Thread: 11.9 TRILLION dollars in debt

Let us examine our debt -



Let’s say you want to spend more money this month than your bring home. This is called a "budget deficit". So you borrow (i.e.; use your credit card). The amount you borrow (and now owe) is called your debt. You have to pay interest on your debt.



If next month you don't have enough money to cover your spending (another deficit), you must borrow some more, and you'll still have to pay the interest on the loans you have.



If you have a deficit every month, you keep borrowing and your debt grows. Soon the interest payment on your loan is bigger than any other item in your budget. Eventually, all you can do is pay the interest payment, and you don't have any money left over for anything else. This is called bankruptcy.



The U.S. Treasury says that just the federal government debt is $11.9 Trillion, or $38,956 per child in Fiscal Year 2009.



Each year since 1969, Congress has spent more money than its income. The Treasury Department has to borrow money to meet Congress's appropriations.

We pay interest on that huge debt. And now the Treasury is having trouble finding lenders!



Can America forever borrow her way to prosperity?



The U. S. Dollar is being replaced as the international trade standard.



Our large national debt is the main reason. The "Economic Stimulus" will shift us from an "economic crisis" to a debt crisis!



The Federal Government doesn't do anything well. It's inefficient, slow, prone to fraud, and ineffective.



Examples,



The U.S. Postal Service was established in 1775 - you have had 234 years to get it right; it is broke.



Social Security was established in 1935 - you have had 74 years to get it right; it is broke.



Fannie Mae was established in 1938 - you have had 71 years to get it right; it is broke.



The "War on Poverty" started in 1964 - you have had 45 years to get it right; $1 trillion of our money is confiscated each year and transferred to "the poor"; it hasn't worked and our entire country is broke.



Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965 - you've had 44 years to get it right; they are broke.



Freddie Mac was established in 1970 - you have had 39 years to get it right; it is broke.



Trillions of dollars were spent in the massive political payoffs called TARP, the "Stimulus", and the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009... None show any signs of working, although ACORN appears to have found a new sap: the American taxpayer.



And finally, to set a new record: "Cash for Clunkers" was established in 2009 and went broke in 2009! It took good dependable cars (that were the best some people could afford) and replaced them with high-priced and less-affordable cars, mostly Japanese. A good percentage of the profits went out of the country. And the American taxpayers take the hit for Congress' generosity in burning three billion more of our dollars on failed experiments.



So with a perfect 100% failure rate and a record that proves that "services" you shove down our throats are failing faster and faster, you want Americans to believe you can be trusted with a government-run health care system?



20% of our entire economy? ... ARE YOU NUTS?



How well did the Securities and Exchange Commission monitor Bernie Madoff; how well did FEMA handle Katrina; how well does the INS handle the immigration problem; how well the FDA inspects the food industry, the bailout fiasco....



Why would you trust the Federal Government to take care of your health or retirement?







http://www.federalbudget.com/

1. The federal government made at least $72 billion in improper payments in 2008.



2. Washington spends $92 billion on corporate welfare (excluding TARP) versus $71 billion on homeland security.



3. Washington spends $25 billion annually maintaining unused or vacant federal properties.



4. Government auditors spent the past five years examining all federal programs and found that 22 percent of them--costing taxpayers a total of $123 billion annually--fail to show any positive impact on the populations they serve.



5. The Congressional Budget Office published a "Budget Options" series identifying more than $100 billion in potential spending cuts.



6. Examples from multiple Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports of wasteful duplication include 342 economic development programs; 130 programs serving the disabled; 130 programs serving at-risk youth; 90 early childhood development programs; 75 programs funding international education, cultural, and training exchange activities; and 72 safe water programs.



7. Washington will spend $2.6 million training Chinese prostitutes to drink more responsibly on the job.



8. A GAO audit classified nearly half of all purchases on government credit cards as improper, fraudulent, or embezzled. Examples of taxpayer-funded purchases include gambling, mortgage payments, liquor, lingerie, iPods, Xboxes, jewelry, Internet dating services, and Hawaiian vacations. In one extraordinary example, the Postal Service spent $13,500 on one dinner at a Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, including "over 200 appetizers and over $3,000 of alcohol, including more than 40 bottles of wine costing more than $50 each and brand-name liquor such as Courvoisier, Belvedere and Johnny Walker Gold." The 81 guests consumed an average of $167 worth of food and drink apiece.



9. Federal agencies are delinquent on nearly 20 percent of employee travel charge cards, costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars annually.



10. The Securities and Exchange Commission spent $3.9 million rearranging desks and offices at its Washington, D.C., headquarters.



11. The Pentagon recently spent $998,798 shipping two 19-cent washers from South Carolina to Texas and $293,451 sending an 89-cent washer from South Carolina to Florida.



12. Over half of all farm subsidies go to commercial farms, which report average household incomes of $200,000.



13. Health care fraud is estimated to cost taxpayers more than $60 billion annually.



14. A GAO audit found that 95 Pentagon weapons systems suffered from a combined $295 billion in cost overruns.



15. The refusal of many federal employees to fly coach costs taxpayers $146 million annually in flight upgrades.



16. Washington will spend $126 million in 2009 to enhance the Kennedy family legacy in Massachusetts. Additionally, Senator John Kerry (D-MA) diverted $20 million from the 2010 defense budget to subsidize a new Edward M. Kennedy Institute.



17. Federal investigators have launched more than 20 criminal fraud investigations related to the TARP financial bailout.



18. Despite trillion-dollar deficits, last year's 10,160 earmarks included $200,000 for a tattoo removal program in Mission Hills, California; $190,000 for the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming; and $75,000 for the Totally Teen Zone in Albany, Georgia.



19. The federal government owns more than 50,000 vacant homes.



20. The Federal Communications Commission spent $350,000 to sponsor NASCAR driver David Gilliland.



21. Members of Congress have spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars supplying their offices with popcorn machines, plasma televisions, DVD equipment, ionic air fresheners, camcorders, and signature machines--plus $24,730 leasing a Lexus, $1,434 on a digital camera, and $84,000 on personalized calendars.



22. More than $13 billion in Iraq aid has been classified as wasted or stolen. Another $7.8 billion cannot be accounted for.



23. Fraud related to Hurricane Katrina spending is estimated to top $2 billion. In addition, debit cards provided to hurricane victims were used to pay for Caribbean vacations, NFL tickets, Dom Perignon champagne, "Girls Gone Wild" videos, and at least one sex change operation.



24. Auditors discovered that 900,000 of the 2.5 million recipients of emergency Katrina assistance provided false names, addresses, or Social Security numbers or submitted multiple applications.



25. Congress recently gave Alaska Airlines $500,000 to paint a Chinook salmon on a Boeing 737.



26. The Transportation Department will subsidize up to $2,000 per flight for direct flights between Washington, D.C., and the small hometown of Congressman Hal Rogers (R-KY)--but only on Monday mornings and Friday evenings, when lawmakers, staff, and lobbyists usually fly. Rogers is a member of the Appropriations Committee, which writes the Transportation Department's budget.



27. Washington has spent $3 billion re-sanding beaches--even as this new sand washes back into the ocean.



28. A Department of Agriculture report concedes that much of the $2.5 billion in "stimulus" funding for broadband Internet will be wasted.



29. The Defense Department wasted $100 million on unused flight tickets and never bothered to collect refunds even though the tickets were refundable.



30. Washington spends $60,000 per hour shooting Air Force One photo-ops in front of national landmarks.



31. Over one recent 18-month period, Air Force and Navy personnel used government-funded credit cards to charge at least $102,400 on admission to entertainment events, $48,250 on gambling, $69,300 on cruises, and $73,950 on exotic dance clubs and prostitutes.



32. Members of Congress are set to pay themselves $90 million to increase their franked mailings for the 2010 election year.



33. Congress has ignored efficiency recommendations from the Department of Health and Human Services that would save $9 billion annually.



34. Taxpayers are funding paintings of high-ranking government officials at a cost of up to $50,000 apiece.



35. The state of Washington sent $1 food stamp checks to 250,000 households in order to raise state caseload figures and trigger $43 million in additional federal funds.



36. Suburban families are receiving large farm subsidies for the grass in their backyards--subsidies that many of these families never requested and do not want.



37. Congress appropriated $20 million for "commemoration of success" celebrations related to Iraq and Afghanistan.



38. Homeland Security employee purchases include 63-inch plasma TVs, iPods, and $230 for a beer brewing kit.



39. Two drafting errors in the 2005 Deficit Reduction Act resulted in a $2 billion taxpayer cost.



40. North Ridgeville, Ohio, received $800,000 in "stimulus" funds for a project that its mayor described as "a long way from the top priority.



41. The National Institutes of Health spends $1.3 million per month to rent a lab that it cannot use.



42. Congress recently spent $2.4 billion on 10 new jets that the Pentagon insists it does not need and will not use.



43. Lawmakers diverted $13 million from Hurricane Katrina relief spending to build a museum celebrating the Army Corps of Engineers--the agency partially responsible for the failed levees that flooded New Orleans.



44. Medicare officials recently mailed $50 million in erroneous refunds to 230,000 Medicare recipients.



45. Audits showed $34 billion worth of Department of Homeland Security contracts contained significant waste, fraud, and abuse.



46. Washington recently spent $1.8 million to help build a private golf course in Atlanta, Georgia.



47. The Advanced Technology Program spends $150 million annually subsidizing private businesses; 40 percent of this funding goes to Fortune 500 companies.



48. Congressional investigators were able to receive $55,000 in federal student loan funding for a fictional college they created to test the Department of Education.



49. The Conservation Reserve program pays farmers $2 billion annually not to farm their land.



50. The Commerce Department has lost 1,137 computers since 2001, many containing Americans' personal data.





http://www.heritage.org/Research/Budget/wm2642.cfm

Ink, go play with the trolls in R&R. If you wish to contribute then by all means do. But as usual you offer NOTHING to any conversation.





Gross National Debt

GND = $11,719,258,192,538.99





When Gross National Debt Recorded

GNDwhen = 2009:08:24:11





Rate of GNDebt Increase in $ billions / year

GNDrate = 1,600





Social Security Trust

SST = 2,514,242,761,000





When Social Security Trust Evaluated

SSTwhen = 2009:07:31





Growth Rate of SST in $ Billions / year

SSTrate = 150.3





Debt Held by the Public

DHP = $7,385,460,451,439.75





When DHP Evaluated

DHPwhen = 2009:08:24:11





Annual Growth Rate of DHP in $ Billions / year (from OMB)

DHPrate = 1755





Debt Held by Federal Reserve System (for printing money)

FRS = 736,086,000,000





When FRS Evaluated

FRSwhen = 2009:08:20





Growth Rate of FRS in $ Billions / year

FRSrate = 522.7





Total Cost of Imported Fossil Fuel (Today's Dollars)

IMP = $3,578,291,913,096





When the Total Cost of Fossil was evaluated

IMPwhen = 2007:11:1





Rate of increase in Foreign Fossil Cost, $ Billion / Year

IMPrate = 286

Ok, I'll be the decider.



The biggest waste is the interest on the debt, but you can't stop spending that. The second biggest waste is defense, which is more than the rest of the world combined. Let's set a goal of reducing that to slightly more than #2 and #3 combined. China spends 70 billion, UK 65 billion. So lets set the US goal for defense spending at 135 billion - or hey, let's keep the rain of hellfire falling on a few poor starving peasants and call it 150 billlion.



Current spending is 664 billion.





BOOM! Immediate savings of 514 billion dollars of taxpayers money that can be doverted to either debt repayment, or spending on things that actually benifit taxpayers.





I can't take money for consultant services Obama - I'm a federal employee. but I woul'd love to come over and have abeer with a racist profesor - as I believe that is the cutom when you entertain police officers.

[quote name='Dr.Knuckles' date='25 October 2009 - 01:09 PM' timestamp='1256490541' post='44459']

Ok, I'll be the decider.



The biggest waste is the interest on the debt, but you can't stop spending that. The second biggest waste is defense, which is more than the rest of the world combined. Let's set a goal of reducing that to slightly more than #2 and #3 combined. China spends 70 billion, UK 65 billion. So lets set the US goal for defense spending at 135 billion - or hey, let's keep the rain of hellfire falling on a few poor starving peasants and call it 150 billlion.



Current spending is 664 billion.





BOOM! Immediate savings of 514 billion dollars of taxpayers money that can be doverted to either debt repayment, or spending on things that actually benifit taxpayers.





I can't take money for consultant services Obama - I'm a federal employee. but I woul'd love to come over and have abeer with a racist profesor - as I believe that is the cutom when you entertain police officers.

[/quote]





Actually the second biggest contributer to the debt is social programs. Please see the graph. Actually, the interest is number two, behind social programs.

The current tax system is a FAILURE, much like the rest of our federal government. There is a fix to our problems. We can eliminate our debt and shrink our prisons as well.