Why don't Americans realize the deficit is falling?

Great article, please send to all your family and friends!



Since Barack Obama was inaugurated in 2009, the federal deficit has fallen dramatically. It has dropped as a percentage of the economy:

(The White House, via The National Memo)​

And it has also fallen in absolute terms.
In fact, the deficit reduction has been so steep that some economists believe that it has been excessive.
But according to polling, most people are entirely unaware of this trend. Recent polling by Pew suggests just 29 percent of Americans believe the deficit was reduced in the last year, including just 12 percent of Republicans.
To put this in context, fewer Republicans believe that the deficit is shrinking than believe in evolution (43 percent) or man-made climate change (24 percent).
And it's not just Republicans who are unaware that the deficit is falling. Just 50 percent of Democrats and 23 percent of Independents believe the deficit is coming down.

"In any case, the facts on the deficit contradict the widely held notion that the Obama administration is crazily out of control when it comes to the nation's finances. In order to have a rational discussion about the economy, government programs, and the level of government spending, voters need to have a better idea of what the deficit actually is."

http://theweek.com/article/index/254642/why-dont-americans-realize-the-deficit-is-falling

 

These facts just highlight how badly The President and the Democrats are at getting their message across. It's the same reason that most people who "hate" Obamacare, are actually in favor of it, when it is thoroughly explained to them.

If The deficit had fallen this far down under a Republican administration, we wouldn't be able to turn on the TV or read a newspaper without hearing about it.

 

Keep the populace ignorant...and they'll be happy knowing the darkie president hasn't done anything.

But it only reinforces a wise old saying..

[YOUTUBE]kkCwFkOZoOY[/YOUTUBE]

 

The answer is sort of like in "The Matrix" movie, when Smith tells Morpheus that the original Matrix failed because humans see their experience through misery and low expectations. People don't care about good things happening in government -- unemployment rate coming down, private sector hiring up, etc. They only see the negative stuff (debt, deficits) because it's more comfortable for us all to live our lives.

But yeah, my Democrats have done a terrible job of highlighting practically ANY administration accomplishments.

 

Obama sucks at explaining stuff. He unintentionally makes things sound complicated. He needs to dumb it down and make it easier to digest for the yokels.

Bill Clinton was the master of this.

I bet the GOP knows the deficit has fallen but you won't hear them talking about it and give the POTUS credit.

 

How so? Can you explain? Honestly, I haven't really heard of the upside as of yet.

 

the reason people don't believe it is because this is % to economy...when people talk about the deficit it is usually in trillions of dollars not the %

now if you can figure this out for me from 2009 to 2013 in dollars it might seem more impressive


it's kind of like when someone says...we had a 100% increase in sales from last week to this week...well if last week you sold $100.00 and this week you sold $200.00 that percentage of increase means nothing if I have stores selling $5000.00 a week...if that store sells that $5000.00 + a bit more the percentage of increase is going to be low but a whole lot more impressive

 

In the article Lippy, it also shows the $ amount, as well as the % to economy, here is the link for the $ amount. "And it has also fallen in absolute terms."

 

that chart shows millions of dollars not trillions? i was under the impression that the national debt was in the trillions? what am i missing?

 

It is scaled on millions of dollars so -600,000 = -600,000,000,000 or -600 Billion.

 

Per the article...."large numbers of people may be confusing the deficit with the national debt. This is actually pretty easy to do." The chart shows that the deficit has fallen from over $1.4 billion to under $700 million, which is excellent progress.

"The deficit (or, if the number is positive, the surplus) is the amount of change in the national debt in one year caused by the difference between spending and tax receipts. The national debt itself is the total stock of debt owed by the federal government. Even though the deficit has decreased dramatically, the national debt itself is still increasing in absolute terms, and has only just begun to fall as a percentage of the economy."

While it is very good to see that the debt is falling as a % of GDP, there is still work to do on lowering the overall debt in absolute $ terms (it is over $17 trillion right now). Part of the goals of the ACA is to reduce the debt in absolute $ terms per below.

"While Obama has succeeded in winding down the U.S. military's two biggest foreign entanglements and rolling back tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans — thus lowering the deficit — it remains to be seen whether the Affordable Care Act will fulfill its goal of reducing health care costs."

 

The deficit should Not to be confused with the National Debt which is what is in the trillions (Just exceeding 16 trillion, It is the bill we are preparing to leave for our children and future generations)........

 

Where did I do that? I was answering Lippy's question about the chart.

 

which is why i am not impressed and more than likely why obama is not talking about the deficit:smt012

 

Cutting the deficit is the first step to cutting the debt Lippy, it is very impressive to see such progress in the face of historic challenges.

Per the article the more likely reasons are ... "I would guess that it’s a combination of two things. First of all, economists, politicians, and pundits are failing to communicate the facts to the public, or deliberately misleading voters. It is easy for reality to get lost in spin and manufactured narratives."

Most Americans have no clue about the deficit/surplus or the debt and what causes them.

 

I might have exaggerated when I said "most", but polling data does indicate a large difference in people who say they like the "Affordable Care Act" and the ones who say they like "Obamacare" even though they are the same thing.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/galanty-miller/obamacare-poll-numbers_b_4008923.html

http://www.policymic.com/articles/65625/why-americans-are-okay-with-the-affordable-care-act-but-despise-obamacare

 

Apparently

 

https://www.facebook.com/Obamacare?ref=mf

 

Any thoughts/comments on the deficit reduction Arch?

 

Loki
One of the reasons for the falling deficit has been a 16.7 % rise in the GDP, which reflects in part, a stronger economy that has increased INCOME and subsequently payroll taxes.......But chances are, If you were not a part of that stable group, fortunate enough to have enjoyed a pay increase and growth with economy, a falling deficit will not register a hill of beans with you.....On the other hand, if you are one the millions comfortably feeding from the public trough and gaming the system, you will also have nothing but indifference for a falling deficit .........