National debt breaks 13 trillion

I would like to be the guy earning interest on that debt. In 3 seconds, I would earn $100k.

This is all gov't debt??

unfortunately you're not that guy.  we are they guys paying that interest though...as are our children.

I know you are talking national debt but I have to say, I was surprised on NPR this morning in local news to hear that 2 different taxes had failed to be passed by the Seattle city council (to get them on the August ballot) because a few members of the council explicitly stated that we do not have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem and that no taxes would be passed by them until spending had been cut drastically.

If only our national folks would get on board with that. I would, just once, like to see a bill or law passed that does not include stipulations that cow farmers in wyoming do not have to pay a tax like cow farmers in Montana do simply because to get the senator from wyomings vote the had to add it in there. As far as I know we are all equal American citizen and laws should be written to apply to all of us, not to some or most with different subsets being exempt. Whatever happened to a government by the people for the people? If this keeps up someone is going to go "V for Vendetta" on Washington DC to stop the spending and reign in power hungry politicians.

My students have been tracking their share of the debt all year when we started it was 38,376 now it is 42,026 so during their Senior year of high school we have placed them 3.650 dollars deeper in the hole Thanks U.S. Government.

To me, this is even scarier:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/income/2010-05-24-income-shif...

Forget about attempting to pay off the debt. The public sector (IOW Our OVERHEAD) keeps getting larger and larger, while the means to pay for it (IOW income generated by the private sector) keeps shrinking.

This is the "Grecian Formula". And we're headed for the same results.

I've said it before, I'll say it again. The path we were on before Obama was not sustainable. With Obama, we're just getting to the cliff a lot faster.

This.  x1000.  And I'm not sure our brakes are capable of stopping us at this point.

What Brakes?

Unfortunately, we have the pedal mashed to the floor. It's just the wrong pedal.

We do have brakes.  They just have not been used for quite a while now.

I see it in this analogy...   You lend your family member money due to hardships.   Then you see them driving new car, going out to expensive restaurants and gambling at the track.   How China still has the patients and confidence to keep buying our story I have no idea.   

To the above, just want to put in perspective the deficit spending which is what is leading to our national debt:



Dems got control of congress in 2007.

can't they just print 13 trillion in $20's and settle it?

Also, if I pay my 100k up front, right now, can I be exempt from paying taxes in the future?

Sure if you don't mind a little inflation aka paying 100,000 dollars for a loaf of bread.

You know that isn't how it works

Sorry , but if you count it ALL up, the national Debt is REALLY at $61.9 trillion.  Think of it as you looking at your home that you have a loan on as part of your debt burden along with your credit cards.  the $13 trillion figure is like just looking at your credit card debt only.

I told you already.  You know, the home loan on the White House.

The biggest "discrepancy" is going to be in what you stated.  Social Security and Medicare benefits at current promised rates in excess of related revenues.

source: http://www.pgpf.org//>
The President & CEO of the foundation served as the U.S. Comptroller General from 1998 to 2008.  He claims he left because of a greater calling to bring attention to the severeity of the National Debt but labor tensions erupted at teh Government Accountability Office around the same time he left so it's debatable.  (just to give both sides)



Edited by jgaither 2010-05-26 3:12 PM

The 62 trillion dollar figure is fairly widely accepted . It's the combination of the actual debt plus the cost of all unfunded mandates (aka mandatory spending). You can dispute the number all you want. 13 trillion is very scary in and of itself and we know for a fact that 13 trillion doesn't include medicare, etc as I mentioned above (or the new health care bill for that matter). Even if the 62 trillion number is inflated by a factor of 100%, 31 trillion should be enough to make you scared to death not only for yourself but more for the future generations (aka your kids, and their kids).

This user's post has been ignored.

wake me up when it hits a bazillion.