Prescription drugs added another $6,000,000,000,000 ($6Trillion) or so to total liabilities this year, so the total is nearly $10T this year alone.

Here's the article,

http://www.gillespieresearch.com/cgi-bin/s/article/id=278

Whatever the number $6 Trillion a YEAR ain’t right.

Uh… $6 Trillion a year that would equal $21,000+ per American.

We have been hearing this sky is going to collapse routine for over 20 years now. In real dollars the deficits we are running now are no where near as big as past deficits.

And Bush calls himself a "conservative"? WTF?????

The entire US economy is only like 11 T, and the entire federal budget is less than 3 trillion iirc, so there is NO way those numbers are correct. It is just impossible for the budget shortfalls to be MORE than the entire budget, and almost as much as the entire GDP.

And worth noting that the deficit spiked because of the recession, and is now going down rather rapidly because of the growing economy.

Before ANYONE bitches about the deficit I first suggest they look at how much debt THEY have.


SGatr15

We were talking about this at work. After reading a lefty deficit complaint article in a newspaper.

Doesn't all the money that went to NY, the Pentagon,  and security upgrades, PLUS 2 wars add to the total deficit?

Hell I'd imagine that tens of BILLIONS went to NY alone,  (could be wrong, anyone know the correct amount?)

After all the spending on top of the deficit we had,  I don't think its too terrible all things considered.
Then again I'm no economy major.. anyone care to explain?

Folks need to take what they read on the Internet with a serious grain of salt.  Any asshole can post any piece of information they want and some gullible person will believe it.  

Anytime you read something truly alarming on the Internet, the alarm should be a warning to you to go out and seek verification from a reliable source.

Guys, you really ought to read it before you pass judgement.

The total liabilities of the government increased by almost $10T in one year, $6T of that is from the cumulative costs of prescription drugs, another $3T or so is from SS, and the rest is just old fashioned deficit spending.

The actual deficit, the amount outgoing exceeded incoming, was somewhere between $600-800billion, but the total indebtedness of the government increased by very nearly our entire GDP.

It's true the prescription drug is a one-time deal but the SS is ongoing.

The article doesn't include that $6T for just that reason, leaving about $3.7T in 2003.

It's not about Bush, it's been going on for decades.

Total unfunded liabilities of the federal government including the prescription drugs is just over $50trillion according to the Bush treasury department.

Greenspan's been talking about this a lot lately, it's not some fringe issue.

It's interesting that everyone responded witht he usual partisan arguments, it's not a partisan post, article or issue.

It's something America needs to deal with before the boomers retire and it becomes a crisis.

No tax increase would balance the budget, Social security needs to be reformed.

Why is it so hard to accept the fact that your debt can be more than you earn?

Most of us are in this situation.  Even those that are 'rich'

I make 150K/year as a doc.  I owe 150K on my house (purchased 18 mos ago for 185), 65k on med school loans, 15K on my wifes car and maybe $500 in charge cards.

My total deficit is 230K+ yet I dont make that much.  doesnt seem so far feached that the govt could have more debt than income now, does it?

Our entire society does the same thing everyday.  I dont have a big screen - cant afford it right now - read, I cant pay cash for it today and not have something else suffer.  Of course, my cop buddy has one.  He pays his $50 a month at some crazy interest rate.  I make a lot more than him and most of my friends, yet they have more stuff.  They dont own any of it but they have cooler toys.

Im not an accountant - hell, personal taxes baffle me.  Who really know what the numbers really are for the nation?

PS: Im voting Bush and this is not intended to be right or left wing post. Just my thoughts.

4gma,


That was my whole point.

Very well said.

SGatr15

I think what trips people up is the idea that the debt can increase by more than the budget.

Liabilities for Social security are increasing by more than the entire budget every year.

There is no difference between government debt and unfunded liabilities, default has the same effect and the taxpayers are the only source of funds either way.

Money is like energy, it can't be destroyed. It only transforms into something else.

When someone says the Government wasted $100 dollars on this widget, how is it wasted when that $100 went to someone else who used it to purchase some other goods or services. That original $100 will cycle in a local economy about seven times before it leaves to cycle in another economy.

I will agree it's a bit simplistic but I've been curious about where wasted money goes.