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Today our national debt exceeds $15 trillion. The amount of debt we owe continues to increase at a faster and faster pace.
This year’s $3.6 trillion federal budget is 20 percent larger than what the federal government spent in 2008.
The $15.3 trillion we owe today is only a down payment on promises the federal government has made to the American people. Not included in our debt totals are the $15 trillion shortfall in Social Security, the $20 trillion unfunded prescription drug benefit, or the $115 trillion unfunded Medicare liability and the trillions more from Obamacare.
Many people don’t care about these liabilities as long as they get their handouts from the federal and state governments. Until, like Greece, there is no more money and the riots begin.
Most people ignore these liabilities – including Congress and the president – because they know it is impossible to pay these liabilities.
While these people seem ready to ignore these obligations because, supposedly, they will never be paid, we have already begun to pay them with more borrowed money.
Total spending on Social Security and Medicare last year was about $1.5 trillion, but payroll taxes collected was only $800 billion. Where did the difference of about $700 billion come from? The politicians say it came from the Social Security trust fund.
That’s a joke. There is no Social Security trust fund.
The excess Social Security funds collected over the years that should have been saved have been spent. We borrowed the money!
The money to pay for our exponentially expanding obligations is being borrowed every year.
We have just increased the debt ceiling to over $16 trillion to cover our borrowing for this year. The CBO has estimated our debt to be well over $20 trillion in a few years, with increases continuing forever.
I can’t understand how any one can believe this is sustainable. I think our ability to borrow trillions of dollars every year is about to end. That’s why I believe the answer to the question “is the U.S. bankrupt” is yes.
