Most Americans know that their nation is spending more than it is taking in (the deficit). Though many on the Left do not seem to understand (or care about) the consequences of out-of-control spending, most Americans do know that the nation has more than $16.5 trillion in debt -- or nearly $53,000 of debt for every man, woman and child. A shocking update to that amount happened three days ago when U.S. debt jumped a $328 BILLION, the first day the federal government was able to borrow money under the deal President Obama and Congress sealed last week. The debt now equals $17.075 TRILLION, according to figures the Treasury Department posted online on Friday. The giant jump came because the government was replenishing its stock of ''extraordinary measures'' -- the federal funds it borrowed from over the pat five months as it tried to avoid bumping into the debt ceiling. Even Valdimir Putin has come out expressing dismay at how Obama is handling the American financial debt situation.While $17 Trillion of debt is clearly unsustainable, what is even more alarming is what the media is not talking about: The fact that, in addition to the $17 Trillion of debt, every man, woman and child in America also is on the hook for $400,000 in unfunded liabilities --or, over $1 million for every household!! Though their numbers appear to vary slightly (not including the unfunded liabilities of ObamaCare, for example), Wall Street Journal writers Chris Cox and Bill Archer explain the lack of knowledge about the unfunded liabilities as: ''The actual liabilities of the federal government -- including Social Security, Medicare, and federal employee's future retirement benefits -- already exceed $86.8 trillion, or 550% of GDP.''
The expense of Medicare and Social Security are alone $7 trillion. Nothing like that figure is used in calculating the deficit. In reality, the reported budget deficit is less than one-fifth of the more accurate figure. They continue; Why haven't Americans heard about the titanic $86.8 Trillion liability from these programs? One reason: The actual figures do not appear in black and white on any balance sheet.'' To be sure, the nation's fiscal problems are a bi-partisan issue, caused by years of buying votes through ''entitlements'' (which really are handouts) among specific constituencies. As a result, those constituencies are now entitled to the benefits that have yet to be paid for.Usually Congress sets a borrowing limit, or debt ceiling, that caps the total amount the government can be in the red. But under the terms the Republicans foolishly set, Congress set a deadline instead of a dollar cap. That means debt will rise by as much as the ''drunken-sailor'' in the White House spends between now and the Feb. 7 deadline. Judging by the rate of increase over the past five months, that could end up meaning Congress just granted Mr Obama a debt increase of $700 billion more! Republicans initially sought to attach strings to the debt increase, but surrendered not realizing they had the strength of the 14h Amendment behind them, instead settling on a bill that reopened the government and included some special earmark projects, but didn't include any spending cuts.
The Way I See It.....journalist Mark Steyn is right in rebuking Congress as horribly dysfunctional, and adds that, ''President Obama is even worse: incompetent and wilfully ignoring the constitution.'' So today, while those politicians ignore the huge elephant in the room and try to get a diehard socialist to do more than nibble at the fat that has become the shameful national budget, no one wants to deal with the real issue at hand. So America, your politicians in Washington are giving you no Hope and little Change in the direction that will enslave future generations with the costs of various entitlement programs. Perhaps it's time you raise it to their attention -- seriously. Maybe it's time for a Tea Party V.2 ?
UPDATE: As of 31/10, each U.S. taxpayer has a federal debt-liability of 1.1 million....and rising.
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