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fandomhigh2013-10-10 11:41 am
professor-lyman.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh2013-10-10 11:41 am
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Current Affairs [October 10, 2013]
"Right, so the maturity level on Capitol Hill has now reached heights usually only reached by seven year olds yelling 'I know you are but what am I' on the playground," Josh said with a sigh. "I'm looking forward to the start of 'yo mama' jokes. 'Yo mama's so bloated she makes the defense spending bill look skinny...' I'm so sick of Congress I could vomit."
He ran his hand through his hair. "We now have a grand totally of seven days before we hit the debt ceiling and default on all of the nation's debts, so that seems like a really good thing to screw around with, right? The debt ceiling is the amount of money that Congress is authorized to spend: in the current case, $16.94 trillion dollars. Yeah, with a 't'. It’s designed so that Congress doesn’t recklessly spend more money than is responsible. I'll take a minute so you can laugh about how spending only 17 trillion dollars is responsible, and now we can move on. Raising the debt ceiling means two things: one is yes, that Congress can borrow more money next year. The second thing is more important: raising the debt ceiling also means that the US Treasury, our national piggy bank, can pay the bills Congress has already run up this year. Congress has already authorized more spending than the debt ceiling allows, so go Team Math. They're bascially arguing about whether to pay their own bills, which as anyone who lives in the real world, like, say, furloughed government employees, know--isn't generally something that you get a lot of leeway on. If we default on our debt: well, no one knows exactly what would happen but it tends to make economists on news shows hyperventilate, so I'm gonna assume it's really, really bad."
Josh gestured to the laptops in front of them. "Since no one else seems to be doing it right now, today you guys get to figure out how to balance the budget using this handy-dandy program." He pulled up Budget Hero on the nearest computer. "I just ask that no one here acts like a schmuck and just zeroes out the Defense Department or the Department of Education. That's not how the real world works, kids."
He puased thoughtfully, then added, "or Paul Ryan, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't care."
He ran his hand through his hair. "We now have a grand totally of seven days before we hit the debt ceiling and default on all of the nation's debts, so that seems like a really good thing to screw around with, right? The debt ceiling is the amount of money that Congress is authorized to spend: in the current case, $16.94 trillion dollars. Yeah, with a 't'. It’s designed so that Congress doesn’t recklessly spend more money than is responsible. I'll take a minute so you can laugh about how spending only 17 trillion dollars is responsible, and now we can move on. Raising the debt ceiling means two things: one is yes, that Congress can borrow more money next year. The second thing is more important: raising the debt ceiling also means that the US Treasury, our national piggy bank, can pay the bills Congress has already run up this year. Congress has already authorized more spending than the debt ceiling allows, so go Team Math. They're bascially arguing about whether to pay their own bills, which as anyone who lives in the real world, like, say, furloughed government employees, know--isn't generally something that you get a lot of leeway on. If we default on our debt: well, no one knows exactly what would happen but it tends to make economists on news shows hyperventilate, so I'm gonna assume it's really, really bad."
Josh gestured to the laptops in front of them. "Since no one else seems to be doing it right now, today you guys get to figure out how to balance the budget using this handy-dandy program." He pulled up Budget Hero on the nearest computer. "I just ask that no one here acts like a schmuck and just zeroes out the Defense Department or the Department of Education. That's not how the real world works, kids."
He puased thoughtfully, then added, "or Paul Ryan, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't care."
Sign in [10/10]
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Listen to the lecture
Balance the budget
Talk to Josh!
OOC
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Re: OOC