National Debt not that Bad

[SpidermanTuba]

We've had worse

 

[CrusaderFrank]

We've had worse

 

[Some Guy]

I sure don't like how that line is projecting at the moment. From 2009 to 2010, it's almost pointing straight up.

 

[Big Black Dog]

Having a case of the clap isn't that bad if you compare it to having a stroke. Sort of like the National Debt.

 

[SpidermanTuba]

Having a case of the clap isn't that bad if you compare it to having a stroke. Sort of like the National Debt.

So what did all that debt under Truman do to the U.S. that was bad?

 

[boedicca]

The problem with the graph is that it doesn't included the massive unfunded entitlement liabilities that the government does not properly accrue.

For a more realistic view, I suggest taking a look at the more GAAP compliant financial statements that the GAO is required to provide.

The federal government fell further into the red in 2009, with its financial position hitting a deficit of $11.46 trillion.

That figure is 12.3 percent higher than the previous year, according to a new report issued by the Treasury Department on Friday.

The annual report shows that the government's big entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare are facing a deficit over the next 75 years of $45.88 trillion, an increase in that deficit of $2.9 trillion in just one year.

The $11.46 trillion deficit in the government's net financial position in 2009 represents an increase of $1.25 trillion over 2008. The position reflects the government's assets, such as cash, property and investments, minus liabilities, such as the federal debt held by the public.

The new figures are included in the "2009 Financial Report of the United States Government." For more than a decade, Congress has required the executive branch to produce the report to provide a more accurate picture of the government's liabilities. It uses the accrual method of accounting rather than the cash system used in reporting the federal government's annual budget deficits.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Repor...7.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=7&asset=&ccode=

http://www.gao.gov/financial/fy2009financialreport.html

 

[SpidermanTuba]

The problem with the graph is that it doesn't included the massive unfunded entitlement liabilities that the government does not properly accrue.

It includes the IOU's in the SS trust fund.

 

[boedicca]

The problem with the graph is that it doesn't included the massive unfunded entitlement liabilities that the government does not properly accrue.

It includes the IOU's in the SS trust fund.

Take a look at the properly prepared financial statements.

The real liabilities dwarf the budget gimmick version you posted.

 

[The Rabbi]

It was worse when we were paying off WW2, which left us with the only industrial base in the entire world intact.

 

[RedChalk]

Your graph is NOT UP TO DATE. Extend Obama's line up to 94% for 2010 and then look at it again.

Also,

(1) you are not understanding the difference between borrowing to produce productive machinery to win WWII or defeat the USSR and spending in on entitlements and non-productive transfers.

(2) you are not understanding the difference between borrowing from ourselves (Americans buying treasury bonds) and borrowing from China and Japan.

Read this and learn something:
Are We in Good Company on Deficits? Mastersen's Musings

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Aug 7, 1945
Hiroshima, Japan

The Mayor tells us that the atomic blast was "not that bad"

 

[Gadawg73]

Seniors do not worry about the debt.
Our kids will have to.

 

[SpidermanTuba]

The problem with the graph is that it doesn't included the massive unfunded entitlement liabilities that the government does not properly accrue.

It includes the IOU's in the SS trust fund.

Take a look at the properly prepared financial statements.

The real liabilities dwarf the budget gimmick version you posted.

No. The graph I posted includes intragovernmental debt. It represents all obligations issued by the treasury.

 

[boedicca]

Having a case of the clap isn't that bad if you compare it to having a stroke. Sort of like the National Debt.

So what did all that debt under Truman do to the U.S. that was bad?

That debt paid for WWII and the following reconstruction.

The debt now is mostly for entitlement spending, i.e. consumption. Even with the surge in Iraq, defense spending under Bush was only about 5% of GDP.

 

[boedicca]

No. The graph I posted includes intragovernmental debt. It represents all obligations issued by the treasury.

It doesn't include unfunded, legally committed future liabilities (which a corporation would be required to accrue on a current balance sheet).

 

[SpidermanTuba]

Your graph is NOT UP TO DATE. Extend Obama's line up to 94% for 2010 and then look at it again.

Ok. Still higher under truman.

(1) you are not understanding the difference between borrowing to produce productive machinery to win WWII or defeat the USSR and spending in on entitlements and non-productive transfers.

Where does entitlement money wind up? Not in the economy somehow? Does it just vaporize?

 

[txlonghorn]

It's just a little lung cancer...it's not that bad. Thanks Doc! I feel better now.

 

[boedicca]

Where does entitlement money wind up? Not in the economy somehow? Does it just vaporize?

Not all spending is of equal value to the economy. Private invement in a business creates more jobs than the government handing out welfare checks.

 

[Avatar4321]

So do you have $400,000 to pay off your share of the debt? most people don't

 

[RedChalk]

Your graph is NOT UP TO DATE. Extend Obama's line up to 94% for 2010 and then look at it again.

Ok. Still higher under truman.

(1) you are not understanding the difference between borrowing to produce productive machinery to win WWII or defeat the USSR and spending in on entitlements and non-productive transfers.

Where does entitlement money wind up? Not in the economy somehow? Does it just vaporize?

I can see you are unfamiliar with certain economic concepts. Instead of lecturing you, I will ask you a famous thought-provoking question from Freshman economics class:

"To solve unemployment, why doesn't the government just pay people to dig ditches, and then pay some other people to fill the wholes back up again. Unemployment problem solved!!" Discuss