.
Politicians are cute – they love to confuse everyone and then laugh heartily amongst themselves; “The people are just so dumb! – Let’s get lunch!”
What is the National Debt? The National Debt is the amount of money that has already been spent by the Federal Government. Our first National Debt began shortly after the founding of this country. We had gone to war with England and we had to borrow some cash from a variety of sources including extended credit from France and others. Alexander Hamilton wanted to create a Central Bank in order to kind of create a consortium of various state and local banks so that eventually there could be a single currency and a place to find out how all the colonies could count up the amount each one owed to others they had borrowed resource cash or property. The accumulated National Debt is now about $16.5 Trillion dollars. This includes all the money borrowed and spent by the United States Government. It does not include what we will need borrow – next year.
The Annual Deficit in any Budget goes like this: You estimated how much you need to spend to support your cost of doing business for the year ahead. You find that by buying too much, you will not have enough money to make all your payments for the year ahead. You then determine that you will need to borrow enough money to pay your creditors in the year ahead. Because you have good credit; you put those purchases on your personal credit cards…pay some big interest – but are able to make your payments for that year in spite of your over spending. Those tough choices that might restrict your fine dining experiences, your heavy car payments, the kids education costs, your mortgage or rent payments, your various Medical, Dental and Prescription Drug costs……and of course your vacation and those gifts for family members. It is all pretty simple; spend too much and you will have to borrow more money to get you through.
Politicians are cute – they love to confuse everyone and then laugh heartily amongst themselves; “The people are just so dumb! – Let’s get lunch!”
The next issue that gets confusing is: The cost of Social Security payments to seniors and those that have lost either their life partner or parents. Everyone that pays into Social Security has the option of collecting a payment when they turn 62 years old (about 2/3rds of a normal return) or at now closer to 67 years old. Each person has spent at least 14 years into the system and made payments from their weekly, monthly or annual pay – over that time. Originally, this stand alone system started out as a menial payment called Old Age Assistance. Then it went to Old Age Benefits. This system was created under FDR….in the 30’s. Democratic Presidential Candidate Al Gore talked a great deal about the “Social Security Lock Box”. The idea was that the government could borrow money out of the Social Security System. That all the money collected under the Social Security program should remain there. That hasn’t happened. The Congress has stolen the Social Security money and they should all go to jail, no matter who did it. No matter how rich or poor you are you get Social Security if you quality for the number of years of payments. Social Security is known as a “Earned Federal Benefit” and not an “Entitlement”!
The next confusing issue is: Medicare! Medicare is for people who get old, 62 to 65 and above. They can join this system and pay a moderate fee to be covered under this government based program. Medicare is designed for old folks. Their choices are restricted but no matter how rich or poor you are, once a year you can apply for an affordable Part A or B or C or D. You can also get what they call “Medicare Advantage” if you are willing to pay an additional monthly payment. Again, this system was created and paid into over your life in the workforce. These are also called “earned federal benefits”. Naturally, as the price of HealthCare grows there is a tendency to raise the annual premiums for each category. When politicians call this benefit an “Entitlement” they are lying to you and should also go directly to jail. Dental coverage in not included and never has been,
Politicians are cute – they love to confuse everyone and then laugh heartily amongst themselves; “The people are just so dumb! – Let’s get lunch!”
The next confusing issue is Medicaid! Medicaid is not a Federal program. Medicaid benefits vary from State to State with a wide variation on payments and benefits, depending completely on the State involved. Medicaid must be qualified for. You must be poor to get Medicaid. You must be willing to relinquish all your personal wealth and belonging in some cases to receive Medicaid. Medicaid is designed not only for the poor but the great amount of Uninsurable folks that have a variety of “pre-existing conditions” which create monthly premiums from Insurance Companies that are totally unaffordable for all but the most wealthy in our society. Those that are rich to begin with and making their monthly Health Insurance premiums…may in fact run out of cash when major Cancer, AIDS or other debilitating disease is found. Soon, their resources are drained and they may in fact be stuck applying for Medicaid. To be sure, Medicaid is an “Entitlement Program” and a necessary back stop we would argue.
The next big confusion reigns over Food Stamps! In the good old days, only the most poor in our society could receive Food Stamps. The only way you could get Food Stamps was if you were homeless, mentally disabled, physically disabled or financially destitute. Today, their are approximately 46 million Americans receiving Food Stamps. The reason for this is based on Ross Perot and “the giant sucking sound” that he prognosticated when NAFTA was passed in the late 90’s and jobs left American for foreign soil. Middle Class Manufacturing – gone. The high-tech revolution added to the lost jobs through a variety of automation and so-called productivity advances. There are no more pay phones or plethora of telephone operators. There are far less customer service representatives that reside in the the United States. There are far less Middle Manager jobs…..and the list goes on and on. There are more Wal-marts which only allow workers 20 hours a week of work so that they don’t have to pay for their HealthCare. There are more Costco’s, Targets, Dollar Stores and fast food operations. People working in these locations do not make enough money to survive without Food Stamps! This is a “Federal Entitlement Program”……and a necessary one for those with families or those with rents so high….they cannot afford required health prescriptions…let alone food. Another euphemism for these folks: “Working Families”!
Politicians are cute – they love to confuse everyone and then laugh heartily amongst themselves; “The people are just so dumb! – Let’s get lunch!”
As we listen endlessly to “pundit obsession talk” on almost every television channel, we are then forced to listen to rhetorical lies and misrepresentations by the so-called political experts, analysts, think tank fellows, doctors, lawyers and indian chiefs – between terrible advertising for Prescription drugs, Shingle Treatment and Erectile Dysfunction, Mental Depression and another list to choke the proverbial horse…..we have to wonder: Why do we put up with politicians that won’t make manufacturers list what is in our food…for example? Why do we have to listen to those that want to disarm the citizenry due to 100 folks out of 320 million that want to kill small children? Why do we have to listen to partisan non-sense when indeed there are many quite important issues which are facing our society? Why have the politicians not put the awful felonious bankers that caused the fall of our fiscal health into jail or incarceration? Why do we all continue to put up with the lies and misrepresentations and say nothing? Why do we put up with the Corporate Welfare for Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Chemical, Big Agriculture and HealthCare Facilities and Health Care Insurance in general? How about all the debt for unpaid Public Employee Pensions and Retirement payments to come?
Politicians are cute – they love to confuse everyone and then laugh heartily amongst themselves; “The people are just so dumb! – Let’s get lunch!”
The National Debt (since 1776) and our Annual Federal Deficit Confusion! Yes, it isn’t space science or brain surgery…..it is strictly for robots!
Hopefully, two politicians will read this and be able to finally understand the difference between a DEBT and a DEFICIT. Most 2nd already graders know!
(Update from Greg)
((Illustration courtesy of someone other than the Winships. Specifically, here: http://arthuride.wordpress.com/2011/06/12/reagan-bush-clinton-bush-obama-and-the-national-debt-and-education/)
The US public debt is a minor issue.
US Public Debt $15.7 trillion as of May 2012 (Greater today)
US nominal GDP $15.46 trillion as of April 2012, (Gross Domestic Product)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_public_debt
Derivatives and Economic Collapse:
Nine US banks own $228.72 trillion worth of derivatives, that’s 14.6 times the US public debt.
The Huffington Post article below links to a visualization of the physical size of the nine banks’ derivatives holdings. Click on any of the pictures for a text description.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/27/derivatives-market-visualized-9-biggest-banks-graphic_n_1441971.html?view=screen
The First Step for Economic Recovery:
Reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act 1933-1999
http://thomas.loc.gov enter “ H.R. 129”
Ask you Congress Member to cosponsor.
Good Luck, both political Parties serve Wall Street.
*Thank RL…..good stuff to be sure!
*We did forget one biggest Gorilla in the room however. How about our $10 Trillion dollar plus Trade Deficit? How do we pay for that? Does that all just go into some “Special Investment Vehicle” Account? Maybe, some Hedge Fund Manager knows!
does this thing work?
I don’t understand the wording in this story.
the national debt is all of the money that the U.S. government has every spent?
That is not correct.
If I have spent 50,000 on credit cards in my life that is not my credit card debt.
But If I have a remaining balance due of 25,000 then that is my “debt.”
correct?
*The total of what you DIDN’T pay back is included in your total debt. When someone gets a judgement against you….even if you don’t pay it ever…..you
still owe it. So, with the Federal Government. Heck, they may still be paying for the Spanish-American War….that was a rumor several years back. Also the Seminole Wars with Oceola. He never surrendered and died in prison. The cost of our many year war….was based on borrowed money.
Double eye, the US government has not paid anything against the balance so its remaining balance is the same as the amount borrowed plus unpaid interest.
Even durning Clintons years nothing was paid on the remaining debt, just more of the unpaid interesr was paid, and the national debt increased at a slower amount.
Why is Obama’s increases left off? His blue bars increases are 3 times higher than “W”
*Certainly not true. The TARP, AIG and Two Wars, Iraq and Afghanistan belong to George and Laura. The Stimlus and the continuation of the war in Afghanisatn belongs to Obama. The loan to GM also belongs to Obama. The residual annual Deficits added to the Debt on a yearly basis belong to both parties…..
But that is saying that the reduction in the growth of the debt during Clitons years belong to H W for the large increase in taxes that cost him a second term.
If you are going to use a fixed time periode to play the blame game, you can not change those rules because it make your guy look bad.
*Wjoever is most deserving..
.
The big vote for the tax increase that led directly to the Republican takeover of the House in 1994 occurred in 1993, after GHWB was gone, cook. The tax hike (credited by all but cretins for slashing to deficit, restoring confidence, and fueling the ’90s economic boom) was famously passed without a single Republican vote. The deciding vote was Rep. Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky of suburban Philadelphia, who knew that she was probably ending her political career by casting it — but who has since had the consolation of becoming Chelsea Clinton’s mother-in-law.
GHWB, by contrast, had a smaller increase in taxes — but his supporters were very sensitive about that sort of thing, so they bolted.
Obama spent a deficit of $6 Trillion in four years, worst of any president in history. I was following along with your arguments until you left off the Obama years, an overt attempt at deception.
If the U.S. has never paid anything against it’s ever increasing debt balance, then who cares?
It is irrelevant.
The only things that matter are?
a)the ongoing (corrupted) special treatment they get from the central bankers,
b)the possible inflation and deflation of the currency
c)bubbles and crashes that occur by design or not by design
d)the hazards of loosing all financial sovereignity to the international banks (already done)
On paper, the debt appears to be shooting to astronomical heights, but unless it is called in by a Master what difference does it make. It actually works in this country’s favor to work with the Debt game, until of course you start to analyze all of the repercussions of the finance industrial elite ruling everything, which probably brings us back to Robert’s ideas and also the core arguments of Occupy.
Saying “corrupted special treatment” from the central bankers, I mean it both ways.
the gov. and the banks are in it together at the expense of the ignorant public.
Maybe all of these banks are Zombie banks?
Maybe the Federal Reserve hides behind some public Zombie banks while utilizing some not so Zombie Banks? Is there a real Piggy Bank behind the curtain?
Before any body freaks out about the trillions (15x national Debt) that are tucked away in the bankers Derivative Markets, try researching what Derivatives are.
They are not supposed to be assets. (Are they treated as assets?)
They are security contracts created to stabilize transactions within the financial market.
Do they stabilize particular transactions at the expense of the whole system?
Or do they safely and successfully prop up the “artificial” system ?
But are they treated more like stocks, casino chips, or more like laundry tokens?
Can they be cashed out by any holder at anytime?
Who would BofA cash out their Derivative holdings to for example? There is nobody to cash out to, or is there? .
Maybe they do protect us from out of control debt and deficits?
Is anybody loosing their mind yet?
*Remember what happens when you don’t make your minimum payments on your credit cards? Yep, automatically your interest rates goes upwards in the extreme, plus a variety of penalty fees. So, when the Republicans want to default on our Debt…….guess how much the banks make then?
Additionally, don’t forget that each country has a unstated “Credit Limit”…just like we all have on each credit card. How much is the USA Credit Limit? No one is talking, but the concept is to use our annual GNP to figure out our ability to pay back someday. If someone makes $100K a year…..and their personal credit limit is $50K …most people figure you can pay that amount off with Minimum Payments plus a dollar in about 10 years.
So, if we don’t continue to build up our debt that $16.4T……could be paid off in 10 or 20 years….depending.
Assets = Liabilities + Equity
What is our government growing to get an increase of economic growth (Assets)?
There are 2 choices, either National Debt (Liabilities) or Personal Wealth (Equity)
*Right you are….until…..we can create some new manufacturing that can stay here or until we invent something to pay people something for doing nothing….
*Oops….they already started do that almost a hundred years ago…..see how
that turned out? The railroad monopoly, Rockefeller and the Standard Oil millions and of Tom Edison and Alexander Graham Bell…….
Maybe Bill Gates can pull it out?
And thus the world is at a crossroads!
The greatest economic engine has always been WAR.
People are sick of war.
after that, big business (Repressive Society) looks to new transportation and housing technology. To the Moon!
People are getting use to a smaller (more virtual) world.
People want food and health.
Society can not make up its mind whether it values universal health or poverty and scarcity to feed the diseased ego.
Bring on a collective ego-free consciousness before we all become extinct.
*Good advice…2eyes!
Actually, society still needs ego. The healthy kind.
I just came across this post and have to comment.
It’s NOT the President who spends the money as the chart would suggest by it coloration and the notes at the bottom as to whom was the President. It’s Congress who spends the money. It would be far more informative to show who controlled the houses of Congress, as well as the executive branch, during those periods so that the real truth could be easily obtained and rational discussion made over who spends the money that we don’t have.
Someday that master is going to come knocking on the door and he’s going to be speaking Mandarin…and it’s not going to be pretty when we all work for the Chi-Coms!
I know sorry to be a wet blanket and call BS but…
Interesting. How about showing the chart based upon who controlled the house and senate, the two sets of folks who actually control the budgets?