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Originally Posted by purplefrog
Good point. I think when I hear the dollar amount of what is regularly being spent in Iraq I get a bit squeemish. How long can we keep doing this? Even if the answer is "for a long time, don't worry", the reality is that a billion dollars a month (or whatever it is) is difficult to get your mind around. The perception is that this one expense is an economic train wreck waiting to happen if we don't offset at least some of those expenses with cuts in spending.
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I don't think people really care about the amount of dollars spent in Iraq with respect to thoughts of the economy. It's just that being in a long-protracted struggle that isn't going swimmingly is a downer, and the economy is as much perception as reality. Much more is spent in many other places.
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I am assuming when you say media, you are referring to ABC, NBC, and CBS nightly news. There are data to support the claim that these media outlets are talking more negatively about the economy than it deserves. But, don't people also listen to Fox news and a variety of mostly conservative talk shows on the radio? In fact, aren't these outlets very, very popular? I believe there are pockets of bias, but it goes both ways.
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Fox News (cable is what you are talking about) is miniscule when compared to the free networks and the plethora of liberal newspapers. Most of the mainstream opinion makers are liberal, vote liberal and think liberal. Talk radio is predominantly conservative but mostly listened to by people who probably think the economy is doing swimmingly as they hear it. I would imagine that if you polled conservatives they'd have a much higher opinion. [/quote]
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Somehow, someway we do need to face reduced spending. If the war on terrorism is going to continue to be a big budget item then something has gotta give somewhere else (and I do not mean we need to raise taxes). I think in the end this is what really has me concerned. If we are going to live with multi-theater wars for a long period of time then we have to get a grip on spending at home (actually regardless of the cost of these military operations, we need to get a grip on spending). Not a popular message or one that will help you get elected, but probably one based in reality. Interesting.
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the major spending is still on welfare-like spending and defense. The extra costs of the Iraq war is not the big ticket items, the big ticket items are medicaid/social security and other programs. SS in particular is a timebomb waiting to happen. I think people understand this as well..that at the end of the day the guvment will renege on the social security pledges or they'll have to raise taxes so much that it will throw us into a pretty deep recession.