National Debt Bomb – Ticking – Ticking – Ticking

HolisticSurvival.comGreek philosopher, Cicero, who lived from 106 BC to 43 BC, had the following advice about government.

“The budget should be balanced; the treasury should be refilled; public debt should be reduced; the arrogance of public officials should be controlled.”

Well said, Cicero, well said, indeed. Now it’s time for a short history lesson. In 1791, the total American national debt was $75 million dollars. These days, that number has climbed to over $14 trillion dollars and increases by that original amount every few hours. Not surprisingly, all four points from Cicero’s quote have been laughed out of the room.

The national debt is money owed by the United States government to other entities. In case you don’t realize it, the United States government means you, the taxpayer. That is debt incurred by your leaders – public officials. Public officials you elected. Public officials whom you have allowed to become arrogant. In case you’re curious, here is the breakdown of who you owe money to.

Money owed to the Federal Reserve accounts for about 41% of the national debt. The rest is owed to private concerns, such as individuals, corporations, states, and foreign governments. These days, we owe a big chunk of change to China. The communist giant is literally propping up our economy by buying government bonds and t-bills.

Most people realize that the national debt is a term used to describe the total amount of money owed by the Federal government to other entities. This number is like a running total that accumulates higher each year. Another term you should be familiar with is the Federal deficit. This is the amount by which government spending exceeds the amount of revenue brought in by taxes. Each year another budget deficit adds a little more to the national debt. In our 200+ years of existence as a nation there have been a few oddball years in which we spent less than we took in, but it doesn’t happen often.

The dirty little secret of the Washington political class is that when they talk of budget cuts, they don’t really mean cuts at all, they’re merely referring to a slight reduction in the amount of the planned increase. It’s still an increase, just not as big as they wanted initially.

Does anyone out there in Holistic Survival land see a problem with running an economy this way? If it were a business or your personal check book, you’d be flat busted.

The Holistic Survival Team

HolisticSurvival.com

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