PUGalicious
08-28-2005, 06:40 PM
The following article puts our national debt into perspective. Instead of addressing the debt problem, the administration and Congress can't spend money fast enough, adding another $361 billion dollar in debt in this year's budget alone. Why should we care? This article helps explain.
Experts Warn Debt May Threaten Economy (http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050828/ap_on_re_us/drowning_in_debt_9)
By ROBERT TANNER, AP National Writer
Sun Aug 28, 9:53 AM ET
You owe $145,000. And the bill is rising every day. That's how much it would cost every American man, woman and child to pay the tab for the long-term promises the U.S. government has made to creditors, retirees, veterans and the poor.
And it's not even taking into account credit card bills, mortgages — all the debt we've racked up personally. Savings? The average American puts away barely $1 of every $100 earned.
…
A chorus of economists, government officials and elected leaders both conservative and liberal is warning that America's nonstop borrowing has put the nation on the road to a major fiscal disaster — one that could unleash plummeting home values, rocketing interest rates, lost jobs, stagnating wages and threats to government services ranging from health care to law enforcement.
David Walker, who audits the federal government's books as the U.S. comptroller general, put it starkly in an interview with the AP:
"I believe the country faces a critical crossroad and that the decisions that are made — or not made — within the next 10 years or so will have a profound effect on the future of our country, our children and our grandchildren. The problem gets bigger every day, and the tidal wave gets closer every day."
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan echoed those worries just last week, warning that the federal budget deficit hampered the nation's ability to absorb possible shocks from the soaring trade deficit and the housing boom. He criticized the nation's "hesitancy to face up to the difficult choices that will be required to resolve our looming fiscal problems."
> more (http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050828/ap_on_re_us/drowning_in_debt_9)
Experts Warn Debt May Threaten Economy (http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050828/ap_on_re_us/drowning_in_debt_9)
By ROBERT TANNER, AP National Writer
Sun Aug 28, 9:53 AM ET
You owe $145,000. And the bill is rising every day. That's how much it would cost every American man, woman and child to pay the tab for the long-term promises the U.S. government has made to creditors, retirees, veterans and the poor.
And it's not even taking into account credit card bills, mortgages — all the debt we've racked up personally. Savings? The average American puts away barely $1 of every $100 earned.
…
A chorus of economists, government officials and elected leaders both conservative and liberal is warning that America's nonstop borrowing has put the nation on the road to a major fiscal disaster — one that could unleash plummeting home values, rocketing interest rates, lost jobs, stagnating wages and threats to government services ranging from health care to law enforcement.
David Walker, who audits the federal government's books as the U.S. comptroller general, put it starkly in an interview with the AP:
"I believe the country faces a critical crossroad and that the decisions that are made — or not made — within the next 10 years or so will have a profound effect on the future of our country, our children and our grandchildren. The problem gets bigger every day, and the tidal wave gets closer every day."
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan echoed those worries just last week, warning that the federal budget deficit hampered the nation's ability to absorb possible shocks from the soaring trade deficit and the housing boom. He criticized the nation's "hesitancy to face up to the difficult choices that will be required to resolve our looming fiscal problems."
> more (http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050828/ap_on_re_us/drowning_in_debt_9)