From now on when you read or hear anything on the media and it is about Government spending, I want you (in your mind) to replace the word "Government" with the word "taxpayer".
Read on....
The National Debt is $11.4 Trillion!
Updated 16 June 2009-
This bar chart is based on U. S. Senate Appropriations Bills and the Monthly Treasury Statement.
We put the data published by the U. S. Treasury Department into a spreadsheet and generate the bar chart from that spreadsheet.
The "estimate bar" in the "Debt Total" box for the next Fiscal Year (FY) is generated by our analysts from data published by the Congressional Budget Office and several other sources.
And this chart DOES NOT show the "earmarked" spending at all. It is not accounted for.
--- "Budget Deficit" vs. "National Debt"---
Suppose you want to spend more money this month than your income. This situation is called a "budget deficit". So you borrow (ie; use your credit card). The amount you borrowed (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 loan. 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 situation is known as bankruptcy.
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!
Press Release on Tax Code and the IRS.
Your money is spent through Appropriations Bills passed by The U. S. Senate and signed by the President. The Government does not have any money, it takes your money from you and, and borrows more, then spends that! The bailouts of 2008 and 2009 are purely deficit spending. Expect to see enormous deficits in the forseeable future, leading to much more debt; and interest payments on that debt will become the largest item in the federal budget. On C-SPAN, President Obama boldly told Americans: "We are out of money."
Bulletin (24 March 2009): Warning! This report from Washington Post: "The Obama administration will ask Congress to give the Treasury secretary unprecedented powers to initiate the seizure of non-bank financial companies, such as large insurers, investment firms and hedge funds, whose collapse would damage the broader economy, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said this morning." Visit the Government's new "Recovery" web site; see if you can figure it out.
In Fiscal Year 2008 (FY0
, the U. S. Government spent $412 Billion of your money on interest payments* to the holders of the National Debt. Compare that to NASA at $15 Billion, Education at $61 Billion, and Department of Transportation at $56 Billion. -- As of May 2009, the interest expense so far this fiscal year (FY09) is $214 Billion.
The interest expense paid on the National Debt is the third largest expense in the federal budget. Only Defense and income redistribution (The Departments of Health and Human Services, HUD, and Agriculture (food stamps)) are higher. Do you have "Compassion" for the lower income earners? Social spending is the largest item in our federal budget.
No matter who you are, your taxes will go up. Here's why. When you buy something, all the companies involved in producing that something and delivering it, were charged a wide range of taxes, and it's part of the cost of everything you buy. The U. S. Leadership is planning to raise all corporate taxes. The price of everything you buy will go up to cover that tax cost. You will be paying those corporate taxes! See more on this.
The U. S. Dollar is being replaced as the international trade standard. Our large national debt is the main reason; and now (2009) Congress has just passed the "Economic Stimulus" bill that will shift us from an "economic crisis" to a debt crisis! If businesses could print their own money and give it away to customers so they could buy the products, many folks would be happy for a while; but the businesses would go bankrupt. Well, that's what our government is currently doing, printing and giving away money.
What is causing this national budget crisis? How do we fix this growing debt problem? A balanced budget amendment is one suggested solution. What's your solution? FAQs and Answers on the Balanced Budget Amendment and Article V of the Constitution.
Federal Budget Spending and the National Debt (26 June 2009)
http://www.federalbudget.com/
