The Four Questions Every Liberal Must Be Asked

teapartysamurai

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Mar 27, 2010
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Read all here American Thinker: The Four Questions Every Liberal Must Be Asked

But here are the four questions:

The four questions are:


  • 1) What is total spending of the federal budget?
  • 2) What is the federal deficit?
  • 3) What is the national debt?
  • 4) What was the most recent interest payment on the national debt?
You'll be surprised at the answers. The first impression you'll get is that most won't know the difference between "deficit" and "national debt". You see, liberals are all for spending your money but don't have a clue how much of it is being spent nor how much debt they're getting us into in order to do that spending. You'll also find that the answer to question #1 ranges from a low of several hundred billion to a trillion; no one, it seems, is able to get the answer to within $300-400 billion.

Here are the answers!

[FONT=times new roman,times]The Four Answers[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]The next step is to correct their answers by crossing out what they've written and, beside them, write down the right figures. They are:[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]1) Total spending for the federal budget for 2010 is projected to be approximately [/FONT][FONT=times new roman,times]$3.6 trillion[/FONT][FONT=times new roman,times]. The budget comprises total expenditures and total receipts by the federal government.[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]2) The federal deficit for 2010 is projected to be approximately [/FONT][FONT=times new roman,times]$1.2 trillion[/FONT][FONT=times new roman,times]. However, note that in 2009, the deficit was projected to be [/FONT][FONT=times new roman,times]$407 billion[/FONT][FONT=times new roman,times] but ended up being [/FONT][FONT=times new roman,times]$1.4 trillion[/FONT][FONT=times new roman,times]. The deficit is total expenditures less total receipts (such as incomes taxes) received. When receipts exceed expenditures there is a surplus.[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]3) The National Debt at the end of fiscal year 2010 is projected to be [/FONT][FONT=times new roman,times]$14 trillion[/FONT][FONT=times new roman,times]. This debt is the accumulation of every year's deficit since 1776 less all accumulated surpluses.[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]4) The annual interest payment on the National Debt for 2010 is projected to be [/FONT][FONT=times new roman,times]$164 billion[/FONT][FONT=times new roman,times].[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]The Debt In 2015[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]Underneath the four answers write: "The debt in 2015 is projected to total [/FONT][FONT=times new roman,times]$20 trillion[/FONT][FONT=times new roman,times]."[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]The Extrapolation[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]Explain that the interest the government pays (#4) on the debt (#3) is raised by selling financial instruments such as Treasury Bills to investors (such as the People's Republic of China). These financial instruments are currently paying about 1.5% interest which will result in the approximately $164 billion in interest expense to the federal government.[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]Here's where it gets interesting. Remind your liberal that interest rates fluctuate (Remember when interest rates almost reached 20% back in the early ‘80s?) [/FONT][FONT=times new roman,times]as this graph demonstrates[/FONT][FONT=times new roman,times]. Note this graph is the historical rates for 3-month U.S. Treasury Bills, one of the very instruments used to service the debt. Also remind your liberal that we are experiencing historically low interest rates which means that interest rates have only one direction in which to go.[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]Treasuries At 6% Paying Today's Debt[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]Then ask what he thinks will happen to interest rates if China and other purchasers of American debt stop buying and what we would have to do in order to attract them back: will rates go up or down? Ask your liberal: "if interest rates on treasuries go up to just a modest 6% -- which is more than triple what the current interest rate we are paying now - what will the annual interest payment be on just today's approximately $14 trillion national debt?" Here's the math:[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]$14,000,000,000,000 X .06 = $840,000,000,000.[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]That's a $840 billion annual interest payment on the current National Debt.[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]Treasuries At 10% Paying Today's Debt[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]But interest rates can easily go up to 10%...after all we've seen much higher rates within our lifetimes. What would the annual interest expense be on the current debt level if we had to pay 10% a year in interest:[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]$14,000,000,000,000 X .1 = $1,400,000,000,000.[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]That's $1.4 trillion in annual interest payments on just the current National Debt.[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]Treasuries At 6% And 10% In 2015[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]But we're told that at projected deficit levels the debt will reach $20 trillion in just 4 years. At 6% and 10%, the annual interest payments on the debt would be:[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]@ 6%: $1.2 trillion[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]@ 10%: $2 trillion[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]Note that the above two figures just service the debt; they don't reduce the principal of the debt. Note also that $2 trillion represents more than half of all current federal spending.[/FONT]

My bet is, the liberal anwser to all four question is higher taxes. The obvious will never come to them. That we MUST CUT SPENDING!
 
Yes we must cut spending the big difference in left and right is where to cut it.
Well the left and right citizens, the politicians are pretty much in lockstep now no matter the party.
 
Lol...That author is dumber even than Samurai.

US Treasuries are fixed-interest instruments. If the rate on the 10 yr treasury jumped to 20% tomorrow, the payments on the previously-created 14T in debt would remain unchanged.
 
Yes we must cut spending the big difference in left and right is where to cut it.
Well the left and right citizens, the politicians are pretty much in lockstep now no matter the party.

Sometimes I fear NEITHER party is serious about cutting spending... I guess we'll see this year whether the Republican Congress can do it.
 
The four questions are:


1) What is total spending of the federal budget?
2) What is the federal deficit?
3) What is the national debt?
4) What was the most recent interest payment on the national debt?

Why Liberals when the Conservatives haven't balanced a budget since Eisenhower?
 
The four questions are:


1) What is total spending of the federal budget?
2) What is the federal deficit?
3) What is the national debt?
4) What was the most recent interest payment on the national debt?

Why Liberals when the Conservatives haven't balanced a budget since Eisenhower?

Oh Gawd... we have another Clinton left Bush a surplus moment coming... wait for it... wait for it....
 
Oh Gawd... we have another Clinton left Bush a surplus moment coming... wait for it... wait for it....

Debt held by the public was on the decline:

fredgraph.png
 
My bet is, the liberal anwser to all four question is higher taxes. The obvious will never come to them. That we MUST CUT SPENDING!

You can't erase a $14 trillion debt through spending cuts alone. Congress has never been able to cut spending but they have no problem with cutting taxes (income). The result is an annual deficit

Responsible government means you ballance taxes coming in with spending going out.

"Cut Spending" is not a panacea
 
The four questions are:


1) What is total spending of the federal budget?
2) What is the federal deficit?
3) What is the national debt?
4) What was the most recent interest payment on the national debt?

Why Liberals when the Conservatives haven't balanced a budget since Eisenhower?

Oh Gawd... we have another Clinton left Bush a surplus moment coming... wait for it... wait for it....

Even funnier, how the lefty sheep here REFUSE TO GIVE GWB, THE GOP CONGRESS, etc credit for '01-'07 when the economy was GOOD.
 
My bet is, the liberal anwser to all four question is higher taxes. The obvious will never come to them. That we MUST CUT SPENDING!
The government needs to cut the military's bloated budget, first and foremost however I doubt we'll ever see that happen. Not until the United States disintegrates and the military industrial complex goes out of business.
 
Hahahaha.

It's just American Thinker continuing to marginalize the strawman (liberals) of their own design.

Apparently the little shits at AT forgot to explain these concepts to President Bush.
 
Let's look at the republican answers too.

1) What is total spending of the federal budget?

The democrats did it.

2) What is the federal deficit?

The democrats did it.

3) What is the national debt?

The democrats did it.

4) What was the most recent interest payment on the national debt?

The democrats did it.

All one really needs to know is that Clinton balanced the budget and then Bush Jr and the republicans destroyed the economy and took us from surpluses as far as the eye could see to deficits that will bankrupt us.

The rest is meaningless...the right wingers killed America and that is all that counts.
 
Read all here American Thinker: The Four Questions Every Liberal Must Be Asked

But here are the four questions:

The four questions are:


  • 1) What is total spending of the federal budget?
  • 2) What is the federal deficit?
  • 3) What is the national debt?
  • 4) What was the most recent interest payment on the national debt?
You'll be surprised at the answers. The first impression you'll get is that most won't know the difference between "deficit" and "national debt". You see, liberals are all for spending your money but don't have a clue how much of it is being spent nor how much debt they're getting us into in order to do that spending. You'll also find that the answer to question #1 ranges from a low of several hundred billion to a trillion; no one, it seems, is able to get the answer to within $300-400 billion.

Here are the answers!

[FONT=times new roman,times]The Four Answers[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]The next step is to correct their answers by crossing out what they've written and, beside them, write down the right figures. They are:[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]1) Total spending for the federal budget for 2010 is projected to be approximately [/FONT][FONT=times new roman,times]$3.6 trillion[/FONT][FONT=times new roman,times]. The budget comprises total expenditures and total receipts by the federal government.[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]2) The federal deficit for 2010 is projected to be approximately [/FONT][FONT=times new roman,times]$1.2 trillion[/FONT][FONT=times new roman,times]. However, note that in 2009, the deficit was projected to be [/FONT][FONT=times new roman,times]$407 billion[/FONT][FONT=times new roman,times] but ended up being [/FONT][FONT=times new roman,times]$1.4 trillion[/FONT][FONT=times new roman,times]. The deficit is total expenditures less total receipts (such as incomes taxes) received. When receipts exceed expenditures there is a surplus.[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]3) The National Debt at the end of fiscal year 2010 is projected to be [/FONT][FONT=times new roman,times]$14 trillion[/FONT][FONT=times new roman,times]. This debt is the accumulation of every year's deficit since 1776 less all accumulated surpluses.[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]4) The annual interest payment on the National Debt for 2010 is projected to be [/FONT][FONT=times new roman,times]$164 billion[/FONT][FONT=times new roman,times].[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]The Debt In 2015[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]Underneath the four answers write: "The debt in 2015 is projected to total [/FONT][FONT=times new roman,times]$20 trillion[/FONT][FONT=times new roman,times]."[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]The Extrapolation[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]Explain that the interest the government pays (#4) on the debt (#3) is raised by selling financial instruments such as Treasury Bills to investors (such as the People's Republic of China). These financial instruments are currently paying about 1.5% interest which will result in the approximately $164 billion in interest expense to the federal government.[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]Here's where it gets interesting. Remind your liberal that interest rates fluctuate (Remember when interest rates almost reached 20% back in the early ‘80s?) [/FONT][FONT=times new roman,times]as this graph demonstrates[/FONT][FONT=times new roman,times]. Note this graph is the historical rates for 3-month U.S. Treasury Bills, one of the very instruments used to service the debt. Also remind your liberal that we are experiencing historically low interest rates which means that interest rates have only one direction in which to go.[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]Treasuries At 6% Paying Today's Debt[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]Then ask what he thinks will happen to interest rates if China and other purchasers of American debt stop buying and what we would have to do in order to attract them back: will rates go up or down? Ask your liberal: "if interest rates on treasuries go up to just a modest 6% -- which is more than triple what the current interest rate we are paying now - what will the annual interest payment be on just today's approximately $14 trillion national debt?" Here's the math:[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]$14,000,000,000,000 X .06 = $840,000,000,000.[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]That's a $840 billion annual interest payment on the current National Debt.[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]Treasuries At 10% Paying Today's Debt[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]But interest rates can easily go up to 10%...after all we've seen much higher rates within our lifetimes. What would the annual interest expense be on the current debt level if we had to pay 10% a year in interest:[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]$14,000,000,000,000 X .1 = $1,400,000,000,000.[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]That's $1.4 trillion in annual interest payments on just the current National Debt.[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]Treasuries At 6% And 10% In 2015[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]But we're told that at projected deficit levels the debt will reach $20 trillion in just 4 years. At 6% and 10%, the annual interest payments on the debt would be:[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]@ 6%: $1.2 trillion[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]@ 10%: $2 trillion[/FONT]


[FONT=times new roman,times]Note that the above two figures just service the debt; they don't reduce the principal of the debt. Note also that $2 trillion represents more than half of all current federal spending.[/FONT]

My bet is, the liberal anwser to all four question is higher taxes. The obvious will never come to them. That we MUST CUT SPENDING!

I was explaining to people the other day that when the national debt hits 20 trillion, from around 14 trillion now, that we will pay a trillion a year in interest.

What's the answer?

Well the answer sure wasn't the trillion dollar addition to the debt that the GOP AND the Democrats just got together to pass.

And that you supported, I'll bet.
 
Thank you, Affrayer. I applaud your common sense.

"The rest is meaningless...the right wingers killed America and that is all that counts."

In fact, history shows that the GOP has been the party that consistently creates the biggest national debt. With the exception of Eisenhower, all GOP Presidents have spent like drunken sailors, leaving a mess for the following administrations to clean up.

National debt by U.S. presidential terms - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

That has long been their strategy for maintaining power. Thank God for Democratic fiscal responsibility!
 
If you look at this in basic household economics it looks like this........

The government's income is taxes. That is the money they make off the taxes of American people to finance the country's household operating expenses.

The bills are for stuff like running the government, federal works programs, etc.

If you cut your income (i.e. tax cuts) you have to reduce spending for your bills.

The GOP doesn't want their taxes to go to the PREVIOUS LEVELS of before the Bush Jr. tax cuts. They don't view it as getting a temporary break on their taxes, they view it as a raise on their taxes now.

Make the wealthy pay their fair share of the bills.
 
Oh Gawd... we have another Clinton left Bush a surplus moment coming... wait for it... wait for it....

Debt held by the public was on the decline:

Yes! Thanks to REPUBLICANS forcing Clinton to CUT CAPITAL GAINS and sign Welfare Reform.

If you will look at CBO numbers PRIOR TO REPUBLICANS WINNING IN 1994, the CBO predicted huge deficits until 2000.

What changed? It sure as hell wasn't Clinton.

Try again liberals!

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:
 
Lol...That author is dumber even than Samurai.

US Treasuries are fixed-interest instruments. If the rate on the 10 yr treasury jumped to 20% tomorrow, the payments on the previously-created 14T in debt would remain unchanged.

That's not true! Not all bonds are fixed rate, and there are other conditions that apply:

Individual - Treasury Bonds: Rates & Terms

Individual - I Savings Bonds Rates & Terms

Sorry to burst your liberal bubble.

Who's dumb?

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

Yes, indeed - not all are nominally fixed.

some are fixed real - rate treasuries: TIPS! none float with the interest rate environment - as anyone who can read the links you provided can see. Therefore, there is no reason to base the debt payments for our current 14T debt load on expected future interest rates.

So who's dumb? The American Thinker. and you for believing their drivel.
 
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