CLICK THE CHART TO ENLARGE"I place economy among the first and most important virtues, and public debt as the greatest of dangers. To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt."
-- Thomas Jefferson, 1743-1826
In Fiscal Year 2008, the U. S. Government spent $412 Billion of our money on interest payments to the holders of the National Debt.
$412 BILLION spent on National Debt INTEREST!!!
We hit the $11 TRILLION dollar National Debt mark!
That means if the government did not spend one damned dime on any program whatsoever, we would have to pay $412 billion in interest on the debt.
Compare that to Education at $61 Billion, and Department of Transportation at $56 Billion. -- As of 28 February 2009, the total interest spent so far this fiscal year is $148 Billion.
The interest expense paid on the National Debt is the third largest expense in the federal budget.
Admittedly, I do not have a degree in economics.... but here are my suggestions:
• Cut military spending
• Do not wait 2 years to reverse taxing the top 1% of the wealthiest- they had an 8 year free ride.
• Not one more dime in Wall Street bailout money
What fixes do you have for what remains of the economy?
The interest expense paid on the National Debt is the third largest expense in the federal budget.
Admittedly, I do not have a degree in economics.... but here are my suggestions:
• Cut military spending
• Do not wait 2 years to reverse taxing the top 1% of the wealthiest- they had an 8 year free ride.
• Not one more dime in Wall Street bailout money
What fixes do you have for what remains of the economy?
5 comments:
it boggles the mind, doesn't it? those numbers are astounding!
it's been going on for decades, really taking off under Reagan, Bush I, then astronomically under Bush II.
unfortunately at this time, I see no better use for running up public debt than to spend our way out of this recession/depression. we should be going all out on rebuilding our country, literally from the ground up. it's all jobs.
after we come out the other side, whatever the brave new world looks like, will have to incorporate public debt as factor in every one's future. it stinks, but without a time machine that allows us to retroactively rescind Bush's presidency, we are going to be slaves to the public debt unto the, what, 7th generation?
I think more money needs to go toward those infrastructure projects - with rules like "fix the existing roads and bridges that are falling apart, not build new ones" and "fix inefficient and traffic-causing interchanges." Also high speed rail! Create those jobs and fix the country. Stop giving money to banks.
DK we are going to be consumed by the interest on the debt. No wonder China is sweating it & getting skiddish.
It ain't looking good.
A time machine would have been an excellent tool to undo all the wrongs of the Bush era. We KNOW what the "W" stands for--WRONG!
Excellent ideas Maui.
The existing infrastructure has been neglected.
Talk about the need for a *bridge over troubled waters*.
I see you further researched my posting of FebruaryInvestments Redux and others which are older. As much as this info is put out there, few pay any attention to it.
Dr.~ It's true few pay attention to it. But the ravages of it are happening anyway.
I was surprised to read that two Credit Unions recently went under, ($57 billion) , and so far 20 banks failed this year.
http://money.cnn.com/2009/03/20/news/companies/credit_unions/index.htm?cnn=yes
Safe to say, the shit has hit the fan?
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