump
B. continued tax breaks for the lower and middle classes at the expense of the upper class
C. prosperity
D. the creation of the Internal Revenue and Tariff Commission, which drastically reformed taxation formulas and duty lists

President Herbert Hoover’s progressive and humanitarian reforms included all the following except:
A. supporting a plan for tax reductions in the lower-income brackets
B. rejecting “red hunts” or interference with the peaceful picketing of the White House
C. seeking financial assistance for all-black Howard University
D. supporting a bill to provide federal financial assistance to lower-income families

The uneven distribution of wealth in America helped cause the Depression because
A. as production increased, demand declined
B. corporations no longer had sufficient capital to expand their productive capacities
C. many people no longer had extra money to invest in stocks
D. Americans with less spending power began buying cheaper imported goods rather than American-made goods

Part of the reason for the stock market crash was
A. the high rat of deflation in the 1920s
B. the tax policies of the 1920s that hurt the wealthy, who might otherwise have bought more stocks
C. the buying of great amounts of stock “on margin”
D. the low tariff, which allowed imports to corner several important American markets

Eula Franchette

Teguci asked:


“•During the 1930s, New Deal lawmakers doubled federal spending–yet unemployment remained above 20 percent until World War II.
•Japan responded to a 1990 recession by passing 10 stimulus spending bills over 8 years (building the largest national debt in the industrialized world)–yet its economy remained stagnant.
•In 2001, President Bush responded to a recession by “injecting” tax rebates into the economy. The economy did not respond until two years later, when tax rate reductions were implemented.
•In 2008, President Bush tried to head off the current recession with another round of tax rebates. The recession continued to worsen.
•Now, the most recent $787 billion stimulus bill was intended to keep the unemployment rate from exceeding 8 percent. In November, it topped 10 percent.[2]”
from http://www.heritage.org/Research/Economy/bg2354.cfm

Shena Sandoe

Reverend Jules Winnfield asked:


more short term stimulus spending?

From the American perspective, our economy is nowhere near on the mend. Instead of an inflation threat we are in danger of deflation and a depression. Interest rates dropped again today signaling investor fear that the economy is not recovering, driving bond prices higher.

Our unemployment rate is staying very high as businesses are not replacing the jobs cut at the beginning of the recession. It might appear to some as a recovery as business profits are up somewhat but only by having fewer workers doing double duty. But the driver of our economy is the consumer who is unemployed, under employed or broke with debt.

The only thing keeping us out of sinking deeper into recession and possible recession of stimulus. More unemployed people will not help the situation.

Maybe the European Economy is actually recovering enough to limit stimulus spending right away. Obama certainly sees things differently.

David Strasburger

jiloth7 asked:


I don’t have cable so I was not able to see it, but the Associated Press article had the following to say about it.

WASHINGTON – Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was less than upfront in his half-hour commercial Wednesday night about the costs of his programs and the crushing budget pressures he would face in office.

Obama’s assertion that “I’ve offered spending cuts above and beyond” the expense of his promises is accepted only by his partisans. His vow to save money by “eliminating programs that don’t work” masks his failure throughout the campaign to specify what those programs are — beyond the withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

A sampling of what voters heard in the ad, and what he didn’t tell them:

THE SPIN: “That’s why my health care plan includes improving information technology, requires coverage for preventive care and pre-existing conditions and lowers health care costs for the typical family by $2,500 a year.”

THE FACTS: His plan does not lower premiums by $2,500, or any set amount. Obama hopes that by spending $50 billion over five years on electronic medical records and by improving access to proven disease management programs, among other steps, consumers will end up saving money. He uses an optimistic analysis to suggest cost reductions in national health care spending could amount to the equivalent of $2,500 for a family of four. Many economists are skeptical those savings can be achieved, but even if they are, it’s not a certainty that every dollar would be passed on to consumers in the form of lower premiums.

___

THE SPIN: “I also believe every American has a right to affordable health care.”

THE FACTS: That belief should not be confused with a guarantee of health coverage for all. He makes no such promise. Obama hinted as much in the ad when he said about the problem of the uninsured: “I want to start doing something about it.” He would mandate coverage for children but not adults. His program is aimed at making insurance more affordable by offering the choice of government-subsidized coverage similar to that in a plan for federal employees and other steps, including requiring larger employers to share costs of insuring workers.

___

THE SPIN: “I’ve offered spending cuts above and beyond their cost.”

THE FACTS: Independent analysts say both Obama and Republican John McCain would deepen the deficit. The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates Obama’s policy proposals would add a net $428 billion to the deficit over four years — and that analysis accepts the savings he claims from spending cuts. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, whose other findings have been quoted approvingly by the Obama campaign, says: “Both John McCain and Barack Obama have proposed tax plans that would substantially increase the national debt over the next 10 years.” The analysis goes on to say: “Neither candidate’s plan would significantly increase economic growth unless offset by spending cuts or tax increases that the campaigns have not specified.”

___

THE SPIN: “Here’s what I’ll do. Cut taxes for every working family making less than $200,000 a year. Give businesses a tax credit for every new employee that they hire right here in the U.S. over the next two years and eliminate tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. Help homeowners who are making a good faith effort to pay their mortgages, by freezing foreclosures for 90 days. And just like after 9-11, we’ll provide low-cost loans to help small businesses pay their workers and keep their doors open. ”

THE FACTS: His proposals — the tax cuts, the low-cost loans, the $15 billion a year he promises for alternative energy, and more — cost money, and the country could be facing a record $1 trillion deficit next year. Indeed, Obama recently acknowledged — although not in his commercial — that: “The next president will have to scale back his agenda and some of his proposals.”

Laura – Obama’s speech became meaningless when he entered Wright’s church and stayed there for 20 years listening to “Black Liberation theology” which is a twisted perversion of the Christian gospel and is heavily ****** to the point of wanting to see white people exterminated.

Obama was born to a Muslim father, he had a Muslim grandfather, he was raised
by a Muslim step father, taught as a boy in a Muslim school, tutored by a man who was a sexual ******* and socialist during his early boyhood, attended the church Wright pastored which had many Muslim members, has been praised by Quaddafi and Hamas – Muslim terrorists,
and in an absent-minded moment on tv slipped and said “My Muslim faith.”

His friends are terrorists and leaders who **** our nation and want her destroyed from without and within. He has not proven his citizenship, and his biggest campaign issue centered around race. He has promised that his future plans are heavily racial in purpose.

Christian? Never!
Obama voted 4 times against letting a baby receive medical attention if that baby survived an abortion. Fannie and Freddie paid him more than everyone but Chris Dodd and 39 times more than McCain. I believe McCain received a token payment to cover their tracks, and the big three; Dodd, Obama and Kerry were paid to keep their mouths shut or to continue their refusal to vote with Bush
regulate them. Obama has NEVER at any time declared he loves America, but has called our troops terrorists and has downgraded our Constitution. He has lied so many times about so many things
that it is hard to believe he means any of the things he says. He has vacillated on numerous issues, and has never instituted any legislation in his one year that he actually showed up for work in Illinois. He has can speak eloquently about nothing and people look beyond his lack of knowledge and experience like they are in a hypnotic trance. He is a fraud, and unworthy of the respect of any thinking person.

Iris Hepp

confustion asked:


1. Each year, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) rates a nation’s development according to the Human Development Index (HDI). The HDI measures the human development in a country based on certain factors. Which is a factor the index uses? (Points: 3)
birth rate
education
gross national income
assessable tax base

2. Economic experts use certain measures, such as GNP and GDP to divide the world into two groups—developed nations and developing nations. Which is not a characteristic of a developing nation? (Points: 3)
low income
attempting to improve the lives of its citizens
high literacy rate
inconsistent economic development

How do lack of education, high national debt, and trade barriers affect developing nations? (Points: 3)
They reduce the workforce and encourage foreign investment.
They create the basis for poverty.
They make it impossible for democracy to prevail.
They force the government to impose high taxes on everyone.

6. People have many different reasons for packing up and leaving an area where they have spent their entire life. Which is least likely to motivate people to move? (Points: 3)
to escape war

to find beautiful landscapes

to escape natural disasters

seek economic opportunity

7. When is adequate infrastructure especially important to an area? (Points: 3)
when there is an increase in crime
during the tourist season
during a period of rapid urbanization
when traffic patterns change

8. Which two factors have spurred rapid globalization? (Points: 3)
terrorism and global warming
technology and government policy
nationalism and parochialism
widespread disorder and natural disasters

9. What is most likely to result from globalization? (Points: 3)
increased command economies globally
decreased economic growth for developing nations
increased world trade and foreign investments
decrease in quality of living conditions

10. What is the definition of globalization? (Points: 3)
the international exchange of ideas and currency
the process of population control and poverty reduction
the UN’s process for creating a world democracy
the worldwide exchange of goods, services, capital, people, and information

11. Why would the vice president of an American tent manufacturing company be concerned about the shortage of skilled labor in India? (Points: 3)
India is the only nation in Southeast Asia that provides textiles to American companies.

Global interdependence means that a problem in one nation’s economy can affect other economies.

Trade agreements restrict the United States from trading in textiles with non-Asian countries.

Global interdependence results in trade agreements that favor countries that have command economies.

12. How have increased educational opportunities for women affected their status in the world economy? (Points: 3)
More women have been employed outside their homes, resulting in greater empowerment.
Fewer women have been elected or appointed to government positions, although more are eligible.
Finding jobs outside their homes remains difficult, although when they do, women’s salaries top those of men
Despite increased educational opportunities, most jobs remain unavailable to women.

13. What best describes the effect of increased globalization on the environment? (Points: 3)
It has negatively affected the environment, forcing the international community to work toward solutions.
It has positively affected the environment because more nations are now aware of the problems.
Increased globalization has had little, if any, effect on the environment.
Increased globalization is severely hurting the environment and nothing is being done to address this issue.

Avelina Littles

Pink Tornado asked:


22.) Progressivism was halted by
the efforts of the NAACP
World War I
the repeal of the prohibition amendment
the victory of the Bull Moose Party
23.) Which belief was held by most Progressives?
The government should be more accountable to its citizens.
Housing and healthcare should remain private.
The government should protect agricultural interests.
The government should intervene in unfair business practices.
24.) One goal that Progressives did not seek was
the moral improvement of society
the reduction of government corruption
a ban on strikes
child labor laws
25.) One way reformers hoped to end corruption in government was to
establish an income tax
give voters more direct say in lawmaking
provide more welfare services
use the army to oust political machines
26.) The platform of the Bull Moose Party supported
unregulated competition
the 12-hour work day
women’s suffrage
a Federal Trade Commission
27.) Under the terms of the Sussex pledge, the German government promised that
the German navy would not attack any American ships
German ships would not blockade Britain and France
German U-boats would warn ships before attacking
the German army would never invade Russia
28.) The United States decided to enter World War I in response to
Germany’s return to unrestricted submarine warfare
France’s fall to the Central Powers
the Czar’s growing support in Russia
a filibuster by United States senators
29.) German submarines aimed to atack ships that were carrying
weapons to the Allies
passengers to the United States
food to the Central Powers
oil to Mexico
30.) At the Paris Peace Conference, President Wilson’s program for peace
angered the Russians
met no resistance among the Allies
was backed only by France
underwent several changes
31.) After Wilson presented the treaty to the United States Senate,
the Senate ratified it
only the “irreconcilables” backed it
the Senate rejected it
only the “reservationists” backed it
32.) One result of Prohibition during the 1920s was
an increase in alcoholism
a decline in dancing and socializing
the rise of organized crime
the creation of urban artistic colonies
33.) Which of the following was a long-term effect of Prohibition?
the consumer economy
the growth of organized crime
an end to alcoholism in the United States
the rise of fundamentalism
34.) William Jennings Bryan took up the cause of fundamentalist Christians
at speakeasies in Chicago
on new buses to the suburbs
at the Scopes trial
in Hollywood studios
35.) Key features of Republican administrations of the 1920s included
expansionism and business regulation
isolationism and laissez-faire business policy
a buildup of armaments and armed forces
reduction of quotas and increased immigration
36.) Why did many Americans fear Vladimir I. Lenin and his followers, the Bolsheviks?
They promoted a system that was hostile to American values
They refused to pay back Russia’s war debts
They had abolished the Russian monarchy
They encouraged other nations to reject socialism
37.) Generally, the 1920s were marked by
rising farm prices
rising stock prices
falling production
falling wages
38.) One sign that the economy might be weakening in the 1920s was
uneven distribution of national wealth
underproduction of consumer goods
an increase in personal savings
the collapse of large corporations
39.) Which statement best describes the American economy in the 1920s?
Wages decreased and the economy appeared weak
Unemployment was at an all-time high
Stock prices rose and the economy appeared healthy
Small businesses dominated American industry
40.) In the fall of 1929, a wave of panic selling gripped the stock market as a result of
a sudden fall in stock prices
corruption among stockbrokers
business failures
government limits on speculation
41.) Not long after Black Tuesday, the stock market crash was affecting
only those who had invested heavily in stocks
wealthy industrialists almost exculsively
millions of Americans, many of whom had never owned stocks
mainly stockbrokers and banks
42.) Why did FDR declare a “bank holiday” early in his administration?
to cut of the use of cash
to weaken the banking industry
to inspect the financial health of the banks
to give people in the banking industry a well-earned vacation
43.) Which New Deal agency was created to help businesses?
Federal Reserve Board
National Recovery Administration
Civilian Conservation Corps
Home Owner’s Loan Corporation
44.) Which of the following did New Deal programs fail to address?
protection of

Hsiu Motonaga