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How Big of a Mess We Are In
"In our seeking for economic and political progress, we all go up---or else we all go down."
National Debt in Family Terms
In case you'd forgotten, here's some perspective on the incredible size of the U.S. financial problem and what Congress is doing to fix it.
| U.S. tax revenue: | $2,170,000,000,000 (per year) |
| Federal budget: | $3,820,000,000,000 (per year) |
| New debt: | $1,650,000,000,000 (per year) |
| National debt: | $14,271,000,000,000 |
| Recent budget cuts: | $38,500,000,000 (over a ten-year period) |
Remove 8 zeros and pretend it's a household budget:
| Family income: | $21,700 |
| Family expenses: | $38,200 |
| New debt on the credit cards: | $16,500 (per year), $1,375 per month |
| Outstanding balance on credit cards: | $142,710 |
| Total budget cuts: | $385 (over a ten year period), $3.21 per month |
Funny how adding several zeros makes one glaze over.
By truncating 8 zeros, the numbers become more familiar and easy to understand.
Just think this through and you will understand just how inept past and present Congresses have been.
After being told you MUST cut down on the spending, the best you can do is save $3.21 a month!
So, instead of charging $1,375, you only charge $1,372.
Really, that's the best you can do? One less Big Mac and you still think it is ok to buy the fries and a Coke?
It is time to put Congress on a MUCH bigger diet! The spending must stop.
$50 Lesson
I recently asked my neighbors' little girl what she wanted to be when she grows up. She said she wanted to be President someday. Both of her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there. So I then asked her, "If you were President, what would be the first thing you would do?"
She replied: "I'd give food and houses to all the homeless people."
Her parents beamed with pride.
"Wow! What a worthy goal," I told her, "But you don't have to wait until you're President to do that! You can come over to my house and mow the lawn, pull weeds, and trim my hedge. Then I'll pay you $50. You can then take it over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and give him the $50 to use toward food and a new house."
She thought it over for a few seconds, then looked me straight in the eye and asked: "Why can't the homeless guy just come over to your place, do the work, and you pay him the $50?"
I replied, "Good question." And then I welcomed her to the Republican Party.
Her parents are still not speaking to me.
Debt Limit Discussion