OMB Releases Report That We're All F*cked

[Phaedrus]

A lovely piece from the White House Office of Management and Budget outlining some of the specific numbers for the government's true debt.

The government's alleged debt is a staggering $ 3.6 trillion, but what most people do not know or refuse to acknowledge is that the full scope of the government's obligations -- exppressed as not only debt, but entitlements, contractual obligations and military, financial and other obligations abroad -- totals a truly mind-numbing $ 43.4 trillion. Just in case the big numbers make your eyes blur, the TOTAL household wealth for the entire United States is $ 40.2 trillion. In other words, we're not just broke, we're in a $ 3.2 trillion black hole with no end in sight.

Just taking into context Socialism Security and Medicrutch you're looking at $ 18 trillion. To make that plus the "official" debt solvent you would have to liquidate (correction: SEIZE, then liquidate) more than half of every penny, nickel, dime, quarter and bill in the hands of Americans today.

Full report is here.

A very special thanks to Franklin Delano Rosenberg, ranking #2 among the assorted traitors who have moistened the seat in the Oval Office over the years precisely because he gave birth to the policies which have led us to this point, some sixty years later. Your legacy has certainly come to bear on the people over whom you so lovingly, maniacally, ruled.


Phaedrus

 

[Phaedrus]

Interestingly enough, just found a nice complement to the OMB report -- a Congressional letter penned by Senator Morris K. Udall ... dated 12 July 1965. It's a shame that the encroaching problem was noted as soon as two decades after it began, yet for another four decades the government has done nothing but pull the wool over the eyes of the American people in order to pursue such grandiose myths as global hegemony on the right, and universal healthcare on the left.


Phaedrus

 

[PatPatriot]

Figures fool and fools figure.

The national debt is a small pct. compared to the overall GNP.

 

[corey]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Patriot:
Figures fool and fools figure.

The national debt is a small pct. compared to the overall GNP.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

No it's not. 5% of GDP is considered a watermark, which the US has passed. You need to get your financial house in order before we all get dragged into something serious.

 

[Phaedrus]

Patriot, you are really slipping these days. First you erroneously claim that President Clinton was the only president in American history to be impeached, and now you don't know the figure for the national debt -- an easily-obtainable number that anyone in the world can find out.

In a somewhat more nebulous context, you also clearly didn't even read the post, as it was not about the American federal debt, but about federal obligations to which they have committed directly via entitlements etc. and indirectly through pledges of military, financial and other aid.

God damn man, if you're going to comment, at least raise yourself above the KMAN stratum and read the fvcking post so you won't look like a total fool when you respond. A dissenting viewpoint is one thing; knee-jerk responses that show off an apparent level of ignorance not only on the topic but on the words right in front of your face is just sad.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>No, I haven't read it. I don't have to -- it's a harmful book, everyone knows that.

--Dan Quayle on The Satanic Verses<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


Ah, maybe I understand where you get it now.


Phaedrus

 

[KMAN]

If we would stop loaning money to all of these 3rd world countries that don't repay us we would be in much better shape.

KMAN

 

So when the previous administration was blowing smoke up their own asses, all but declaring a "balanced" budget, the REAL numbers told a whole different story. Interesting, very interesting. Thanks for the education.

 

[entropy]

Patriot, you are really slipping these days.

i don't think so as nowhere available for him to slip to.

btw i liked your previous signature "does not play well with others" much better.

i haven't read your URL but coming budget deficits plus trade deficits plus unfunded social security are enough to cause the dollar to go into freefall in the coming years so maybe the neoconservative cretins here will not be such maniacal bush supporters then.

 

[D2bets]

The accounting scandal that is the federal government makes Enron look like a little white lie. But what do they care. The old folks that run Washington won't be around when the shit really hits the fan. Shame on them.

 

[Phaedrus]

RAZZ, the problem transcends party lines or the last two adminstrations, although I understand that two administrations back are about as far as most Americans seem capable of thinking (I am not projected this view directly upon yourself; simply stating what I see as a general and sad fact about our country.) These problems began so far back, and are so clear in their lineage, and advanced so very slowly that it is amazing that the American people have been able to be bought off with promises that are not only insincere at the outset, but which have reached the point where they are not possible to fulfill. I have relatively little knowledge of the last two decades of the USSR, but I imagine someone better-versed on the subject could tell us a lot about what happens when a government's overall obligations literally exceed the total amount of wealth extant in that government's country.

Our government has robbed Peter to pay Paul for nearly a century now, since the final income tax was put into place in 1913 (there were a few previous attempts which were declared unconstituional by the courts, or ineffective by the Congress.) With the double-blow to common sense that was the Hoover and FD Roosevelet administrations our nation embarked on a spending spree that would make any Socialist green with envy. And it is this out-of-control behemoth that has all but destroyed our country.

It is a many-faceted and deep-rooted problem, and there is no simple panacea that will fix it -- no viable solution will be easy, and no viable solution is likely to involve a pleasant experience for whichever generation has the misfortune to end up fixing it (all the chalk is currently on mine, btw. Thanks mom and dad and grandma and grandpa.) Because of the fact that any solution is likely to cause major economic and social waves in the country, no politician will dare to try and get the ball rolling -- and when one does you can rest assured Joe Sixpack will vote him right out for a candidate that talks a smoother game.

My biggest fear in the matter is that Americans on the whole, liberal and conservative and independent alike, are so ignorant of the history and economics invovled, and so enured to the things which we take for granted as a people, that this change will never come about as a matter of reason and responsibility, but will require an almost total collapse of our economy (and by proxy, our nation) before anyone will do anything about it.

Naturally, this is not a particularly popular notion with anyone regardless of where they are in the political spectrum. But I quietly remind you that the world is littered with once-great nations that are now barely more than middle-class backwaters. In fact, several of them recently decided to throw in the towel and see if they could become something more than a shadow of their former selves if they all banded together into one union. We'll see how it works out for them, but in the meantime I am far more concerned with the issues here at home.


Phaedrus