The Republican presidential nomination process is more than half complete, meaning Ron Paul's supporters must face a hard fact. Their candidate won't be the nominee. His delegate count is one-tenth that of Mitt Romney and only Maine has awarded Paul double-digit delegates. Even when Paul wins, he loses.
That's not to say Rep. Paul in inconsequential; he's not. But he has as much chance of winning the Republican nomination as do the Pittsburgh Pirates of winning the 2012 World Series. So, where will Paul's supporters turn in the general election? Believe it or not, the Obama campaign believes it can court alienated Paulites, citing common ground on budget issues and foreign policy.
Whatever the Obama campaign is smoking must be good stuff. Had it been available at Haight-Ashbury, the Summer of Love would've lasted a decade. Give the President's advisors an "A" in spin, but the idea of Paul's supporters voting Obama is pure fantasy.
Rep. Paul pledged to cut $1 trillion from federal spending immediately upon taking office. He'd like to repeal the 16th Amendment and abolish inheritance and capital gains taxes. Ron Paul might settle for auditing the Federal Reserve, but he'd prefer to eliminate it outright. And voters attracted to these fiscal positions will back Obama's reelection? Fat chance, Barry!
It's true that Candidate Obama preached fiscal restraint, criticized Bush's "unpatriotic" deficit spending, and promised budgetary discipline. His campaign rhetoric left spendthrift Republicans little room to criticize tax and spend liberalism. But President Obama is accumulating debt at a rate that makes "W" appear cautious. Three years into Obama's presidency we've increased debt from $10 trillion to $15.5 trillion, give or take a hundred billion. Trillion dollar annual deficits are the new normal. Welfare and food stamp participation has risen, and Washington has seized control of the healthcare industry.
Obama and Paul are as far apart fiscally as the East is from the West. And the notion that Obama's foreign policies will appeal to Paul's base is even more far-fetched.
Ron Paul is non-interventionist to the point of being isolationist. On Paul's ideal plane there would be no appreciable U.S. military presence in the Middle East, Asia, or Europe. And we certainly wouldn't commit forces to wars that Washington exhibits no apparent interest in winning. For right or wrong Ron Paul would bring home the troops.
Obama is following the nation-building war strategy he once condemned. Yes, we've withdrawn from Iraq, but on a timetable determined before Obama took office. The mission in Afghanistan is muddled, American aircraft are bombing targets inside Pakistan, Libya, and Yemen, and the administration seems content to subvert congressional authority and seek permission from NATO and the UN to intervene in Syria.
In terms of governing philosophy, Barack Obama is to Ron Paul what Karl Marx is to Thomas Jefferson. Only epic absurdity could prompt Obama's campaign to believe it can woo supporters from a man who is the President's ideological polar opposite.
Showing posts with label national debt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label national debt. Show all posts
Monday, March 19, 2012
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Reagan speaks on deficits, spending, and debt
Government spending and national defense are among the key topics whenever Ronald Reagan's legacy is discussed. Reagan is credited with rebuilding the military into a force capable of projecting America's presence anywhere in the world. He is also criticized for increasing the national debt even though federal revenues increased during his administration, which is an indictment of Congress' long-term lack of fiscal discipline.
Today's America can only long for the late Ronald Reagan's leadership. Then again, perhaps he's still on the job. A portion of his legacy can help us appreciate our military prowess while simultaneously understanding our unimaginable indebtedness.
The Gipper would certainly be pleased with the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), a state-of-the-art warship right down to the life rafts. The USS Reagan epitomizes the term "supercarrier." With a 90-aircraft air wing, fire and forget missile defenses, and various radar, jamming, and countermeasure systems, the Reagan is adequately equipped to fulfill the former President's defensive strategies.
Since its commission in 2003 the Reagan has indeed impressed America's military might on all who see her. She's a crowning achievement in technology, maneuverability, speed, and reliability. For some Americans the Reagan represents the nation's commitment to excellence and innovation, and complements the former President's "peace through strength" ideology. But the USS Reagan stirs emotions on the other side of defense spending, too.
To Americans critical of military spending, the USS Reagan represents waste and a bully mentality. She is a $4.5 billion floating testament to misplaced national priorities. A progressive peace activist might argue that the USS Ronald Reagan is a budget-busting monument to America's military-industrial complex.
The Reagan is justified in Congress' constitutional duty to "provide and maintain a navy" (Art. I, Sect. 8). Even so, for the purpose of honest debate, a few points must be conceded to the Pentagon's detractors. Certainly there's waste in the defense budget, waste that can be trimmed without sacrificing needed upgrades, unit cohesion, or overall preparedness. Also, $4.5 billion is a pile of bucks no matter how you stack them, meaning the Reagan can illustrate our record budget deficits, federal spending, and national debt. But not in the way defense critics think.
What could each American household do with its share of the Reagan's $4.5 billion price tag? You might take the family out for pizza, but that's about all. Based on Census Bureau statistics for 2003, the USS Reagan cost each American household only $40.43, meaning the ship's construction had little impact on Washington's chaotic finances. However, it can help us understand the vastness of federal spending.
Any attentive person knows the federal deficit has grown unchecked, reaching $1.3 trillion in both 2010 and 2011. What isn't so obvious is that each $1.3 trillion in deficit spending would buy 288 aircraft carriers built to the same specs as the USS Reagan, with spare parts to boot. The federal government spent $3.6 trillion last year alone, a total that could build the Reagan 800 times. Based on the accumulated national debt -- currently $14.8 trillion and closing in on 100-percent of GDP -- we have borrowed enough money to provide the USS Ronald Reagan with 3,288 sister ships, again with spare parts leftover.
If many aircraft carriers are a good policy, are bigger aircraft carriers a better policy? Just how big would the USS Reagan be if its size were measured in federal spending? Dividing the ship's final construction cost by its overall length ($4.5 billion/1092 feet) shows that each foot of the Reagan cost the taxpayer $4.12 million. How much carrier can we then buy? Well, that depends on the chosen model.
The "Annual Red Ink" class, based on our $1.3 trillion deficit, could build a "supercarrier" measuring 315,533 feet from bow to stern. And that's the dove version. A more hawkish model, the "Yearly Expenditures" class (based on $3.6 trillion in annual spending), sails at an overall length of 873,876 feet. Now that's a "super-supercarrier." Not enough? Try the "National Debt" class, a genuine "super-duper-supercarrier," boasting a flight deck 3,592,233 feet long.
The USS Reagan's actual 1092-foot long flight deck is impressive. But the enormity of a carrier deck based on the aforementioned numbers is unimaginable. For ease of comprehension let's convert the feet into miles and apply the results geographically.
The "Annual Red Ink" class of aircraft carrier would be 59.75 miles long, approximately half the length of Long Island, NY. The "Yearly Expenditures" class, at 165 miles long, would stretch from Atlanta, GA to Montgomery, AL. Saving the best for last, a pilot on the "National Debt" class could travel from New York City to Myrtle Beach, SC and never leave the flight deck.
The point of this illustration isn't that America should've constructed 3,288 aircraft carriers. The point is to highlight the central government's disregard for its fiduciary duties. Washington spends a trillion dollars like the rest of us put change in a Coke machine. Slick-talking politicians can continue their lies, pretending to understand the fiscal mess they've created. But thanks to the USS Ronald Reagan and a 13-digit calculator, politicians can't continue bankrupting this country while believing the public is ignorant of the disservice they're committing.
Today's America can only long for the late Ronald Reagan's leadership. Then again, perhaps he's still on the job. A portion of his legacy can help us appreciate our military prowess while simultaneously understanding our unimaginable indebtedness.
The Gipper would certainly be pleased with the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), a state-of-the-art warship right down to the life rafts. The USS Reagan epitomizes the term "supercarrier." With a 90-aircraft air wing, fire and forget missile defenses, and various radar, jamming, and countermeasure systems, the Reagan is adequately equipped to fulfill the former President's defensive strategies.
Since its commission in 2003 the Reagan has indeed impressed America's military might on all who see her. She's a crowning achievement in technology, maneuverability, speed, and reliability. For some Americans the Reagan represents the nation's commitment to excellence and innovation, and complements the former President's "peace through strength" ideology. But the USS Reagan stirs emotions on the other side of defense spending, too.
To Americans critical of military spending, the USS Reagan represents waste and a bully mentality. She is a $4.5 billion floating testament to misplaced national priorities. A progressive peace activist might argue that the USS Ronald Reagan is a budget-busting monument to America's military-industrial complex.
The Reagan is justified in Congress' constitutional duty to "provide and maintain a navy" (Art. I, Sect. 8). Even so, for the purpose of honest debate, a few points must be conceded to the Pentagon's detractors. Certainly there's waste in the defense budget, waste that can be trimmed without sacrificing needed upgrades, unit cohesion, or overall preparedness. Also, $4.5 billion is a pile of bucks no matter how you stack them, meaning the Reagan can illustrate our record budget deficits, federal spending, and national debt. But not in the way defense critics think.
What could each American household do with its share of the Reagan's $4.5 billion price tag? You might take the family out for pizza, but that's about all. Based on Census Bureau statistics for 2003, the USS Reagan cost each American household only $40.43, meaning the ship's construction had little impact on Washington's chaotic finances. However, it can help us understand the vastness of federal spending.
Any attentive person knows the federal deficit has grown unchecked, reaching $1.3 trillion in both 2010 and 2011. What isn't so obvious is that each $1.3 trillion in deficit spending would buy 288 aircraft carriers built to the same specs as the USS Reagan, with spare parts to boot. The federal government spent $3.6 trillion last year alone, a total that could build the Reagan 800 times. Based on the accumulated national debt -- currently $14.8 trillion and closing in on 100-percent of GDP -- we have borrowed enough money to provide the USS Ronald Reagan with 3,288 sister ships, again with spare parts leftover.
If many aircraft carriers are a good policy, are bigger aircraft carriers a better policy? Just how big would the USS Reagan be if its size were measured in federal spending? Dividing the ship's final construction cost by its overall length ($4.5 billion/1092 feet) shows that each foot of the Reagan cost the taxpayer $4.12 million. How much carrier can we then buy? Well, that depends on the chosen model.
The "Annual Red Ink" class, based on our $1.3 trillion deficit, could build a "supercarrier" measuring 315,533 feet from bow to stern. And that's the dove version. A more hawkish model, the "Yearly Expenditures" class (based on $3.6 trillion in annual spending), sails at an overall length of 873,876 feet. Now that's a "super-supercarrier." Not enough? Try the "National Debt" class, a genuine "super-duper-supercarrier," boasting a flight deck 3,592,233 feet long.
The USS Reagan's actual 1092-foot long flight deck is impressive. But the enormity of a carrier deck based on the aforementioned numbers is unimaginable. For ease of comprehension let's convert the feet into miles and apply the results geographically.
The "Annual Red Ink" class of aircraft carrier would be 59.75 miles long, approximately half the length of Long Island, NY. The "Yearly Expenditures" class, at 165 miles long, would stretch from Atlanta, GA to Montgomery, AL. Saving the best for last, a pilot on the "National Debt" class could travel from New York City to Myrtle Beach, SC and never leave the flight deck.
The point of this illustration isn't that America should've constructed 3,288 aircraft carriers. The point is to highlight the central government's disregard for its fiduciary duties. Washington spends a trillion dollars like the rest of us put change in a Coke machine. Slick-talking politicians can continue their lies, pretending to understand the fiscal mess they've created. But thanks to the USS Ronald Reagan and a 13-digit calculator, politicians can't continue bankrupting this country while believing the public is ignorant of the disservice they're committing.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
America’s chickens are roosting in a train wreck
Rev. Jeremiah Wright infamously declared that America’s chickens had come home to roost. He was speaking of the 9/11 attacks, and his opinion brought him well-deserved scorn. The loosest of canons in the Trinity United Church of Christ may have been justified had he said America’s chickens would roost in the Congressional Rotunda or the Obama White House.
Like hens and roosters, our alleged representatives preened and crowed over the debt ceiling deal they hammered together earlier this week. They’ve mugged for the cameras of a cooperative media, patted each other on the back, and flashed the "thumbs-up" sign. After finishing their latest work -- "on behalf of the American people" -- our federal rulers were all smiles while mopping their brows as if they had just dug a four-mile ditch through rocky ground.
Washington may view their latest contribution to American insolvency as reason to spike the football and exchange high-fives all around. But those of us in the great unwashed see their work as one collective mooning from 535 juvenile delinquents, plus one gigantic bird-flipping from the Delinquent-in-Chief. We’ve been had . . . again! Washington dug a ditch, no doubt. But through that ditch will flow a torrent of red ink, drowning yet another generation of unborn Americans in a debt they didn’t create, authorize, or deserve.
The entire debt ceiling debate was predicated on falsehoods. Didn’t our betters tell us a debt ceiling increase was essential to preventing default and maintaining the nation's stellar credit rating? Wasn't increasing our debt the only way to prevent a stock market collapse? Washington employed a scorched earth strategy on the American people, using misrepresentations and utter lies to instill a false fear in the population. Moody’s promised a wait-and-see attitude toward the latest Washington spending spree and Standard & Poor's issued a downgrade, exactly what the debt ceiling increase was promised to prevent. If our credit rating sinks it will join the New York Stock Exchange, which has faltered since government announced it had approved itself for a new series of loans.
Factually, can extending the national debt breed confidence in America's national creditworthiness, considering the current debt isn't being repaid? If you or I attempted a similar stunt we’d be arrested, tried, and jailed for credit fraud. At the least we’d see our credit lines cancelled and be forced to live within our means. However, to our federal house of lords, living within our collective means makes as much sense as the evening news from Jupiter’s third moon. Nothing has changed. Washington will go on pretending it can borrow its way out of debt, which is as logical as trying to dive out of the ocean.
Not even the numbers make sense. Of course, it’s difficult to imagine numbers in the trillions. So let’s put them in perspective. If each dollar of the current $14.57 trillion national debt equaled one second of time, the total debt would equal 462,011 years. And we don’t have a debt problem? The figures Washington elites have tossed about don’t add up, either.
The debt ceiling deal promises spending cuts of $2.1 trillion over 10 years, or $210 billion annually. Conversely, the government can now borrow an additional $2.4 trillion, which will satisfy Washington’s credit appetite only until 2013. We can add another $3.3 trillion in federal tax revenues to what Washington will “borrow” over the next 16 months. If the intent weren't to spend the entire $3.3 trillion, the borrowed funds wouldn’t be necessary. And if the borrowing will only feed the government beast for 16 months, the intent must be to spend all revenues, both collected and borrowed. Thus Congress and the White House plan to blow through $5.7 trillion by January 2013, an average of $356 billion per month.
Math isn’t my strongest subject. Maybe it isn’t yours either. But this much I know; $5.7 trillion dollars spent in less than a year-and-a-half exceeds $2.1 trillion saved over ten years. And we must accept on faith that the promised “cuts” will actually materialize. Faith, in this case, may as well be a synonym for naiveté. You might have faith in the innate goodness of the snarling pit bull inside your neighbor’s fence. But stick your leg through the gate and the dog will gnaw it to the bone. Government is gnawing us, too, in the wallet and elsewhere.
The debt ceiling plan is pure fantasy. J.K. Rowling couldn’t have written it better. The spending reductions don’t exist. They’re a magician’s trick, at best only slight reductions in the rate of growth. The new debt limit, which will undoubtedly be raised again once it's reached, is our rulers' solemn pledge to spend this nation into oblivion.
The federal government is a runaway train, hurtling down a steep grade and gaining speed. With the cliff in sight, Engineer Obama is pushing the throttle full forward while Senators and Representatives from both parties shovel coal into the firebox. If we don’t pull the brake, hard and quick, the most dynamic economic engine the world has ever known will be a smoldering hunk of mangled steel. All the while our federal chickens cluck, strut, and preen over their latest bipartisan compromise.
Rev. Wright may be proven a prophet after all. America’s chickens are coming home to roost . . . in a train wreck.
Like hens and roosters, our alleged representatives preened and crowed over the debt ceiling deal they hammered together earlier this week. They’ve mugged for the cameras of a cooperative media, patted each other on the back, and flashed the "thumbs-up" sign. After finishing their latest work -- "on behalf of the American people" -- our federal rulers were all smiles while mopping their brows as if they had just dug a four-mile ditch through rocky ground.
Washington may view their latest contribution to American insolvency as reason to spike the football and exchange high-fives all around. But those of us in the great unwashed see their work as one collective mooning from 535 juvenile delinquents, plus one gigantic bird-flipping from the Delinquent-in-Chief. We’ve been had . . . again! Washington dug a ditch, no doubt. But through that ditch will flow a torrent of red ink, drowning yet another generation of unborn Americans in a debt they didn’t create, authorize, or deserve.
The entire debt ceiling debate was predicated on falsehoods. Didn’t our betters tell us a debt ceiling increase was essential to preventing default and maintaining the nation's stellar credit rating? Wasn't increasing our debt the only way to prevent a stock market collapse? Washington employed a scorched earth strategy on the American people, using misrepresentations and utter lies to instill a false fear in the population. Moody’s promised a wait-and-see attitude toward the latest Washington spending spree and Standard & Poor's issued a downgrade, exactly what the debt ceiling increase was promised to prevent. If our credit rating sinks it will join the New York Stock Exchange, which has faltered since government announced it had approved itself for a new series of loans.
Factually, can extending the national debt breed confidence in America's national creditworthiness, considering the current debt isn't being repaid? If you or I attempted a similar stunt we’d be arrested, tried, and jailed for credit fraud. At the least we’d see our credit lines cancelled and be forced to live within our means. However, to our federal house of lords, living within our collective means makes as much sense as the evening news from Jupiter’s third moon. Nothing has changed. Washington will go on pretending it can borrow its way out of debt, which is as logical as trying to dive out of the ocean.
Not even the numbers make sense. Of course, it’s difficult to imagine numbers in the trillions. So let’s put them in perspective. If each dollar of the current $14.57 trillion national debt equaled one second of time, the total debt would equal 462,011 years. And we don’t have a debt problem? The figures Washington elites have tossed about don’t add up, either.
The debt ceiling deal promises spending cuts of $2.1 trillion over 10 years, or $210 billion annually. Conversely, the government can now borrow an additional $2.4 trillion, which will satisfy Washington’s credit appetite only until 2013. We can add another $3.3 trillion in federal tax revenues to what Washington will “borrow” over the next 16 months. If the intent weren't to spend the entire $3.3 trillion, the borrowed funds wouldn’t be necessary. And if the borrowing will only feed the government beast for 16 months, the intent must be to spend all revenues, both collected and borrowed. Thus Congress and the White House plan to blow through $5.7 trillion by January 2013, an average of $356 billion per month.
Math isn’t my strongest subject. Maybe it isn’t yours either. But this much I know; $5.7 trillion dollars spent in less than a year-and-a-half exceeds $2.1 trillion saved over ten years. And we must accept on faith that the promised “cuts” will actually materialize. Faith, in this case, may as well be a synonym for naiveté. You might have faith in the innate goodness of the snarling pit bull inside your neighbor’s fence. But stick your leg through the gate and the dog will gnaw it to the bone. Government is gnawing us, too, in the wallet and elsewhere.
The debt ceiling plan is pure fantasy. J.K. Rowling couldn’t have written it better. The spending reductions don’t exist. They’re a magician’s trick, at best only slight reductions in the rate of growth. The new debt limit, which will undoubtedly be raised again once it's reached, is our rulers' solemn pledge to spend this nation into oblivion.
The federal government is a runaway train, hurtling down a steep grade and gaining speed. With the cliff in sight, Engineer Obama is pushing the throttle full forward while Senators and Representatives from both parties shovel coal into the firebox. If we don’t pull the brake, hard and quick, the most dynamic economic engine the world has ever known will be a smoldering hunk of mangled steel. All the while our federal chickens cluck, strut, and preen over their latest bipartisan compromise.
Rev. Wright may be proven a prophet after all. America’s chickens are coming home to roost . . . in a train wreck.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Live to spend, spend to live
Vice President Joe Biden sticks his foot in his mouth so often that he's developed athlete's tongue. The news flash comes when Biden doesn't say something eccentric, unpredictable, or just plain stupid. So it was no great revelation to hear he'd accused Tea Party Republicans of behaving like terrorists during the debt limit debate. It's also no surprise that he denied making the comment that everyone within earshot clearly heard.
That's just Joe being Joe, right? He has a long history of uttering inanities at the worst possible moment. Sometimes his gaffes unintentionally reveal hidden truths. While Biden was merely blowing his usual hot air with his "terrorist" comment, Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA) can't make the same claim. He pulled a "Biden" in the same meeting, and inadvertently revealed a not-so-secret truth about Washington politics.
Doyle also called congressional conservatives -- unquestionably an endangered species -- terrorists. But he went a step farther, revealing far more about the D.C. mindset, and the Democrat Party, than he intended. Opined Rep. Doyle, "This small group of terrorists have [sic] made it impossible to spend any money."
Impossible to spend any money? If that doesn't summarize the bedrock problem in both Washington and the Democrat Party, what does? The United States faces annual budget deficits of more than $1.5 trillion, a national debt at 98-percent of GDP and growing, unfunded liabilities (SSI, Medicare, etc.) in excess of $114 trillion, and a reduction in our credit rating. Those realities should offend everyone. But a politician complains about the possibility of not spending the taxpayer's money. No wonder America's fiscal house is in such disarray.
Of course, you can blame Republicans for overspending, too. And you'd be right. But for Republicans, overspending is born of cowardice. They're afraid of being blamed for cutting a favored program, or of receiving unfavorable press. Therefore, they sacrifice genuine Republican principles on the altar of federal largess. For Democrats, spending doesn't result from cowardice; it's an addiction.
Ironically, Doyle's comment is completely bogus. Tea Party supporters aren't terrorists and they haven't made it impossible to spend money. In fact, the day hasn't been invented when Washington experienced difficulty spending. Running a deficit? Spend some money. A recent debt ceiling increase? Spend more money. Demonize your enemies, perhaps by calling them terrorists? Spend still more money.
Theoretically, Doyle's intent was to demonize the few conservative Republicans that still remain in Washington. But he has committed a "Biden." While attempting to slander a political opponent, Doyle exposed his party's soul, and that of Washington overall. Politicians live to spend and spend to live. They are drawn to the next federal program like a heroine addict to the next injection. Mike Doyle has affirmed the obvious; being a Democrat is to scorn fiscal discipline and financial restraint. If only fewer Republicans shared his view.
That's just Joe being Joe, right? He has a long history of uttering inanities at the worst possible moment. Sometimes his gaffes unintentionally reveal hidden truths. While Biden was merely blowing his usual hot air with his "terrorist" comment, Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA) can't make the same claim. He pulled a "Biden" in the same meeting, and inadvertently revealed a not-so-secret truth about Washington politics.
Doyle also called congressional conservatives -- unquestionably an endangered species -- terrorists. But he went a step farther, revealing far more about the D.C. mindset, and the Democrat Party, than he intended. Opined Rep. Doyle, "This small group of terrorists have [sic] made it impossible to spend any money."
Impossible to spend any money? If that doesn't summarize the bedrock problem in both Washington and the Democrat Party, what does? The United States faces annual budget deficits of more than $1.5 trillion, a national debt at 98-percent of GDP and growing, unfunded liabilities (SSI, Medicare, etc.) in excess of $114 trillion, and a reduction in our credit rating. Those realities should offend everyone. But a politician complains about the possibility of not spending the taxpayer's money. No wonder America's fiscal house is in such disarray.
Of course, you can blame Republicans for overspending, too. And you'd be right. But for Republicans, overspending is born of cowardice. They're afraid of being blamed for cutting a favored program, or of receiving unfavorable press. Therefore, they sacrifice genuine Republican principles on the altar of federal largess. For Democrats, spending doesn't result from cowardice; it's an addiction.
Ironically, Doyle's comment is completely bogus. Tea Party supporters aren't terrorists and they haven't made it impossible to spend money. In fact, the day hasn't been invented when Washington experienced difficulty spending. Running a deficit? Spend some money. A recent debt ceiling increase? Spend more money. Demonize your enemies, perhaps by calling them terrorists? Spend still more money.
Theoretically, Doyle's intent was to demonize the few conservative Republicans that still remain in Washington. But he has committed a "Biden." While attempting to slander a political opponent, Doyle exposed his party's soul, and that of Washington overall. Politicians live to spend and spend to live. They are drawn to the next federal program like a heroine addict to the next injection. Mike Doyle has affirmed the obvious; being a Democrat is to scorn fiscal discipline and financial restraint. If only fewer Republicans shared his view.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Stark reality on the debt ceiling
The debt ceiling debate is a political charade. Democrats are simply doing what they’ve previously done. The threat about a government shutdown is an empty political bluff. No reasonable person can claim the government hasn’t acquired too much debt. So, extending the debt limit means the government’s credit card doesn’t run dry.
This opinion of the debt ceiling debate sounds like a synopsis of the Rush Limbaugh Program. But it’s not. Actually, California Rep. Pete Stark provided this analysis of the debt ceiling debate. And just so there are no misconceptions, let’s affirm that Rep. Stark has no political commonality with Limbaugh.
If governing left is described as walking westward, Pete Stark has one foot in the Pacific Ocean. A brief review of his record provides all the testimony required to convict Pete Stark as one of Congress’ most fervent liberals. He is a man in love with his position; a man superior to his great unwashed constituency. In short, he is the kind of politician we would expect to manipulate the debt limit extension for personal gain.
This is Pete Stark, who once quipped to an ObamaCare opponent, “I wouldn’t dignify you by peeing on your leg. It wouldn’t be worth the waste of urine.” This is Pete Stark, who believes the federal government faces few, if any, constitutional restraints. Rep. Stark is a Washington insider, thoroughly versed in political grandstanding and gamesmanship. For him to call the debt limit debate a “political charade” is like Bill Clinton declining a bimbo’s phone number.
Pete Stark’s candor confirms what the astute observer has long believed about the debt ceiling. Political chicanery is driving this crisis. The Beltway establishment, at work in both political parties, is using the debt ceiling to sow doubt and fear in the American public. Politicians are defending their turf, forecasting calamitous ruin unless their way is followed. The elderly will die, the nation will default and ruin our bond rating, and total chaos will ensue. It’s all spin, a dastardly charade.
Debt ceiling or not, revenue will remain available for the federal government’s essential obligations. Federal revenue averages $180 billion to $210 billion per month. Debt interest and Social Security payments consume about $100 billion per month. Moody’s threat to lower the United State’s AAA rating is tied more to Washington’s failure to reduce deficit spending than failing to increase debt. So, if the debt ceiling isn’t raised and the projected calamities ensue, we should blame government demagogues (mostly liberals) whose political security depends on creating public fear and paralysis.
Only Pete Stark knows if he intentionally exposed Washington’s manipulation of the debt limit debate. Purposeful or not, he was right on target. What we’re witnessing is a charade, pure political theatre. Americans are being led down a primrose path by blind guides whose only concern is spinning the situation for favorable media play and campaign talking points. That is the debt ceiling debate’s stark reality.
This opinion of the debt ceiling debate sounds like a synopsis of the Rush Limbaugh Program. But it’s not. Actually, California Rep. Pete Stark provided this analysis of the debt ceiling debate. And just so there are no misconceptions, let’s affirm that Rep. Stark has no political commonality with Limbaugh.
If governing left is described as walking westward, Pete Stark has one foot in the Pacific Ocean. A brief review of his record provides all the testimony required to convict Pete Stark as one of Congress’ most fervent liberals. He is a man in love with his position; a man superior to his great unwashed constituency. In short, he is the kind of politician we would expect to manipulate the debt limit extension for personal gain.
This is Pete Stark, who once quipped to an ObamaCare opponent, “I wouldn’t dignify you by peeing on your leg. It wouldn’t be worth the waste of urine.” This is Pete Stark, who believes the federal government faces few, if any, constitutional restraints. Rep. Stark is a Washington insider, thoroughly versed in political grandstanding and gamesmanship. For him to call the debt limit debate a “political charade” is like Bill Clinton declining a bimbo’s phone number.
Pete Stark’s candor confirms what the astute observer has long believed about the debt ceiling. Political chicanery is driving this crisis. The Beltway establishment, at work in both political parties, is using the debt ceiling to sow doubt and fear in the American public. Politicians are defending their turf, forecasting calamitous ruin unless their way is followed. The elderly will die, the nation will default and ruin our bond rating, and total chaos will ensue. It’s all spin, a dastardly charade.
Debt ceiling or not, revenue will remain available for the federal government’s essential obligations. Federal revenue averages $180 billion to $210 billion per month. Debt interest and Social Security payments consume about $100 billion per month. Moody’s threat to lower the United State’s AAA rating is tied more to Washington’s failure to reduce deficit spending than failing to increase debt. So, if the debt ceiling isn’t raised and the projected calamities ensue, we should blame government demagogues (mostly liberals) whose political security depends on creating public fear and paralysis.
Only Pete Stark knows if he intentionally exposed Washington’s manipulation of the debt limit debate. Purposeful or not, he was right on target. What we’re witnessing is a charade, pure political theatre. Americans are being led down a primrose path by blind guides whose only concern is spinning the situation for favorable media play and campaign talking points. That is the debt ceiling debate’s stark reality.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Why do we go to the polls?
Tea Partiers have waited nearly two years for this Election Day. We’ve dreamed about it, worked toward it and suffered unsubstantiated slanders for our efforts. Our opponents, who live for the Washington establishment, call us racists, xenophobes, homophobes, Islamophobes and the sexually derisive “tea-baggers.” We’re Limbaugh’s, Beck’s and Hannity’s puppets, intellectually vapid and thoroughly Neanderthal.
Such derision is unwarranted but not surprising. When an ideology is under assault its adherents will fight. Therefore the Washington establishment--well represented in both dominant parties--is retaliating against the Tea Party, for we threaten to tear the playhouse down.
We’ve traveled a long road to this day and many a long road lies ahead. With polls showing large conservative gains across the electoral spectrum complacency becomes a danger. We must send a loud message on November 2nd. And our motivation lies in the reasons the Tea Party was born, why it grew, and why it’s redefining the two party system.
Our national balance sheet is corrupt. The debt is $13 trillion, give or take a few hundred billion. That’s roughly an entire year’s worth of national production. Obama, who campaigned on reducing deficits, has proposed a $9.7 trillion increase in debt over the next ten years. Yet our federal “representatives” claim the answer lies in more government, higher taxes and an expansive cradle-to-grave welfare state. Therefore we go to the polls.
Social Security and Medicare are runaway trains hurtling toward a washed-out bridge. There is no Social Security trust fund and the touted “surplus” is but an accounting gimmick backed by worthless IOUs. Medicare is just as bad, if not worse. The Part D prescription drug plan and Obamacare only expand the problem.
Productive Americans--rich, poor and in between--are taxed to fund programs for the dependent. Politicians tantalize ignorant voters with promises to soak “evil” corporations and institute mythical visions of regulatory “fairness.” Yet the costs of such measures are paid by people, not legal entities. Each tax, each burdensome regulation is absorbed by the people, for the cost is passed to the consumer. Economists call this phenomenon the “unseen consequence.” It’s time we, the unseen consequences, were both seen and heard. Therefore we go to the polls.
We must repeal the onerous healthcare bill that promises high costs, poor service and shoddy results while granting enormous power--and the probability of abuse--to the central government. A majority of Americans, even if those who aren’t Tea Party activists, want this law repealed. Furthermore, it is another unconstitutional program sold to us “for our own good.” Therefore we go to the polls.
We are tired of arrogant “public servants” like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who invents Bible passages to promote her global warming agenda. She holds our freedom, the U.S. Constitution and her duty to both in utter contempt. Truth and honesty aren’t character traits for Nancy Pelosi; they are obstacles to overcome. This woman is unfit to hold public office, much less the Speaker’s gavel. Therefore we go to the polls.
Sen. Harry Reid thinks you and I stink. We, the great unwashed, are just too gamey for his aristocratic olfactory. When the Capitol Visitors Center opened Reid expressed his joy. A sensible, reasonable person would’ve been happy for the Americans who would no longer wait in the broiling sun to tour Congress. Not Reid! The air conditioned center meant no more smelly peasants near his office. Frankly, a herd of filthy goats couldn’t stink up the Capitol like Sen. Harry Reid and his ilk have done.
Reid ramrodded the healthcare overall into law despite deep objections from a sizeable number of Americans. Oppose amnesty and you’re racist in Harry Reid’s world. He is arrogant, unresponsive, sanctimonious and insulting. Even Reid’s own son views him as damaged goods, shunning the family name while running for the Nevada governorship. Therefore we go to the polls.
On Tuesday we strip power from the tyrants who kept the healthcare bill hidden, changed it indiscriminately, lied about its content and their pledge for an open review, and then passed it via a secretive, backroom vote. The bill itself was unreadable; a labyrinth of legalese, vagaries and cross references intended to prevent public understanding. Supporters of Obamacare blithely told us how wonderful the legislation would be for all Americans, yet said that the bill must pass before we can know what’s in it. Not even Sen. Max Baucus, the bill’s alleged author, bothered to read this nonsense before it became law. It’s naïve to think Congressmen and Senators read these large bills. But their contempt for our intelligence can’t go unchallenged. Therefore we go to the polls.
We go to the polls to prevent cap and trade from sacrificing our economy to an unproven theory. We go to the polls so card check won’t transform employer-employee relationships into one-sided AFL-CIO/SEIU playgrounds, which will ultimately fund our further demise. We go to the polls to correct our fiscal future and secure our national sovereignty.
Government is too large. It is unmanageable and unrestrained. Our representatives have stretched government far beyond its constitutional limits while scoffing at the Tenth Amendment, state sovereignty, property rights and individual liberty. We go to the polls to save the greatest hope for human liberty from a destructive Marxist agenda.
Ultimately, the reason we go to the polls is to fire the first salvos in a long and arduous revolution--fought each election cycle, as our Founders intended--to restore constitutional principles, fiscal sanity and common sense to American government at all levels. And we do this not only for ourselves. We go to the polls for our posterity, that future Americans may live as government’s masters, not its servants. We go to the polls because we are liberty’s last line of defense.
Such derision is unwarranted but not surprising. When an ideology is under assault its adherents will fight. Therefore the Washington establishment--well represented in both dominant parties--is retaliating against the Tea Party, for we threaten to tear the playhouse down.
We’ve traveled a long road to this day and many a long road lies ahead. With polls showing large conservative gains across the electoral spectrum complacency becomes a danger. We must send a loud message on November 2nd. And our motivation lies in the reasons the Tea Party was born, why it grew, and why it’s redefining the two party system.
Our national balance sheet is corrupt. The debt is $13 trillion, give or take a few hundred billion. That’s roughly an entire year’s worth of national production. Obama, who campaigned on reducing deficits, has proposed a $9.7 trillion increase in debt over the next ten years. Yet our federal “representatives” claim the answer lies in more government, higher taxes and an expansive cradle-to-grave welfare state. Therefore we go to the polls.
Social Security and Medicare are runaway trains hurtling toward a washed-out bridge. There is no Social Security trust fund and the touted “surplus” is but an accounting gimmick backed by worthless IOUs. Medicare is just as bad, if not worse. The Part D prescription drug plan and Obamacare only expand the problem.
Productive Americans--rich, poor and in between--are taxed to fund programs for the dependent. Politicians tantalize ignorant voters with promises to soak “evil” corporations and institute mythical visions of regulatory “fairness.” Yet the costs of such measures are paid by people, not legal entities. Each tax, each burdensome regulation is absorbed by the people, for the cost is passed to the consumer. Economists call this phenomenon the “unseen consequence.” It’s time we, the unseen consequences, were both seen and heard. Therefore we go to the polls.
We must repeal the onerous healthcare bill that promises high costs, poor service and shoddy results while granting enormous power--and the probability of abuse--to the central government. A majority of Americans, even if those who aren’t Tea Party activists, want this law repealed. Furthermore, it is another unconstitutional program sold to us “for our own good.” Therefore we go to the polls.
We are tired of arrogant “public servants” like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who invents Bible passages to promote her global warming agenda. She holds our freedom, the U.S. Constitution and her duty to both in utter contempt. Truth and honesty aren’t character traits for Nancy Pelosi; they are obstacles to overcome. This woman is unfit to hold public office, much less the Speaker’s gavel. Therefore we go to the polls.
Sen. Harry Reid thinks you and I stink. We, the great unwashed, are just too gamey for his aristocratic olfactory. When the Capitol Visitors Center opened Reid expressed his joy. A sensible, reasonable person would’ve been happy for the Americans who would no longer wait in the broiling sun to tour Congress. Not Reid! The air conditioned center meant no more smelly peasants near his office. Frankly, a herd of filthy goats couldn’t stink up the Capitol like Sen. Harry Reid and his ilk have done.
Reid ramrodded the healthcare overall into law despite deep objections from a sizeable number of Americans. Oppose amnesty and you’re racist in Harry Reid’s world. He is arrogant, unresponsive, sanctimonious and insulting. Even Reid’s own son views him as damaged goods, shunning the family name while running for the Nevada governorship. Therefore we go to the polls.
On Tuesday we strip power from the tyrants who kept the healthcare bill hidden, changed it indiscriminately, lied about its content and their pledge for an open review, and then passed it via a secretive, backroom vote. The bill itself was unreadable; a labyrinth of legalese, vagaries and cross references intended to prevent public understanding. Supporters of Obamacare blithely told us how wonderful the legislation would be for all Americans, yet said that the bill must pass before we can know what’s in it. Not even Sen. Max Baucus, the bill’s alleged author, bothered to read this nonsense before it became law. It’s naïve to think Congressmen and Senators read these large bills. But their contempt for our intelligence can’t go unchallenged. Therefore we go to the polls.
We go to the polls to prevent cap and trade from sacrificing our economy to an unproven theory. We go to the polls so card check won’t transform employer-employee relationships into one-sided AFL-CIO/SEIU playgrounds, which will ultimately fund our further demise. We go to the polls to correct our fiscal future and secure our national sovereignty.
Government is too large. It is unmanageable and unrestrained. Our representatives have stretched government far beyond its constitutional limits while scoffing at the Tenth Amendment, state sovereignty, property rights and individual liberty. We go to the polls to save the greatest hope for human liberty from a destructive Marxist agenda.
Ultimately, the reason we go to the polls is to fire the first salvos in a long and arduous revolution--fought each election cycle, as our Founders intended--to restore constitutional principles, fiscal sanity and common sense to American government at all levels. And we do this not only for ourselves. We go to the polls for our posterity, that future Americans may live as government’s masters, not its servants. We go to the polls because we are liberty’s last line of defense.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Looking through a Greek crystal ball
When the Dow suffered a 1000-point nosedive some experts pointed a quick finger at Greece’s financial insolvency and social disorder. I’m no international financier, but it seemed odd that such a small Mediterranean nation could so affect the U.S. markets. Are we so fragile?
Greece’s population (10.7 million) is roughly equal to Ohio’s, and only 3-percent that of the United States. Geographically, Greece is about the size of Alabama. Their 50,948 square miles is miniscule compared to the United States’ 9.28 million. Alaska is 13 times larger than Greece and seven U.S. states exceed its population.
Greece’s GDP is about 2-percent of U.S output, a drop in the proverbial bucket. Thirteen U.S. states produce greater economic activity than Greece generates. Their exports are a fraction of our own and only 5-percent of the total Greek exports find their way to American shores ($106.8 million annually). Our exports to Greece are statistically insignificant.
Given the small role Greece plays in our economy, why did our stock market react so violently to their financial and civil problems? Well, it didn’t. It turned out that a trader erroneously entered a $16 million trade as $16 billion, sparking a massive sell off and the associated panic. Greek finances didn’t trigger our slide at all. However, their unrest can disturb U.S. markets if America’s future is seen inside this Greek crystal ball.
Greek rioters have torched buildings and lobbed Molotov cocktails at police. An Athens bank was burned, killing three bank employees. Why has incivility gripped this cradle of ancient culture and civilization? According to a union leader the Greeks are loosing their rights and their future. However, what actually fueled their rage is the imminent death of the free ride.
I hesitantly paraphrase Jeremiah Wright: Greece’s financial chickens are coming home to roost. Greece has long overspent its income and juggled its books. Thus public employees enjoyed escalating salaries, extravagant pensions and numerous unsustainable perks. That gravy train has now reached the edge of the cliff and the beneficiaries refuse to let go of the caboose. The riots are the result of Greece’s dependent class, people with no intention of providing for their own needs.
This should sound familiar; America is riding the same train. Just as Greece’s fiscal insanity has created a dependent class of government workers, America has also. In fact, we have created an even greater entitlement mentality.
The United States has a burgeoning public sector while private sector hiring is stagnant. Life’s necessities have become quasi-constitutional rights in the eyes of a gullible public and a pandering, manipulative government bureaucracy. Our government, just like the Greek government, has issued promises it can’t fulfill.
Our national debt is approaching 100-percent of GDP. Social Security and Medicare are going broke, their “trust funds” depleted and their long-term obligations beyond impossible. Medicare Part D will unquestionably follow both into insolvency and now we have a national healthcare system to boot. At least Greece’s politicians are attempting government austerity. Our politicians are doubling down on a pair of deuces.
The streets of Greece could be a harbinger of things to come. What happens when our government can no longer print its way into a fraudulent form of financial solvency? What happens when those who’ve long lived on the public dole discover that the cash cow is dry? If you think they’ll sigh and say, “Oh well. Better get a job,” you’re fooling yourself. They won’t graciously accept the end of the free ride, meaning Greece’s rioting might resemble a frat party in comparison.
Greece is a prime example of rewarding demand rather than production. Political exploitation and personal selfishness have reduced the once-proud Greeks to begging at the world’s feet. Their present may be a glimpse of our future.
Orignially published at AmericanThinker.com.
Greece’s population (10.7 million) is roughly equal to Ohio’s, and only 3-percent that of the United States. Geographically, Greece is about the size of Alabama. Their 50,948 square miles is miniscule compared to the United States’ 9.28 million. Alaska is 13 times larger than Greece and seven U.S. states exceed its population.
Greece’s GDP is about 2-percent of U.S output, a drop in the proverbial bucket. Thirteen U.S. states produce greater economic activity than Greece generates. Their exports are a fraction of our own and only 5-percent of the total Greek exports find their way to American shores ($106.8 million annually). Our exports to Greece are statistically insignificant.
Given the small role Greece plays in our economy, why did our stock market react so violently to their financial and civil problems? Well, it didn’t. It turned out that a trader erroneously entered a $16 million trade as $16 billion, sparking a massive sell off and the associated panic. Greek finances didn’t trigger our slide at all. However, their unrest can disturb U.S. markets if America’s future is seen inside this Greek crystal ball.
Greek rioters have torched buildings and lobbed Molotov cocktails at police. An Athens bank was burned, killing three bank employees. Why has incivility gripped this cradle of ancient culture and civilization? According to a union leader the Greeks are loosing their rights and their future. However, what actually fueled their rage is the imminent death of the free ride.
I hesitantly paraphrase Jeremiah Wright: Greece’s financial chickens are coming home to roost. Greece has long overspent its income and juggled its books. Thus public employees enjoyed escalating salaries, extravagant pensions and numerous unsustainable perks. That gravy train has now reached the edge of the cliff and the beneficiaries refuse to let go of the caboose. The riots are the result of Greece’s dependent class, people with no intention of providing for their own needs.
This should sound familiar; America is riding the same train. Just as Greece’s fiscal insanity has created a dependent class of government workers, America has also. In fact, we have created an even greater entitlement mentality.
The United States has a burgeoning public sector while private sector hiring is stagnant. Life’s necessities have become quasi-constitutional rights in the eyes of a gullible public and a pandering, manipulative government bureaucracy. Our government, just like the Greek government, has issued promises it can’t fulfill.
Our national debt is approaching 100-percent of GDP. Social Security and Medicare are going broke, their “trust funds” depleted and their long-term obligations beyond impossible. Medicare Part D will unquestionably follow both into insolvency and now we have a national healthcare system to boot. At least Greece’s politicians are attempting government austerity. Our politicians are doubling down on a pair of deuces.
The streets of Greece could be a harbinger of things to come. What happens when our government can no longer print its way into a fraudulent form of financial solvency? What happens when those who’ve long lived on the public dole discover that the cash cow is dry? If you think they’ll sigh and say, “Oh well. Better get a job,” you’re fooling yourself. They won’t graciously accept the end of the free ride, meaning Greece’s rioting might resemble a frat party in comparison.
Greece is a prime example of rewarding demand rather than production. Political exploitation and personal selfishness have reduced the once-proud Greeks to begging at the world’s feet. Their present may be a glimpse of our future.
Orignially published at AmericanThinker.com.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Spend $400 in 15 minutes? Child’s play!
A few days before Christmas I read a newspaper report about a stolen debit card. Apparently the victim’s wallet was taken from her purse, which hung from her shoulder, while she shopped. Such a theft is a shameful indictment on human nature, especially at Christmastime. But it’s not at all surprising.
The thief wasted no time in using the ill-gotten windfall. While the victim was submitting the police report a female suspect was making purchases at the same store where the theft occurred. According to the newspaper’s account the thief spent $400 in 15 minutes.
That’s a fair amount of money. It may not be a leap-from-the-window loss, but more than most people care to lose. An employee would have to earn $50 per hour just to cover the 15 minute spending spree, based on the eight-hour day. That’s an annual salary of $104,000. Not too shabby in these economic times.
But this pickpocket went through $400 in 15 minutes. A worker must make $1600 per hour, $64,000 per week, over $3.3 million per year to earn the equivalent of what this thief stole. The CEOs of Home Depot, Motorola, eBay, and UPS don’t earn that much, according to the Forbes 2008 list of executive salaries.
The 500 CEOs on the Forbes list received a cumulative salary of $6.4 billion in 2007, making the $400 debit card theft seem like child’s play. However, I’m not condemning CEO salaries. Although CEOs are routinely demonized, their earnings are child’s play compared to the federal government’s expenditures. Do you realize that those CEOs will have to earn that $6.4 billion each and every year until 2565 to offset 2010’s federal budget of $3,550,000,000,000? That’s $3.55 trillion. I think I smell pirates, and they aren’t cruising the Somali coastline or the corporate boardroom.
CEOs would fare a little better if they pooled their $6.4 billion to combat Congress’ recently passed $290 billion increase in the debt ceiling, which will float Washington for about six weeks. CEOs need only to chip in their next 45 years worth of collective earnings to satisfy government’s increased borrowing. The entire Forbes list can be funded for their entire working lives on what the federal government can spend in a month and a half.
Let’s see how these corporate “robber barons” stack up against other significant numbers. We’ll begin with the national debt, which increases faster than the human eye can follow. According to USDebtClock.org the national debt grows by $1 million every 25 seconds, standing at $12.3 trillion. Now let that figure roll around in your head for a minute or two. How long would our CEOs have to work to fund the current debt? Only 1,926 years. And that’s assuming the debt remains static, which it doesn’t.
In reality, the debt’s growth rate will consume the collective salaries of the Forbes top 500 CEOs in just two days. As for the middle class, the debt’s growth rate will erase a $40,000 annual salary every second.
2007’s CEO salaries could pay off our Social Security obligations in 2,207 years, Medicare Part D in 2,921 years and Medicare in 11,616 years. Our unfunded liabilities exceed $107 trillion. That’s 16,744 years in CEO pay. Worse yet, these unfunded liabilities could be satisfied only if you had 80 cents for every hour that has passed since scientists say the universe was born some 15 billion years ago. Sadly, those liabilities would increase by about $3 million before you finished writing your check.
Somehow losing $400 in 15 minutes doesn’t sound so bad now. The federal government can lose $36 million in that amount of time. Keep that in mind the next time a politician says the federal budget has been cut to the bone.
The thief wasted no time in using the ill-gotten windfall. While the victim was submitting the police report a female suspect was making purchases at the same store where the theft occurred. According to the newspaper’s account the thief spent $400 in 15 minutes.
That’s a fair amount of money. It may not be a leap-from-the-window loss, but more than most people care to lose. An employee would have to earn $50 per hour just to cover the 15 minute spending spree, based on the eight-hour day. That’s an annual salary of $104,000. Not too shabby in these economic times.
But this pickpocket went through $400 in 15 minutes. A worker must make $1600 per hour, $64,000 per week, over $3.3 million per year to earn the equivalent of what this thief stole. The CEOs of Home Depot, Motorola, eBay, and UPS don’t earn that much, according to the Forbes 2008 list of executive salaries.
The 500 CEOs on the Forbes list received a cumulative salary of $6.4 billion in 2007, making the $400 debit card theft seem like child’s play. However, I’m not condemning CEO salaries. Although CEOs are routinely demonized, their earnings are child’s play compared to the federal government’s expenditures. Do you realize that those CEOs will have to earn that $6.4 billion each and every year until 2565 to offset 2010’s federal budget of $3,550,000,000,000? That’s $3.55 trillion. I think I smell pirates, and they aren’t cruising the Somali coastline or the corporate boardroom.
CEOs would fare a little better if they pooled their $6.4 billion to combat Congress’ recently passed $290 billion increase in the debt ceiling, which will float Washington for about six weeks. CEOs need only to chip in their next 45 years worth of collective earnings to satisfy government’s increased borrowing. The entire Forbes list can be funded for their entire working lives on what the federal government can spend in a month and a half.
Let’s see how these corporate “robber barons” stack up against other significant numbers. We’ll begin with the national debt, which increases faster than the human eye can follow. According to USDebtClock.org the national debt grows by $1 million every 25 seconds, standing at $12.3 trillion. Now let that figure roll around in your head for a minute or two. How long would our CEOs have to work to fund the current debt? Only 1,926 years. And that’s assuming the debt remains static, which it doesn’t.
In reality, the debt’s growth rate will consume the collective salaries of the Forbes top 500 CEOs in just two days. As for the middle class, the debt’s growth rate will erase a $40,000 annual salary every second.
2007’s CEO salaries could pay off our Social Security obligations in 2,207 years, Medicare Part D in 2,921 years and Medicare in 11,616 years. Our unfunded liabilities exceed $107 trillion. That’s 16,744 years in CEO pay. Worse yet, these unfunded liabilities could be satisfied only if you had 80 cents for every hour that has passed since scientists say the universe was born some 15 billion years ago. Sadly, those liabilities would increase by about $3 million before you finished writing your check.
Somehow losing $400 in 15 minutes doesn’t sound so bad now. The federal government can lose $36 million in that amount of time. Keep that in mind the next time a politician says the federal budget has been cut to the bone.
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