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Good post.
"47% of working Americans will not have to pay taxes this year."
That is insane. AT least half of those folks can reasonably be asked to have some skin in the game. When I was in the USMC, I fought for them too, so they can pay their share.
'the only place for interest rates to go is up. That will put the hurt on big time. "
That is really going to hurt, you are correct. It will cost us more to servise our debt. Furthermore, it means mortgage rates go up, which means housing prices go down...
You also didn't mention INFLATION, which (like interest rates) has been absurdly low, and (like interest rates) has nowhere to go but up. That will also put the brakes on any growth.
I don't see how we avoid "stagflation", which is the God-awful scenario where inflation is raising, byt GDP is shrinking. It's the combination of inflation and recession, which is very bad.
And, at the same time, states/towns are facing the same troubles, and will be raising income taxes and property taxes.
It's going to get really, really ugly, no 2 ways about it. The first thing we need to do is elect politicians who recognize the urgency of the situation, and who will not kick the can down the road.
Even still, as recently as a few weeks ago, Obama was adamantly opposed to any menaingful cuts. Any cut amount that starts with a "B", as in billions, is meaningless. We need to start talking about cuts measured in trillions, not billions.
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