You need to listen to this from Robert Reich.
It is relevant to today's Senate announcement that it will raise the debt ceiling. Today, the Senate approved by a vote of 52-48 an increase in the federal
debt to $9 trillion, which is expected to be reached before the end of
the year.
When "Wah" took over, the federal debt was $5.6 trillion. So by the end of
this year, W will have added about $3.4 trillion of new debt, or 38% of
the total in less than 5 years of control over the budget. $9 trillion
debt translates to $30,000 for every man, woman, and child in the US.
In a related story, there are now more millionaires and billionaires in
the US than in any time in history. In the last twelve months alone, the
number of millionaires jumped 21%, while the number of billionaires went
up by 19%. Together, this segment of the population now controls an
astounding $11 trillion in assets. Add to that that families are now getting hit
with the AMT had greater levels than ever before. Just wait until the home-owner
piggy bank runs out!
I just have one question: Dude, where's my billion?
Thursday, March 16, 2006
The U.S.- Where the Debt Just Keeps on Growin'
Posted by USWest at 3:17 PM
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9 comments:
Hear, hear, USWest! I have been harping on the debt for a while myself. I'm not surprised the Senate eventually voted to raise the debt ceiling, but I was pleasantly surprised to see it was 52-48... could it be that the politicians believe the mood of the country is turning against such massive debt?
$9 trillion. And to keep that in perspective, the latest figures show the GDP for the U.S. in 2005 was $12.76 trillion. In a recent report, Where is the Wealth of Nations? (2005) the World Bank estimated that in 2000 the U.S. commanded a total wealth of $145 trillion. The breakdown is 3% natural resources (minerals, timber, cropland), 17% actual produced goods, and 80% was intangible capital (human capital, intellectual property, etc.)
And so, while U.S. West reports that the top tier of households control a greater and greater portion of our assets, about 20% of U.S. households have zero or negative wealth (debts outweigh assets).
"Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows that the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
That's how it goes.
Everybody knows"
-Leonard Cohen, "Everybody Knows"
The Citizens may be interested in the following chart outlining US discretionary spending . Supposedly this gives you idea of what Congress is spending by proportionally sizing the bubbles. Apologies if it has been seen before.
// posted by Numbat o' Love
Times are bum and getting bummer,
Still we have fun,
There's nothing surer,
The rich get rich and the poor get . . . children
Ain't We Got Fun? (1921)
Words by Gus Kahn & Raymond B. Egan
The AMT thing is seriously annoying. It's a part of the tax code that's long outlived its usefulness and is biting people who are trying to retire, send kids to college, and be the all-around good citizens the Bush administration supposedly wants to support.
As for the home-equity piggy bank, there have been nationwide downturns in housing markets in other First World countries. Australia, anyone?
-Seventh Sister
// posted by Anonymous
Numbat, that is very cool. I wish I could get it as a poster for my wall.
// posted by UNWest
Check out the page (or the reference where I found it recently on Boing Boing ), as I think they are selling hard copies.
I wouldn't be rushing to Australia for cheap homes: current market is over 50% over valued due to the low interest rates and misguided prime minister propping up the market as a one-stop solution to getting a good economy.
// posted by Numbat o' Love
That is funny Numbat because you wrote: " . . .Congress is spending by proportionally sizing the bubbles." and when I first read it very quickly, I thought you meant that Congress was strategically inflating price bubbles and then deflating them to prop the economy. Congress really couldn't do that, but Greenspan has been accused of just that. Now you are pointing out that this is what is happening down under.
I recently heard a MarketPlace interview with some idiot who was supposed to be a specialist in the real estate market. And he was asked by the interviewer why rents are creeping up. In fact, in my area, we are seeing rents for 1 and two bedroom apartments up $200- $300 a month over what they were last year. At the same time, there are more and more for sale signs going up. I'll give you three guesses about what he said?
1. The softening housing market to to increased interest rates?
Nope.
2. So many people, especially first time buyers, are priced out of the market and thus, they have to rent?
Nope
3. The fact that property investors have the charge higher rents to cover their mortgages, insurance costs, and property taxes?
Nope.
His enlightened response: "Immigration." There are so many new immigrants flooding into the country that they are snapping up all the rentals. That is what this dipshit said. And the thing that bugs me is that people like him get a national auidence and they say stupid shit like that and no one calls them on it.
// posted by UNWest
The Democratic strategy for the fall should consist of variants on the following:
Fiscal discipline, my ass.
// posted by LTG
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