Interesting, very interesting. I have been been writing till my fingers are blue (not my face) about the perils facing not only the federal government, but state and local governments as well.

The left paned Fox for it's reporting and guess what, Fox hit the nail on the head. Neil Cavoto was spot on.

Think for a moment, 47%of the people in this country pay no federal taxes. Over 45 million are on food stamps, the largest ever.

Look at the city and the numbers that are unemployed compared to the numbers that have jobs.

The financial woes are impacting nations in Europe which could lead to a global crisis. Japan recession lasted years, because they to import many of their goods like we do.

http://useconomy.about.com/od/grossdomesticproduct/a/Japan_Recession.htm

The riots in London were more about the disenfranchised than the shooting. Remember Paris a couple of years ago. So many with so few jobs. No where to go but the streets.

Our current GDP is 100% of our debt. Congress is in gridlock as pandering on both sides impedes any real solutions. Power is the name of the game and entitlements is the means to stay in power.

Just take a look at Baltimore County's recent retirement list and the monies paid out. It is insanity. Almost $1 million in cash before the first 6 figure pension check arrives. I forgot, that was for one person. Bryan you need you cover this.

Don Mohler's not concerned? A head in the sand doesn't inspire confidence in me. Cut entitlements and tax funding of non-profits that are nothing more than Democrat-socialist PACs. CASA de Maryland for starters. Maryland is so reliant on DC government jobs that elected officials are lazy about truly stimulating jobs and controlling spending. Just continuous over-regulation and over-taxation of small businesses and corporations that provide jobs. Thanks O'Malley and the Democrat monopoly in Annapolis.

Moody's is watching almost every municipality these days. Baltimore County isn't alone.
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2011-08-08/business/bs-bz-credit-rating-maryland-20110808_1_credit-rating-credit-downgrade-standard-poor

Yeah, this isn't targeting anyone in specific.

This is more of Moody's telling states and counties "hey, your national Congress is collectively irresponsible, and as a result we are monitoring you guys".

Our (federal) government could EASILY get out of this mess in three simple actions - but no one has the will to implement them.

Here's a hint: Two of the three things are specifically what got us INTO this mess (over the past decade, these two things contributed nearly 7 trillion to the debt - 50% of the debt today)

The ratings agencies are more concerned because there are those who have a say in these dealings (Congress) who felt it would be no big deal if the U.S. defaulted on its debt. Nobody can do anything about it. This debt is for expenses that have already been incurred. Reducing expenditures is for the future.

These responsibilities have already been accepted, and must be paid.

States that rely a lot on payments from the government are being watched. Hopkins is one of the biggest employers in the State and surrounding counties, and much of its funding comes from Federal Research Grants from NIH and other agencies. The Social Security complex in Woodlawn is all Federal dollars. There are others. So Maryland's economy, and, thus, the counties and Baltimore City are all tied into the feds.

And until the Tea Party people, and those who have signed their oath to Grover Norquist realize this is not fun and games, we are all in great peril.

These downgrades affect just about everything from our Credit Card payments, Mortgage payments to the price of gas and a loaf of bread.

The usual suspects try to finger point like it's a Democratic problem when one has to look no further than the Republican bastion of Virginia and see that they have the very same problem.

Tim, I would guess one would have to be entitlements. Another possibility is the interest on the debt, which is costing $29 billion a month.

Our debt is just about 100%. of GDP. Our exports of $1.8 trillion is smaller than most countries and could, if expanded to a modes rate of growth, impact our GDP.

The more we export the more we need to make. Cars going out instead of coming in.

I think there is no alternative at this point but to raise taxes because using any other option cannot deal with the huge debt we have accumulated.

There are some economists that believe that we will never balance our budget and will always be in debt.

Surprisingly we still provide foreign aid to China.

The final point I want to hit is corporate tax reform. I believe we can lower our corporate tax rate, and generate more revenue by forcing everyone to actually pay it.
If you look at the US Debt Clock site, you'll notice that "Corporate Taxes" comprise just 10% of total revenue gained. Surely, this isn't anywhere near the 35% that corporations are supposed to be paying...right?
(and yes, I know the correlation isn't direct - however I am pretty confident that the entirety of all corporate income is a little bit more then 600-700 million :) )

Tim, according to some analysts the entitlements cannot be sustained. For example the county cannot continue to pay out million dollar pensions, and that is just one employee.

You can't sustain unemployment insurance indefinitely. The country has never be productive with a 9.2% unemployment rate. No president has ever been reelected with a rate that high.

http://reason.com/blog/2010/01/25/news-flash-entitlement-spendin

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/02/06/simpson-leaving-entitlements-auto-pilot-crush-economy/

Remember, 47% of the people in this country pay no federal taxes. I think if you look at every recession in history, attempting to tax our way out of it failed.

Growth in our GDP allowed for increased revenues for government coiffures.

I agree that not only are the wars costing us dearly, but so is foreign aid. We lost billions in Iraq solely on a lack of accountability.

I think I am correct on this, they only way the county funded the pension system is they floated a bond in 87. They float bonds to pay for almost everything. All those questions at the end of the ballot are giving them permission to float more bonds.

I would bet the county's debt is approaching somewhere around $500 million or more. When I get chance I'll look at the county's budget. If you added up the amount in the last election on the ballot questions it totaled over $200 million.

That "47% of the people in the country pay no Federal Taxes" is bogus. It's a myth.

http://www.politicususa.com/en/half-americans-taxes

http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/30/pf/taxes/who_pays_taxes/index.htm

Bogus. I think I am going to start calling you Bogus Beeler.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/business/economy/14leonhardt.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1312929694-qFZDp4RD0ru7PP9krlrsVw

I'll use one of your favorite tactics. Is that the same NY Times that was forced to give up a Pulitzer because of fabricating a story?

As you are fondly know for claiming others who use links are run by bigots, the Times is run by left wing zealots.

@ Robert Armstrong -
You said, "That "47% of the people in the country pay no Federal Taxes" is bogus. It's a myth", and then you provide a link to back up your claim.
You must not have read the link you provided.
From your link-
1st - "According to the Center On Budget and Policy Priorities the real reason why 47%-51% of Americans paid no federal income taxes in 2009 is"

2nd - "Let me explain—repeat actually—what this means: About half of taxpayers paid no federal income tax last year"

Just wanted to let you know.

ESA, I am posting this because it came to my in box and has not been uploaded yet. This is the level of intelligence you are dealing with. And to this person everyone else is a bigot. He claims to have three college degrees, speaks 6 languages and spent most of his life in the military.
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Robert Armstrong commented on the blog post Debt Ceiling Fallout: Moody's Places Baltimore County on Watch List

"ESA ,Booze Bueller doesn't respond to anybody unless they post with their real name. What an A-hole!."
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Show me an educated man that would write like this. Show me a military man that would stoop to that level and write like a child.

If makes no difference what you say to him, he is not capable of grasping it.

Why would you write something like that and completely embarrass yourself?

That sounds like a kid on a playground.

He is not very apt at responding to any questions. He is afraid of exposure. As the saying goes, "The truth hurts."

Tim, you brought up some good points. The whole issue of the debt crisis leaves us in a quandary.

I think the real answer lies in getting the economy up and running. Bring back the manufacturing jobs and focus on the quality of the product and workmanship. Some companies are already doing this.

Pay a sustainable living wage and put Americans back to work. Allow for small business to prosper and get the government out of the way.

I think the stats will bear me out on this, that most new jobs are created by small businesses.

The unions must understand that the days of wine and roses is over. When government workers are paid on an accelerated scale compared to the private sector it only adds fuel to the fire.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-03-04-federal-pay_N.htm

There are no easy solutions to a crisis of this proportion, but we have to start somewhere.

The government has become a giant uncontrolled bureaucracy draining the tank empty.

We are seeing the results of socialism faltering in Europe. Once you give out the goodies, it's hard to take them back.

This is like dealing with "Dumb and Dumber". Read the entire articles that I linked to. Don't take things out of context.
Now Bueller is taking advantage of being in a Union (aka a Fraternal Order) and is now trying to turn around pee on the same people who allow him to live comfortably after his "illustrious" career. If you really feel the way you do then maybe you ought to call up the FOP and tell them to take everything back. It's to generous for you. What in the heck do you know about the private sector anyway? You hve been sucking off the government teat all your life.

Robert, Australia labor force is about 20% unionized. They conduct equal trade with China that amounts to 20% of all imports and exports. They aggressively produce energy, to include oil and natural gas and accordingly are far less reliant on Middle Eastern imports. They promote balanced, free trade which allows them to achieve greater industrialization. They are a very different nation than the United States.

Robert, now let me get this straight. You claim to retired from the military as a major, (false) so where are your checks coming from?

You see when you don't exactly tell the truth, you begin to forget what lies you told and you can't keep you self straight.

You also made the statement that you spent most of your life in the military so that would mean you are included in your last sentence.

If I recall I asked you several questions recently and as usual did not hear back from you.

You may be getting government checks but I seriously doubt they are coming from the military. I even said I would show you how to scan your military records and put this to rest. It's been months of requests followed by silence.

Who paid for your three college degrees that you claim to have. There is no college graduate I know that writes like you do.

You see Robert, once you reveal your true self the facade is up.

By the way, after 39 years of paying dues in two major cases, the FOP did not help me. The situation was just as I said. The county would not stop unless the FOP took action which they ultimately did in the Blake case which they won.