The Debate on US Debt Ceiling Limit and US Subsidies to Israeli Colonies
05. Aug, 2011
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The US State Department has reportedly recommended an end to Washington's loan guarantee program to Israel, amid Tel Aviv's growing distrust of President Barack Obama's administration.
By: Jamal Kanj*
I just came back after spending my summer break in San Diego, California. Having lived in San Diego for the most part of my life, I have many acquaintances from all walks of life in the private business and from the public service sector. During my visit, the state of the US economy dominated most of our conversations.
Friends who worked in real estate development or related businesses talked of the lurking economic uncertainties; others from the public sector opted early retirement to maintain a better health insurance plan, or stayed on hoping for better days in the future.
In the US, the Consumer Confidence Report is an important gauge of the state of the national economy. The consumers I met during my three weeks stay in San Diego, while naturally hopeful, almost all betokened negatively of their level of confidence of the economy.
The recent US Congress political infighting to raise federal debt ceiling level did not help. The Republicans interpreted their sweep victory in last congressional election as a mandate to advance their agenda. Aware of the public sentiment regarding the runaway government spending, the far right wing of the Republicans, known as the Tea party, played parochial party politics by turning the debate to increase the US debt ceiling into a political mudsling.
The hidebound Tea party of political neophytes left a pockmark on the current US economic recovery, and raised serious questions on the financial viability of the US Bond market. The long term impact of this fiasco on the overall US economy is yet to be appreciated.
Historically raising US debt ceiling, allowing the US government to borrow money to pay for its obligations has been a standard procedure. In fact, since 1917 when the statuary limit was passed by US Congress, the US government raised the debt limit 78 times, 49 of which were under Republican administrations and 29 under a Democratic presidents.
Purportedly, Republicans are proponent of Federal expenditure control. But in actuality, the US debt ceiling was raised, routinely, more by Republican than Democratic presidents. In fact, under the latest Republican president, Bush, federal spending rose from $1.9 trillion a year to $3.2 trillion. While under current Democratic president, federal spending went from $3.2 trillion to $3.8 trillion.
In other words, spending under Bush increased twice as much as it did under Obama. Indeed, the increase in federal spending under Obama was mostly due to his $800 billion stimulus package intended to offset the enormous recession inherited from the Bush administration.
The increase in federal spending under Bush, compiled with his tax cut to the rich, depriving the US treasury with more than $400 billion in tax receipts, portended disaster to the US economy. After taken over a budget of surplus, Bush left the US treasury with a large deficit, and the US economy with a huge recession.
Yet, instead of capitalizing on the Republican’s economic failings, Obama succumbed to the nay Sayers of the Tea party, and agreed to cut on social domestic programs rather than a fairer tax system whereby the richest two per cent share the pain with the rest of the middleclass tax payers in reducing the national deficit.
Meanwhile, Democrats and Republicans can claim America and promote world justice if they are willing to consider other bold alternatives to reduce the US budget deficit. The US can contribute to peace in the Middle East and save more than $50 billion in ten years if it cuts its superfluous aid granted to the non taxpaying state of Israel. US tax payers are certainly more deserving of the money than the subsidized illegal Israeli colonies over Palestinian land.
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Jamal Kanj
*Jamal Kanj writes frequently on Arab World issues and the author of “Children of Catastrophe, Journey from a Palestinian Refugee Camp to America”, Garnet Publishing, UK. Jamal’s articles can be read at www.jamalkanj.com, his email address is jkanj@yahoo.com
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Thanks for the very informed and factual write up. Another superb contribution from Mr. Kanj.
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I have nothing against giving aid to a country that needs it. I did not wish to see one child on this planet go hungry. Israel is not a country where people are gong hungry, Mrs, Secretary of state Hillary douche bag keeps repeating how Israel is such an unshakeable Allie. Are not the senior citizens of this country allies. Mr. Obama has not given a cost of living increase of social security to our seniors. I guess they are not allies.Lets face it we are owned by Israel,It boggles my mind to think that a country with a population the size of Los Angelos or New York can dictate their will on us. When America finally goes down the toilet will Israel stick by us. Yeah when pigs fly.Sorry if I am not making sense but I am quite drunk.
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@ Pete: LOL
You made great sense and anyone with any human spirit will agree with you.
Thank you for a hope inspiring piece in the sense that there is finally hope of the U.S. cutting it’s billions of tax payer dollar losses with israel.
Though, as spiteful and obsessively paranoid as israel is of the world, they will retaliate against the U.S. somehow to be sure, because in their evil wicked sense of being, they will believe themselves betrayed.
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jerrygates777 Reply:
August 7th, 2011 at 5:39 am
To Heike and to Pete, lol sister and brother of the resistance, we are all under a growing pressure to make the best of descending orders of returns on bad investments made by selfish people.
Recovery isnt neccesarily an option for some failures, like when your cell phone falls off the console of your car into you full cup of coffee while negotiating a difficult turn in the road, you take notice of it and either instinctively retreive the phone and in a folly of delusion, dry it off quickly and look for a screen or laugh a while and lament your own foolishness at having placed such an item where it might find a perilous end.
The money sent to Israel is the phone, the cup in the US coffers and the car, the ship of state, it’s driver the US state department knows the money is lost and the cost of propping up a pariah state with apartheid future is a dubiously made investment at best, it’s risks, once thought to be minimal now assayed to be great, the cutting of such losses is only prudent and right in view of the uncertainty of a once inseparable marriage partnership.
Iretreivably Broken? many wonder, it’s a matter of conjecture right now, but the fighting is surely indicative of a marriage gone wrong, one using the other to the demise of many the used feeling abused now and the abuser ever more so, finger pointing as to whom done what is profuse and growing as is the pall under which US and Israel affairs now cowers in obscurity and doubt.
It isnt the people to be sure, I just frolicked gleeefully with the barons of Moodys financial analitics in my own streets and will atest to the fact that while a bit swarmy and old looking, the people of the hard right do know how to sing, dance and enjoy their wealth as I saw it, but there seemed a kind of fakery to it all, as if they were acting happy, but they werent really happy, deeper inside of their own minds yeyes and hearts they feel like invaders, I felt this, lke they were selling themselves and their brand on the streets where I once bought my blue jeans, socks and underwear, they ate drank and danced to oldies but moldies stuck in their neavaeu riche new trappings they made my little farm town into their drunken binge on thirsty thurday nights spot and I saw it as basically OK but with some reservations about their actual happiness, inside, down deep, I fel unsurity and unresolved guilt brewing their…
I guess they wont givce much back to those from whom they stole I thought, perhaps looking at the awkwardness of their dancing, staged, It seemed to me, not exuberance and childlike loving dancing abaout in happy throes but a kind of mocked up grotesque uggly thing attempting to be beautiful people in my little town after having taken is wholly over as the sodom and gamorrah of choice and who can blame them Chewster Conty is as pretty in springtime as it gets, but the bimmers and caddies, rovers and jags seem none plus to the envornment to me, temporally overtaking the nature of the place with trapping of south floddida or New york, New Jersey and New Zealand and Austrailia, Japan and London, the jewels, the booze, expensive food and coffee, the swill of swine replacing the fine people of Chester countys dream scapes with trashy insulting strip mall manics shop till you drop trophy wives palluting the beauty of farms fields and horse races across the open plains and hills bare assed and bare back no more just the frilly shirted uppere crust working themselves into the landscape and trying to fit in, you dont, we see you for what you are, please, go home, and be where you belong, all of you get out of my face out of my place or you will be surprised to find justice where you thought you were immune to prosecution, I drew you here not to rape this place but to bring you all to justice thanks for coming, you made it easy.
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Do what I did, stop paying your taxes.. To fund criminals to commit more crimes against you is lunacy!
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pete Reply:
August 7th, 2011 at 11:10 pm
Mike, I respect your idea of not paying your taxes but lets face it,sooner or later the government will catch up with you & you will lose everything &possibly go to jail. I know if everybody stopped paying their taxes things would change but it ain’t gonna happen. No body wants to be the first to go to jail for tax evasion.We in this country have lost our morals & sold out for thirty pieces of silver.Home of the free,land of the brave, ask not what your country can do for you but what can you do for your country. Bull pussy it is money & votes sad but true.
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