National Debt

In the past 6 years, the national debt has gone up $3 trillion from $5.7 trillion to $8.7 trillion. That means in the past 6 years, your government has purchased $10,000 worth of stuff for you that you have not paid for yet. (Republicans sure know how to practice conservative fiscal policy, don't they?) Added to the 30 years of previous deficit spending, you now owe the government of America for approximately $30,000 worth of goods and services that it has purchased for you. (Hope you enjoyed your purchases!)

Hmm. I could have bought a cute little condo in Pattaya for $30,000, but instead I now have $30,000 in taxes that need to be paid. You do too.

Well, the nice option is that you can either pay your bill now, before you die, or you can leave it to your kids to pay. But... oops... that isn't your decision. That decision belongs to the country of China. They have purchased a substantial amount of America's national debt. When they come calling for the return of their capital (plus interest), you will have to open your check book.

(By the way: Cost of the Iraq war... much less than $1 trillion. Almost all of the deficit comes from cutting taxes in the middle of a recession while concurrently raising spending levels.)

Anyway, those of you voting Republican in the upcoming election because you instinctively know that Republicans are the party of the fiscal responsibility and the party of the "pork busters" and the party of the balanced budget, remember what I have written here, and which party was in charge when it all took place.

p.s. Let me give you an idea how much $3 trillion is:

1. Exxon Mobil, the world's largest company, is worth about $500 billion. The national debt created in just the last 6 years is the equivalent of almost 6 Exxon Mobils.
2. America's GDP (Gross Domestic Product... or the total value of goods and services produced in America) is $12 trillion. America would have to give every penny it produced to the government for 3 months in order to pay off just the debt that the Republican congress racked up in the past 6 years.
3. America's tax revenue currently is $4 trillion per year. If the United States government shuts down for the next 9 months, and doesn't spend a penny on a single thing, and only collects taxes, it will be able to pay for all of the unpaid pills that have piled up from the last 6 years.

There. Now, hopefully you have a better grasp about what the "party of small government" and the "party of fiscal responsibility" has been doing with government spending and tax revenue, and why you shouldn't be voting for them.