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The national debt — the total accumulation of annual budget deficits — is up from $5.7 trillion when President Bush took office in January 2001 and it will top $10 trillion sometime right before or right after he leaves in January 2009.
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Japan is first with $586 billion, followed by China ($400 billion) and Britain ($244 billion). Saudi Arabia and other oil-exporting countries account for $123 billion, according to the Treasury.
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"We pay in interest four times more than we spend on education and four times what it will cost to cover 10 million children with health insurance for five years," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "That's fiscal irresponsibility. [And I voted for it, too.]"
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Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com, said he's more concerned that interest on the national debt will become unsustainable than he is that foreign countries will dump their dollar holdings — something that would undermine the value of their own vast holdings. "We're going to have to shell out a lot of resources to make those interest payments. There's a very strong argument as to why it's vital that we address our budget issues before they get measurably worse," Zandi said.
"Of course, that's not going to happen until after the next president is in the White House," he added.
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Last edited by ParkTwain; 12-03-2007 at 03:18 PM..
Yes, Mexico is looking like a good place to retire to.
Bush is the president that has done the most damage to the US, IMO. Not only did he run up the debt, he has squandered the good reputation the US had and he has failed to prepare this country for the future, by not aggressively pursuing alternative energy sources.
He has mortgaged the future of coming generations.
Shame on him.
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The national debt — the total accumulation of annual budget deficits — is up from $5.7 trillion when President Bush took office in January 2001 and it will top $10 trillion sometime right before or right after he leaves in January 2009.
...
Japan is first with $586 billion, followed by China ($400 billion) and Britain ($244 billion). Saudi Arabia and other oil-exporting countries account for $123 billion, according to the Treasury.
...
"We pay in interest four times more than we spend on education and four times what it will cost to cover 10 million children with health insurance for five years," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "That's fiscal irresponsibility. [And I voted for it, too.]"
...
Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com, said he's more concerned that interest on the national debt will become unsustainable than he is that foreign countries will dump their dollar holdings — something that would undermine the value of their own vast holdings. "We're going to have to shell out a lot of resources to make those interest payments. There's a very strong argument as to why it's vital that we address our budget issues before they get measurably worse," Zandi said.
"Of course, that's not going to happen until after the next president is in the White House," he added.
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But you mean the national debt CONTINUES to rise? Even though the House Budget committee passed a "Pay as you go" rule in January?
How could the national debt continue to rise if EVERYONE (so dont come back slamming me for simply pointing out the fact that ALL OF THEM) are required to pay for bills as we go, instead of raising the national debt even higher?
Per the House website "House instituted a tough pay-as-you-go rule requiring all new net mandatory spending and revenue reductions to be offset. And the House has steadfastedly enforced the pay-as-you-go rule on every bill that it considered, despite initial skepticism that such discipline could be maintained."
I'm at a loss for words because there goes the theory of "fiscially responsibility" on BOTH sides..
"Most troubling to me was the readiness of both [the prior] Congress and the [Bush] administration to abandon fiscal discipline... ‘Deficits don’t matter,’ to my chagrin, became part of Republicans’ rhetoric.” Alan Greenspan, “The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World.”
But you mean the national debt CONTINUES to rise? Even though the House Budget committee passed a "Pay as you go" rule in January?
How could the national debt continue to rise if EVERYONE (so dont come back slamming me for simply pointing out the fact that ALL OF THEM) are required to pay for bills as we go, instead of raising the national debt even higher?
Per the House website "House instituted a tough pay-as-you-go rule requiring all new net mandatory spending and revenue reductions to be offset. And the House has steadfastedly enforced the pay-as-you-go rule on every bill that it considered, despite initial skepticism that such discipline could be maintained."
I'm at a loss for words because there goes the theory of "fiscially responsibility" on BOTH sides..
"Most troubling to me was the readiness of both [the prior] Congress and the [Bush] administration to abandon fiscal discipline... ‘Deficits don’t matter,’ to my chagrin, became part of Republicans’ rhetoric.” Alan Greenspan, “The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World.”
Don't forget: Stuff like the War in Iraq is not considered "mandatory spending" and is an "off-budget" item. So interest will continue to rise as long as the debt continues to rise.
We had a chance (and it was a fleeting chance) to balance the annual budget (in other words, not add to the national debt but merely balance our income/expenses for the year) under President Clinton -- but GWB decided that the USA was going to have too much money and he needed to give everyone some of it back. So, instead of applying any extra money the government was getting to the national debt -- he gave us all a tax refund instead!!
Thank you GWB!!!!!
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