PaulS1950
Senior Member
The real state of the union needs to be looked at closely because we are in trouble.
1. budgets have been over spent for so long that the money the USA borrows to balance spending with income that we now owe over $16 Trillion.
We pay only the interest on this money so the principal, the money we owe continues to grow each year. Last year the USA took in $2.3 trillion dollars and spent $3.5 Trillion. That is the highest deficit ever and it increased the national debt $3 Trillion. It is more money than we spent on Social Security and the Defense department together. The extra money was so it could be forwarded to keep the government running for the first few months of next year. Even at that we will have to borrow more money before the year is out. If we level out the budget so there is no deficit we will continue to pay $227 Billion dollars in interest forever - unless interest rates go up and then it will be more.
Since it is unlikely that we will ballance the budget we can REALLY expect the national debt to continue to rise at least $3 Trillion each year and probably more as the years go on. As it costs more each year to keep the government running we will borrow more to balance the money spent with the money collected.
If the national debt just continues to rise at $3 Trillion each year for the next 10 years we will have a debt of $46 Trillion. The interest on that amount is $653 billion, nearly as much as our total military spending through the DOD. In twenty years the debt will be $76 Trillion and the interest will be $4.35 Trillion. More than the amount of money collected in taxes this last year more than we paid out this year.
What does that mean?
It means that within the next 20 years the USA will not collect enough taxes to pay just the interest on the money we have been borrowing for the last few decades. There won't be mone for salaries, there won't be money for military, there won't be medicare, Social security, medicaid, or anything else. At this point it is unfixable - the USA is bankrupt and owned by mostly China which is where we are borrowing from.
Back up to now: Is it fixable now? That is a good question and the answer relies on what we are willing to demand of our representatives, what we are willing to give up, and whether or not our representatives will do what we want. We have to cut the national budget in half. It needs to go from the $3.5 Trillion down to $1.75 Trillion. We have to cut all government salaries 50% and close all the tax loopholes for individuals who make more than $150,000 per year. We have to stop sending aid to foreign countries. We have to bring our military home and close down all foreign military bases. We have to cut all discretionary spending. We have to close out all government pension plans and put the money into SS. All government health care and put the money into medicare. We have to let the control of the education system go back into the hands of the local schools - at all levels. We have to reduce the benifits that our elected officials get. We have to limit the benifits that are excessive in the prison system. They are in jail - they don't need cable TV and gyms. We have to set up a national savings account to place 10% of the collected taxes each year for an emergency fund (in gold) that can be used only to benifit the entire USA - not a select group of corporations. We should fully fund NASA as they increase the growth of businesses in the technical fields with their partnerships. We need to down-size all the intelligence agencies into two agencies that share information completely. The FBI will continue as one for domestic national police and one for foreign intelligence with limited budgets that are closely scrutinized. We will need to cut the IRS and leave the collection of taxes to the government. We have to cut the subsidizing of buisinesses and leave their fate to the open market. We have to cut the red tape required to start new businesses so that the country can grow.
These changes will stop the growth of the debt and begin to pay it off but it will take decades to accomplish. The question is are we, as Americans, willing to do this? If not then we are allowing America to slip away and die in the shadows like an old dog without a friend. If so then we need to get started today. Let your representatives know what we need to cut and how much. Let them know what is important to America and Americans.
Stand up and be counted as actice patriots. Stand up for this country. Stand up and take it back!
1. budgets have been over spent for so long that the money the USA borrows to balance spending with income that we now owe over $16 Trillion.
We pay only the interest on this money so the principal, the money we owe continues to grow each year. Last year the USA took in $2.3 trillion dollars and spent $3.5 Trillion. That is the highest deficit ever and it increased the national debt $3 Trillion. It is more money than we spent on Social Security and the Defense department together. The extra money was so it could be forwarded to keep the government running for the first few months of next year. Even at that we will have to borrow more money before the year is out. If we level out the budget so there is no deficit we will continue to pay $227 Billion dollars in interest forever - unless interest rates go up and then it will be more.
Since it is unlikely that we will ballance the budget we can REALLY expect the national debt to continue to rise at least $3 Trillion each year and probably more as the years go on. As it costs more each year to keep the government running we will borrow more to balance the money spent with the money collected.
If the national debt just continues to rise at $3 Trillion each year for the next 10 years we will have a debt of $46 Trillion. The interest on that amount is $653 billion, nearly as much as our total military spending through the DOD. In twenty years the debt will be $76 Trillion and the interest will be $4.35 Trillion. More than the amount of money collected in taxes this last year more than we paid out this year.
What does that mean?
It means that within the next 20 years the USA will not collect enough taxes to pay just the interest on the money we have been borrowing for the last few decades. There won't be mone for salaries, there won't be money for military, there won't be medicare, Social security, medicaid, or anything else. At this point it is unfixable - the USA is bankrupt and owned by mostly China which is where we are borrowing from.
Back up to now: Is it fixable now? That is a good question and the answer relies on what we are willing to demand of our representatives, what we are willing to give up, and whether or not our representatives will do what we want. We have to cut the national budget in half. It needs to go from the $3.5 Trillion down to $1.75 Trillion. We have to cut all government salaries 50% and close all the tax loopholes for individuals who make more than $150,000 per year. We have to stop sending aid to foreign countries. We have to bring our military home and close down all foreign military bases. We have to cut all discretionary spending. We have to close out all government pension plans and put the money into SS. All government health care and put the money into medicare. We have to let the control of the education system go back into the hands of the local schools - at all levels. We have to reduce the benifits that our elected officials get. We have to limit the benifits that are excessive in the prison system. They are in jail - they don't need cable TV and gyms. We have to set up a national savings account to place 10% of the collected taxes each year for an emergency fund (in gold) that can be used only to benifit the entire USA - not a select group of corporations. We should fully fund NASA as they increase the growth of businesses in the technical fields with their partnerships. We need to down-size all the intelligence agencies into two agencies that share information completely. The FBI will continue as one for domestic national police and one for foreign intelligence with limited budgets that are closely scrutinized. We will need to cut the IRS and leave the collection of taxes to the government. We have to cut the subsidizing of buisinesses and leave their fate to the open market. We have to cut the red tape required to start new businesses so that the country can grow.
These changes will stop the growth of the debt and begin to pay it off but it will take decades to accomplish. The question is are we, as Americans, willing to do this? If not then we are allowing America to slip away and die in the shadows like an old dog without a friend. If so then we need to get started today. Let your representatives know what we need to cut and how much. Let them know what is important to America and Americans.
Stand up and be counted as actice patriots. Stand up for this country. Stand up and take it back!
