Wayne's graph appears to contain federal and personal debt, perhaps. Household debt is around $11-12trillion. Federal debt (without future obligations) is around $12trillion.

The current deficit, including funds robbed from SS/Medicare, is around $600 billion each year. There are roughly 110 million households in American, so if you divide the FEDERAL debt equally, each year, each household has $5500 in new debt, not to mention any debt taken on by local governments and personal debt from credit cards and mortgages.

Additionally, presuming only $12trillion in Federal debt and 5% treasury bond rate, the US government pays $600 billion in INTEREST alone, and that means the Federal government must take in another $5500/yr from each and every household in America.

Add the yearly deficit and yearly interest together and the Federal government must collect $11000/yr from every household to simply break even.

Put the d@mn credit cards down Congress. Same for Americans, in general. You aren't a Rockefeller, so stop acting like one.

Re: Re: I Want Everyone to Read This
 

'People"...care to add up the number on the public payroll?

Re: Re: Re: I Want Everyone to Read This
 

The "people " is the country as a whole and it's future prospects not any particular section or demographic slice. That includes local and regional reps that justify 'pork' as just bringing home the bacon, regardless of it's intrinsic worth or effect on the rest of the country.

Bill is absolutely right. In the early 20th century, we gave power over the money supply to a few rich elitists, gave politicians a big fat checkbook and permitted them to spend our money to buy political capital for themselves.

Worse yet, people became comfortable letting government try to solve all the social ills, rather than asking people to take responsibility for themselves. The needless depression only further served to make people believe that the government must care for Americans by falsely making them believe that government ended the depression.

Since then, the government has spent our money with reckless abandon on programs that sounded well-meaning, while delivering disastrous results.

So the march continues toward serfdom, and many of you still believe that the answer lies in another government program.

In fact, the answers lie in dismantling most of the government and removing the incredible burden on those it would enslave.

If you depend on the government to secure your future, you are already a slave. You will get only what the government must give you to suppress an uprising or what it can afford. If the government is upside-down, then now you know how little you can expect.

My point is "the People", has become "the Government."

HGP,

I agree the government does employ a lot of people, but the private sector is still the primary generator of GDP.

However, one trick played on people during the Clinton administration was the claim that government was not growing because the number of federal employees had not grown. This disingenuous effort to fool the public ignored the incredible tax and regulatory burden placed on citizens as a result of the federal government and the degree to which they had increased.

The burdensome effect of the federal government should be measured in how much it steals from the private sector in absolute dollars and how much their regulations cost businesses and individuals on an inflation adjusted basis.

When the fed takes in less money, spends less money and creates less regulatory burden, then government growth will turn the corner in the right direction.

IIRC, the feds are the only govt entity that can run a deficit by law. It's been a long time since I took that course, but I know cities, villages, towns and counties must present a balanced budget.

"Private" sector.

Go to a local monthly municipal council meeting. Count the number of times the gavel drops....."measure adopted," "measure adopted", "measure adopted", ....the ramifications and by whom..... When is the last time you heard "measure rescinded?"

The definition of "private" can be rather skewered

Welcome aboard...!

Tilting clock...Incredible hey...!
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/