The National Debt is $10.2 Trillion!
Updated 10 October 2008.
Check the debt yourself at the U. S. Treasury Department web site, it changes daily. And more facts.

In Fiscal Year 2006, the U. S. Government spent $406 Billion of your money on interest payments* to the holders of the National Debt. Compare that to NASA at $15 Billion, Education at $61 Billion, and Department of Transportation at $56 Billion. So how do we fix this growing debt problem? Here is one suggested solution. What's your solution? FAQs and Answers on the Balanced Budget Amendment and Article V of the Constitution. And here is an Opposing View (Other opposing views below). And learn more about Article V of the Constitution.

Some want to blame the President for whatever condition our economy is in. But The President has little power to affect our economy. However, Congress DOES! Here is more about it from another person's viewpoint. The U. S. Economy is now in serious problem. It started with this last Congress, and we were doing so well. Here is one example: Congress mandated ultra-low sulfur content in diesel fuel. That pushed the processing cost way up, and now diesel fuel in the U. S. is the most costly fuel on the planet. Diesel fuel is the basis cost for everything; it's how everything get to the store. This was a serious blow to the economy and hits low income earners more that anyone else. So who is in charge of the current Congress? Republicans or Democrats? You figure it out!!!!!!

And there is more, check this article about the debt, Where Does the Money Go; and this one about how the debt is growing.

The U. S. Dollar is being replaced by the Euro as the international trade standard. Could our large national debt be part of the reason?

President Bush put in tax rate cuts. This boosted the economy and tax revenue is up. So it wasn't a "tax cut", because tax revenue increased. It was a tax rate cut and it worked perfectly. Now if we can just get Congress to cut spending....and pass the Fair Tax Bills HR25 and S1025.

Your money is spent through Appropriations Bills passed by Congress and signed by the President. This chart is based on the Appropriations Bills. The Government does not have any money, it takes your money from you and spends that! Press Release on Tax Code and the IRS.

--- "Budget Deficit" vs. "National Debt" ---

Suppose you want to spend more money this month than your income. This situation is called a "budget deficit". So you borrow. The amount you borrowed (and now owe) is called your debt. You have to pay interest on your debt. If next month you don't have enough money to cover your spending (another deficit), you must borrow some more, and you'll still have to pay the interest on the loan. If you have a deficit every month, you keep borrowing and your debt grows. Soon the interest payment on your loan is bigger than any other item in your budget. Eventually, all you can do is pay the interest payment, and you don't have any money left over for anything else. This situation is known as bankruptcy.

Each year since 1969, Congress has spent more money than its income. The Treasury Department has to borrow money to meet Congress's appropriations. The total borrowed is more than $9,000,000,000,000 and growing. Even when government officials claim to have a surplus, they still spend more than they get in. We pay interest on that huge debt.

According to Mr. Kneeland, "...all dollars come from the people. Where do [you] think Coca-Cola gets the money to pay its taxes, Exxon gets its money to pay the Exxon Valdez fines, Denny's gets the money to pay its Justice Department fines, or even Microsoft gets the money to defend itself? It all ultimately can come from only one place, and that's from individuals."

"For society as a whole, nothing comes as a 'right' to which we are 'entitled'. Even bare subsistence has to be produced.... The only way anyone can have a right to something that has to be produced is to force someone else to produce it... The more things are provided as rights, the less the recipients have to work and the more the providers have to carry the load." Thomas Sowell, quoted in Forbes and Reader's Digest.

Don't harm your customers. Take care of your customers. Think internationally! Your customers may be in some other country.

"A politician cannot spend one dime on any spending project without first taking that dime from the person who earned it. So, when a politician votes for a spending bill he is saying that he believes the government should spend that particular dollar rather than the individual who worked for it." Neal Boortz.

"There is no such thing as government money - only taxpayer money." William Weld, quoted in Readers Digest.

The interest expense paid on the National Debt is the third largest expense in the federal budget. Only Defense and income redistribution (The Departments of Health and Human Services, HUD, and Agriculture (food stamps)) are higher. Do you have "Compassion" for the lower income earners? (You may note that social spending is the largest item in our federal budget. (Anyone complaining about the run-up of the deficit, should note that almost all of it is going to social spending).

Social Security is not part of the Federal Budget general fund. It is a separate account and has its own source of income. Social Security payments do not go into the general fund, they go in the Social Security trust fund, and should NOT be counted as general revenue. The trust fund is supposed to be used to pay future benefits. But....keep reading....

Currently, there is more being payed into the Social Security Trust Fund than is being paid out to beneficiaries. What's left over is routinely being "borrowed" and used as if it were general budget revenue. Government agencies using that money promise to pay it back (IOUs). All of the money in the Social Security Trust Fund has been spent! That's part of the National Debt. So Social Security is just a very large tax collection tool.

Beware the term "Social Security Surplus"; there is no such thing. Social Security is a Ponzi Scheme, there is never more in the Trust Fund than will ever be needed. Another Ponzi link.

Social Security will need to be fixed. Here is a debate page. And here is more information on the Root Problem with Social Security.

Learn this: The Federal Government doesn't do anything well. It's inefficient, slow, prone to fraud, and ineffective. Why would you want the Federal Government to take care of your social security in retirement? People complained that the federal government didn't do enough for Katrina recovery; then when the federal government did step in, we find massive fraud and waste. We call the rampant fraud in any government give-away program the "Katrina" effect.

NDAC has looked at this Financial Bailout project and we have done some serious research.

It seems there were many forces and organizations pressuring the financial institutions to make housing loans to folks who clearly would not qualify. Goes back to the turn of the century.

The ruse was "affordable" housing, and the slogan was "everyone has a right to own a home". (Not according to the Constitution).

It was a well thought out project. It was calculated that eventually a bailout would be needed. Congressional members supported it. A few resisted, even those resistors knew what would happen. The pressure was heavy and many-fronted. The financial institutions must lend to unqualified borrowers.

Ultimately, the scheme would lead to having the citizens buy houses for the low income earners that couldn't qualify. This is clear socialism.

More than that, it was calculated, premeditated, theft. It is against the U. S. Constitution for the U. S. Federal Government to do this. Text of U. S. Constitution

You are a taxpayer, the Government is taking your money from you and spending it. Is your money being spent the way you want it spent? Have you told your Representative, your Senators?

Income tax is counterproductive. Learn more about the best tax alternative, the "fair tax" as presented by Americans for Fair Taxation.

What about "corporate welfare"? Are corporations paying their "fair share"? How much tax is hidden in the price when you buy something?

Want to know more about the Federal Budget, the National Debt, Taxation? Visit these great web sites.

* It's true that we have to pay interest on the National Debt. But some citizens own a portion of the national debt, in the form of savings bonds and other government bonds. So some of the interest payment goes to them. You may be one of them. You'd want to keep your interest income coming. But the interest payment is being paid by taxpayers, and you may be one of them also...it's a tangled web.

Income Redistribution: Government takes money that you earned from you, and gives it to someone else. This happens when the tax money you are forced to give to the government is given to others for their use. Example: Earned Income Credit. Then, how do you give a tax break to lower scale wage earners that don't pay much income tax? You have to take it from the higher scale wage earners and give it to the lower scale wage earners. Now look at this link. more

There are approximately 300,000,000 people living in the U. S. But only about 30% of them participate in paying for the national debt. Their load is 10,000,000,000,000 / 90,000,000 = $111,000 each.

The bottom line: The National Debt Awareness Center advocates reduction of the National Debt and replacement of federal income tax with a national retail sales tax. No government should have any knowledge of your income! NDAC does not support any political party.

Click here for more information about the National Debt Awareness Campaign.

The author of this web site is Gene Simmons, Founder, National Debt Awareness Campaign (NDAC). You are authorized to copy and freely distribute the bar chart and the information provided in this web site; just include a reference to this web site. If you want to link your web site, do it. Email the NDAC director.
 
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