The U.S. National Debt is the sum of all outstanding debt owed by the U.S. Federal Government. According to TreasuryDirect.gov, approximately two-thirds is public debt, which is debt owed to the people, businesses and foreign governments who bought US Treasury Bills, Notes and Bonds. The remainder is owed by the government to itself, most of which is owed to Social Security and other trust funds, which were previously maintaining surpluses, according to an article in about.com.
The National Debt of the United States has hit an all time high: $13 trillion. This debt is climbing exponentially every day, and will continue to grow until government spending is curbed. It took the US Government 195 years (1787-1982) to create a $1 trillion debt; it has taken only six months to go from 12 trillion to 13 trillion, as reported by the US Treasury.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released figures to the UK Telegraph predicting that, by 2015, the National Debt will exceed the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The GDP is the statistic used to measure the economy. It is the sum of all goods and services produced by all the people and companies in the United States in a given year. When our debt exceeds the GDP, our nation will be bankrupt.
Alex Jones of Infowars.com wrote that, currently, the U.S. National Debt is expected to reach $13.6 trillion this year, or 93 percent of the U.S. GDP. In just five short years, the GDP is estimated to reach $19.6 trillion, which is 102.2 percent of GDP.
Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) explained what being a bankrupt nation would mean for the United States in an interview with Fox News Anchor Greta Van Susteren. The senator said:
“What it means is that we as a nation basically borrow from other nations in order to finance our ability to do what we want to do as a government and as a people. And people will simply say, Oh, I’m not so sure I’m going to buy your debt any longer, or if I am going to buy your debt, I’m going to charge you such a premium that it’s going to be very expensive for you. And in the end, it means that the quality of the lifestyle in this country reduces because you end up with such a huge debt and you have to — you spend so much of the profitability of our nation, of the product of our people, on paying down the debt that you simply can’t spend it on things like sending your kids to college and buying a house and doing the things that make the country stronger.”
The reality and the facts of our national debt are not good. The U.S. Government is spending our nation into oblivion, and it needs to be stopped. Take a look at the US Debt Clock to see how bad things look for yourself. Take the time to read each category: You will quickly see how the debt affects you personally. In particular, look at the Debt Per Citizen and Debt Per Taxpayer; the numbers will astound you.
One trillion dollars is a lot of money, and the number itself is difficult to comprehend. For some perspective, picture this: one trillion seconds is equivalent to 31,710 years. With $13 trillion, you could spend $1 million per hour, and not go broke for 1,484 years. Or, with 13 trillion one-dollar bills end-to-end, you could go from Earth to Jupiter, back to Earth and have enough for one more trip to Jupiter, a distance of 365 million miles each way.
We need to make sure our elected officials put an end to their endless spending sprees. They need to start cutting waste, and they need to do it pronto. They work for us, and if they can’t do their jobs effectively, it is our duty to vote them out. The Fall 2010 elections are coming up: take the time to familiarize yourself with those running for office and vote – you owe it to yourself, your country and your children.
