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National Debt Clocks and Savings Clocks |
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The debt's a problem, but we fixed a worse one before!
• Truman, Ike, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Carter wiped out most of the World War II debt. • Two parts of the federal government are running big surpluses.
• We are going to hit a 50-year high for debt as a percent of the economy (GDP).
The eye-popping $8 trillion gross national debt is owed by the "General Fund." That's the part funded by our income taxes. Half of that goes for the military and to pay interest on the debt. Fortunately two huge parts of the budget, Social Security and Medicare, are running huge surpluses.
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Accumulated Debt/Savings
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# secs.
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| Borrowed by the General Fund |
– $ #* |
$ # |
| Income: Income taxes. Outgo: Defense 30%, Interest 19%, ... |
| Saved by the Social Security Trust |
+ $ error |
$ error |
| Income: FICA Payroll taxes. Outgo: Benefits and disability |
| Saved by other Gov. Trust Funds |
+ $ # |
$ error |
| Income: FICA & gas taxes. Outgo: Medicare, highways, etc. |
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| Debt Held by the Public (net debt) |
– $ error† |
$ error |
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| * Gross National Debt † Debt Held by the Public Debt Clock Source Data |
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When politicians (of both parties) talk about the debt, they don't like talking about $8 trillion, so they add up all the funds, as shown above, and talk about the "debt held by the public." They call this the "national debt," and they call its yearly increase the "deficit."
But this way of talking makes it sound like the money put into Social Security and into government and military pensions funds, all of which is borrowed by the General Fund (AKA federal funds), is not owed to the public. But it is. That money came from everyone's paychecks (FICA) and is owed to them in retirement. Every president has promised to keep that money safe. So, really, the whole $8 trillion is owed to the public.
In fact, over $2 trillion of what they call "held by the public" is actually held by foreign interests, while 100% of what is owed by Social Security is owed to Americans.
How did the General Fund (gross national debt) end up $8 trillion in the hole? Tax cuts and spending increases--largely military spending increases, plus there is a little debt left over from WWII. Check when and how did the national debt accumulate?
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The bigger red number in the "Accumulated Debt/Savings" column is the "Gross National Debt," and the smaller red number at the bottom of that column is the "debt held by the public" -- as if borrowing $2 trillion from the Social Security Trust Fund was not borrowing from the public. The smaller number is the one politicians usually talk about.
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http://zfacts.com/p/461.html | 11/14/06 00:46 GMT
Modified: Thu, 19 Oct 2006 08:36:38 GMT
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Free
National-Debt Clock
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zFacts
What is taxed?
For General Funds:
All income from wages, stocks, and companies.
For Social Security:
Only wages up to $94,200.
For Medicare:
All wages. (It's in other Gov. Trust Funds.)
What's odd about the national debt?
The two largest entitlement programs, Social Security and Medicare, are part of the two trust fund categories that are in the black.
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Amazon
Secretary of Commerce under Nixon, Peterson explains the national debt by the Republicans' pursuit of reckless supply-side economics and the Democrats' unwillingness to consider limits on entitlements.
more books
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