We're All Part of the Labor Movement Now

Discretionary spending is authorized by Congress in appropriations acts, which are typically passed annually - though supplemental appropriations are pretty common. Discretionary spending is the money Congress appropriates every year. Examples include: Defense, education, space exploration, highway construction, and foreign aid.

Non-discretionary simply means that the enacting law for that program authorizes spending without the need for annual appropriations. In other words, the spending keeps happening until the law gets changed. Non-discretionary spending is spending that's required by law. Congress would have to change a law to change the spending. Examples: Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. These programs have built-in meager cost of living increases every year.

From the Congressional Budget Office - "The CBO estimates that the federal budget deficit for 2010 will exceed $1.3 trillion—$71 billion below last year's total. Relative to the size of the economy, this year's deficit is expected to be the second largest shortfall in the past 65 years: At 9.1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), it is exceeded only by last year's deficit of 9.9 percent of GDP."

So it's primarily because for the last two years when 15 million people lost jobs and couldn't pay taxes into the system, and in conjunction with the Bush Tax cuts, we've had a big problem with the deficit. Both discretionary and non-discretionary spending suffers.

But in an emergency, rather than raise taxes on the rich (like they could have 2 months ago), the GOP would rather cut services for the middle-class, the elderly, and the poor (Like Social Security, Medicare, unemployment benefits, and food stamps). And the GOP also blames labor unions for lack on money in the State piggy banks.

I think I finally understand now. For the past two years we've had 15 million unemployed Americans who were no longer are capable of paying $2,000 a year in federal incomes taxes = $30 billion a year in revenue not being collected for the treasury to help pay down the federal deficit.

These same 15 million unemployed people are also no longer capable of paying $1,000 a year in state and property taxes = $15 billion or $30 million per year, per state.

Add another 15 million under-employed Americans who are now only able to pay half of what they once used to in state and federal taxes.

All those taxes and other revenues are now being collected by foreign governments for THEIR treasuries, from THEIR workers.

Then add the last 10 years of tax breaks for the rich, and further extensions, which costs the U.S. government about another $100 billion a year - more lost revenue that only drives the deficit higher still.

Then look at the GOP leaders and ask them, is the problem really because of public employees who are unionized and are being paid a fair wage? Even though billions of U.S. dollars belonging to a handful of America citizens sits in off-shore bank accounts?

Is this why the GOP wants average Americans to work harder and longer while earning less? Because the wealthy don't believe they're wealthy enough, and the poor and the older citizens have become a "burden" on them?

Would the GOP be happier if we took all our tired, our oppressed, our unemployed, and elderly and tossed them all into a gigantic landfill to rot and die, rather than providing the financial means to sustain their lives? The GOP will say "no", but yet they won't offer a way for them to survive either...essentially, saying "yes", sacrifice them for the wealthy so that they may become MORE wealthy.

And all this was allowed (or deliberately planned) to happen by our bought-for political "leaders" - - - scumbags who were bribed by corporations and banks. Then those same corporations and banks got "bail-outs" (cheap loans) to preserve THEIR wealth on the backs of 15 millions average (now unemployed) Americans, and all at the expense of ALL working tax-paying Americans. Essentially, our politicians and the wealthy looked us straight in the eyes and said, "You can all go fuck yourselves!"

We are all part of the labor movement now.

I think I finally understand now. Had I only watched Fox News, I would have never known.